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Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone 1 who sins against me? Seven times?”
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“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! 2
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“Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him.
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In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 3
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He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold - along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned - to pay the debt.
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“But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’
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Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
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“But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. 4 He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
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“His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded.
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But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
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“When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened.
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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.
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Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’
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Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
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“That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters 5 from your heart.”