Friday, July 31

²¹Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother who sins against me? As many as seven times?” ²²Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy-seven times!

²³“For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴As he began settling his accounts, a man who owed 10,000 talents was brought to him. ²⁵Because he was not able to repay it, the lord ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. ²⁶Then the slave threw himself to the ground before him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’ ²⁷The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt. ²⁸After he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 silver coins. So he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ ²⁹Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ ³⁰But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt. ³¹When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place. ³²Then his lord called the first slave and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! ³³Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ ³⁴And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed. ³⁵So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.”

¹Now when Jesus finished these sayings, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan River. ²Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³Then some Pharisees came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful to divorce a wife for any cause?” ⁴He answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female, ⁵and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” ⁷They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” ⁸Jesus said to them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts, but from the beginning it was not this way. ⁹Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery.” ¹⁰The disciples said to him, “If this is the case of a husband with a wife, it is better not to marry!” ¹¹He said to them, “Not everyone can accept this statement, except those to whom it has been given. ¹²For there are some eunuchs who were that way from birth, and some who were made eunuchs by others, and some who became eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this should accept it.”

¹³Then little children were brought to him for him to lay his hands on them and pray. But the disciples scolded those who brought them. ¹⁴But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵And he placed his hands on them and went on his way.