Matthew 18:15-35

Dealing With Sin in the Church

15 “If your brother or sister ^[a] sins, ^[b] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.

16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’^[c]

17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be^[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[e] loosed in heaven.

19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[f]

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold^[g] was brought to him.

25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’

27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.^[h] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.

33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’

34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Cross References

• 1. Leviticus 19:17; Luke 17:3; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19,20
• 2. Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15; John 8:17; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28
• 3. 1 Corinthians 6:1-6
• 4. S Romans 16:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:6,14
• 5. Matthew 16:19; John 20:23
• 6. S Matthew 7:7
• 7. S Matthew 28:20
• 8. S Matthew 6:14
• 9. Luke 17:4
• 10. Genesis 4:24
• 11. S Matthew 13:24
• 12. Matthew 25:19
• 13. Luke 7:42
• 14. Leviticus 25:39; 2 Kings 4:1; Nehemiah 5:5,8
• 15. S Matthew 8:2
• 16. S Matthew 6:14; S James 2:13

Footnotes

• [a] The Greek word for "brother or sister" ("adelphos" ) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verses 21 and 35.
• [b] Some manuscripts "sins against you"
• [c] Deut. 19:15
• [d] Or "will have been"
• [e] Or "will have been"
• [f] Or "seventy times seven"
• [g] Greek "ten thousand talents" ; a talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wages.
• [h] Greek "a hundred denarii" ; a denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer (see 20:2).