- 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?"
- Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
- "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
- As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him.
- 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.
- "At this the servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'
- The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
- "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
- "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.'
- "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
- When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
- "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
- Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'
- In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
- "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
- When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan.