Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Parallel translations
- WEB Then his lord called him in, and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me.
- BSB Then the master summoned him and declared, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me.
- NKJV Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
- NASB Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
- NLT Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me.
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
The king summons the servant, calls him wicked, and recalls the great debt he forgave at his plea. The contrast between mercy received and mercy refused is laid bare.
Overview
The king's words expose the servant's guilt by recalling the immense debt freely cancelled. The basis of judgment is not the original debt but the failure to let received mercy transform behavior. It presses Jesus' point that those who have been forgiven much are bound to forgive others.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Luke 19:22And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
- Rom 3:19Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
- Matt 25:26His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 18:32 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
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