Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him.
- KJV Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
- NKJV Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
- NASB Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
- NLT So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus instructs disciples to watch themselves, rebuke a sinning brother, and forgive him if he repents. Loving accountability and forgiveness go together.
Overview
Self-watchfulness precedes correcting others. Rebuke aims at restoration, and repentance is to be met with forgiveness. This pattern reflects God's own dealing with sinners and shapes healthy community life, where truth and grace are held together in love for one another.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Lev 19:17You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.
- Matt 18:21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
- Matt 18:15–17If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
- Prov 9:8Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
- 2 Chr 19:6–7Then he said to the judges, “Consider carefully what you do, for you are not judging for man, but for the LORD, who is with you when you render judgment.
- Jas 5:19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,
- Prov 27:5Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.
- Exod 34:12Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.
- Deut 4:23Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you.
- Deut 4:9Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
- 2 Jn 1:8Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.
- Heb 12:15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.
- Ps 141:5Let the righteous man strike me; let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion. It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it. For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.
- Luke 21:34But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Prov 17:10A rebuke cuts into a man of discernment deeper than a hundred lashes cut into a fool.
- Eph 5:15Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
- Deut 4:15So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful
- Gal 2:11–14When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, because he stood to be condemned.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 17:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.