For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
Parallel translations
- WEB “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- KJV For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
- BSB For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- NKJV “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- NASB For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- NLT “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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 forgive others their wrongs, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. A forgiving spirit is the mark of one who has received God's mercy.
Overview
Jesus singles out the petition on forgiveness for further comment, underscoring its weight. Those who have truly grasped God's pardon will mirror it toward others, and the Father's forgiveness flows toward such people. This is not earning grace but evidence of grace received, anticipating Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant and pointing to the cross as the ground of all true forgiveness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Eph 4:32And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
- Mark 11:25Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions.
- Col 3:13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
- Matt 7:2For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
- Jas 2:13For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Matt 18:21–35Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?”
- Matt 6:12Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
- Prov 21:13Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.
- 1 Jn 3:10In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.
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 6:14 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.