Matthew 18:15–22

A Brother Who Sins

^15*“If your brother sins against you,^r go to him and show him his fault. But do it privately, just between yourselves. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back. ^16*But if he will not listen to you, take one or two other persons with you, so that ‘every accusation may be upheld by the testimony of two or more witnesses,’ as the scripture says. ¹⁷And if he will not listen to them, then tell the whole thing to the church. Finally, if he will not listen to the church, treat him as though he were a pagan or a tax collector.

Prohibiting and Permitting

^18*“And so I tell all of you: what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

¹⁹“And I tell you more: whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

^21*Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?”

^22*“No, not seven times,” answered Jesus, “but seventy times seven,^s