Luke 17:4

Easy-to-Read Version

Even if they do something wrong to you seven times in one day, but they say they are sorry each time, you should forgive them."

Parallel Translations

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
and yf he repent forgeve him. And though he sinne agest ye .vii. tymes in a daye and seve tymes in a daye tourne agayne to ye sayinge: it repenteth me forgeve him

Hebrew Names Version
If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times turns again, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."

International Standard Version
Even if he sins against you seven times in a day and comes back to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."

New American Standard Bible
"And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."

New Century Version
If he sins against you seven times in one day and says that he is sorry each time, forgive him."

Update Bible Version
And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to you, saying, I repent; you shall forgive him.

Webster's Bible Translation
And if he shall trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day shall turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Amplified Bible
"Even if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive him [that is, give up resentment and consider the offense recalled and annulled]."

English Standard Version
and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,' you must forgive him."

World English Bible
If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times turns again, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And if he sin against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day return to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him.

Weymouth's New Testament
and if seven times in a day he acts wrongly towards you, and seven times turns again to you and says, `I am sorry,' you must forgive him."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And if seuene sithis in the dai he do synne ayens thee, and seuene sithis in the dai he be conuertid to thee, and seie, It forthenkith me, foryyue thou hym.

English Revised Version
And if he sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Berean Standard Bible
Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."

Contemporary English Version
Even if one of them mistreats you seven times in one day and says, "I am sorry," you should still forgive that person.

American Standard Version
And if he sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Bible in Basic English
And if he does you wrong seven times in a day, and seven times comes to you and says, I have regret for what I have done; let him have forgiveness.

Complete Jewish Bible
Also, if seven times in one day he sins against you, and seven times he comes to you and says, ‘I repent,' you are to forgive him."

Darby Translation
And if he should sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times should return to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him.

Etheridge Translation
And if seven times in the day he shall trespass against thee, and seven times in the day return to thee and say, I repent, forgive him.

Murdock Translation
And if he shall offend against thee seven times in a day, and, seven times in a day, shall turn himself to thee, and say, I repent; forgive him.

King James Version (1611)
And if hee trespasse against thee seuen times in a day, and seuen times in a day turne againe to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgiue him.

New Living Translation
Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive."

New Life Bible
What if he sins against you seven times in one day? If he comes to you and says he is sorry and turns from his sin, forgive him."

New Revised Standard
And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,' you must forgive."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And though he sinne against thee seuen times in a day, and seuen times in a day turne againe to thee, saying, It repenteth mee, thou shalt forgiue him.

George Lamsa Translation
And if he should offend you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn to you and say, I repent; forgive him.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Even if, seven times a day, he sin against thee, and, seven times, turn to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And if he sin against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day be converted unto thee, saying: I repent: forgive him.

Revised Standard Version
and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And though he sinne agaynst thee seuen tymes in a day, and seuen tymes in a day turne agayne to thee, saying, it repenteth me: thou shalt forgeue hym.

Good News Translation
If he sins against you seven times in one day, and each time he comes to you saying, ‘I repent,' you must forgive him."

Christian Standard Bible®
And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

King James Version
And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Lexham English Bible
And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times he returns to you saying, ‘I repent,' you must forgive him."

Literal Translation
And if seven times of the day he sins against you, and seven times of the day turns to you saying, I repent, you shall forgive him.

Young's Literal Translation
and if seven times in the day he may sin against thee, and seven times in the day may turn back to thee, saying, I reform; thou shalt forgive him.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and yf he amende, forgeue him. And though he synne agaynst the seuen tymes in a daye, and come seuen tymes in a daye to ye agayne, and saye: It repenteth me, forgeue him.

Mace New Testament (1729)
tho' he should offend you seven times in a day, and seven times in the day return to you, saying, I repent, you must forgive him.

New English Translation
Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, ‘I repent,' you must forgive him."

New King James Version
And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, [fn] saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."

