That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
Parallel translations
- WEB So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”
- KJV So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
- NKJV “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
- NASB My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
- NLT “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”
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 applies the parable: the Father will likewise judge those who do not forgive their brothers from the heart. Heartfelt forgiveness is the necessary fruit of having been forgiven.
Overview
The warning is sobering yet consistent with grace: those who refuse to forgive show they have not grasped or received God's forgiveness. Genuine, heartfelt mercy toward others is the evidence and outflow of saving grace (compare Matthew 6:14-15). The parable thus binds our forgiveness of others to the immense forgiveness we have in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Matt 6:14–15For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- Jas 2:13For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Luke 6:37–38Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
- Mark 11:25And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”
- Matt 6:12And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
- Prov 21:2All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.
- Prov 21:13Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer.
- Matt 7:1–2“Do not judge, or you will be judged.
- Luke 16:15So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.
- Rev 2:23Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
- Zech 7:12They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of Hosts.
- Jas 4:8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Jas 3:14But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
- Jer 3:10Yet in spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.
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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 18:35 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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