Restoring a Brother

15 “If your brother sins against you, x go and rebuke him in private. y If he listens to you, you have won your brother. z 16 But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony a of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. b c 17 If he pays no attention to them, tell the church. d e But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever f and a tax collector to you. g 18 I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound h in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed i in heaven. j 19 Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you k pray for, it will be done for you l by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave

21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” m

22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven. n 23 For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his * slaves. 24 When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents o was brought before him. 25 Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. p

26 “At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ 27 Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.

28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 * denarii. q r He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’

29 “At this, his fellow slave fell down s and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. 31 When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ t 34 And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. 35 So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother u from his v heart.” w