And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
Parallel translations
- WEB If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
- BSB Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
- NKJV And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
- NASB And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
- NLT Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must 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
Even if a brother sins and repents seven times in a day, forgiveness must be extended each time. Forgiveness is to be generous and repeated.
Overview
The 'seven times' signals limitless, ungrudging forgiveness toward the genuinely repentant. Jesus calls His followers to mirror the boundless mercy of God. Because we have been forgiven so much in Christ, we are to forgive freely and again and again.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Col 3:12–13Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
- Matt 18:21–22Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
- Rom 12:20Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
- Matt 6:14–15For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
- Matt 5:44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
- Matt 6:12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
- Eph 4:31–32Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
- Matt 18:16But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
- Matt 18:35So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
- 1 Cor 13:4–7Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
- 2 Th 3:13–14But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
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 17:4 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.