So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
Parallel translations
- WEB “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you,
- KJV Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
- NKJV Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
- NASB Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you,
- NLT “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you,
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
If you recall at the altar that your brother has something against you, stop. It shows that reconciliation takes priority over worship.
Overview
Jesus teaches that broken relationships hinder true worship. To approach God while a brother holds a grievance is to ignore the heart of the Law. The verse calls disciples to take seriously the wrongs others hold against them, valuing reconciliation as part of genuine devotion to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- 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.”
- Lev 6:2–6“If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor
- Matt 5:24leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
- Matt 8:4Then Jesus instructed him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, as a testimony to them.”
- Matt 23:19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred?
- Luke 19:8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.”
- 1 Sam 15:22But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.
- Hos 6:6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- Amos 5:21–24“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
- Lam 3:20Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me.
- Isa 1:10–17Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
- Ezek 16:63so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Gen 50:15–17When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge? Then he will surely repay us for all the evil that we did to him.”
- 1 Kgs 2:44The king also said, “You know in your heart all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will bring your evil back upon your head.
- Gen 42:21–22Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”
- Gen 41:9Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures.
- Deut 16:16–17Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 5:23 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.