Simplified Cowboy Version
Even if this happens over and over and over, if they turn from their sorry ways, you must forgive."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him."

Legacy Standard Bible
And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,' forgive him."

Contextual Overview

¹ Jesus said to his followers, "Things will surely happen that will make people sin. But it will be very bad for anyone who makes this happen. ² It will be very bad for anyone who makes one of these little children sin. It would be better for them to have a millstone tied around their neck and be drowned in the sea. ³ So be careful! "If your brother or sister in God's family does something wrong, warn them. If they are sorry for what they did, forgive them. ⁴ Even if they do something wrong to you seven times in one day, but they say they are sorry each time, you should forgive them." ⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, "Give us more faith!" ⁶ The Lord said, "If your faith is as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Dig yourself up and plant yourself in the ocean!' And the tree will obey you. ⁷ "Suppose one of you has a servant who has been working in the field, plowing or caring for the sheep. When he comes in from work, what would you say to him? Would you say, ‘Come in, sit down and eat'? ⁸ Of course not! You would say to your servant, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Then get ready and serve me. When I finish eating and drinking, then you can eat.' ⁹ The servant should not get any special thanks for doing his job. He is only doing what his master told him to do. ¹⁰ It is the same with you. When you finish doing all that you are told to do, you should say, ‘We are not worthy of any special thanks. We have only done the work we should do.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

if: Matthew 18:21, Matthew 18:22, Matthew 18:35, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Ephesians 4:31, Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:12, Colossians 3:13

I repent: Matthew 5:44, Matthew 6:12, Matthew 6:14, Matthew 6:15, Matthew 18:16, Romans 12:20, 2 Thessalonians 3:13, 2 Thessalonians 3:14

Reciprocal: Genesis 50:17 - Forgive Exodus 22:9 - for all manner of trespass Judges 11:8 - the elders Ecclesiastes 11:2 - seven Matthew 18:15 - if Luke 6:37 - forgive

Cross-References

Genesis 12:2
I will build a great nation from you. I will bless you and make your name famous. People will use your name to bless other people.

Genesis 13:16
I will make your people so many that they will be like the dust of the earth. If people could count all the particles of dust on earth, they could count your people.

Genesis 16:10
The angel of the Lord also said, "From you will come many people—too many people to count."

Genesis 17:1
When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said, "I am God All-Powerful. Obey me and live the right way.

Genesis 17:11
You will cut the skin to show that you follow the agreement between me and you.

Genesis 17:18
Then Abraham said to God, "I hope Ishmael will live and serve you."

Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you and give you as many descendants as the stars in the sky. There will be as many people as sand on the seashore. And your people will live in cities that they will take from their enemies.

Genesis 32:12
Lord, you said to me, ‘I will be good to you. I will increase your family and make your children as many as the sands of the sea. There will be too many to count.'"

Genesis 35:11
God said to him, "I am God All-Powerful, and I give you this blessing: Have many children and grow into a great nation. Other nations and other kings will come out of you.

Genesis 48:19
But his father refused and said, "I know, son. I know. Manasseh is the firstborn. He will be great and will be the father of many people. But his younger brother will be greater than he is. And the younger brother's family will be much larger."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day,.... For good men are frequently apt to fall into sin, and offend both God and man; see Proverbs 24:16 "and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent"; as often as he sins, and appears to be truly sensible of it, and humble for it, and makes acknowledgments of it; and not only barely in words professes his concern for it, but there is reason to believe that he is heartily grieved for it, and to hope that he will behave better for the future:

thou shalt forgive him; this seems to be occasioned by Peter's putting such a question to Christ, how often a brother might sin against him, and he forgive him; see Matthew 18:21. The Jews plead for great tenderness and readiness to forgive penitents, when they ask for forgiveness; which they insist upon should be done: they say q,

"it is forbidden an injured person to be cruel, and not forgive; this is not the way of the seed of Israel: but when he that has done the injury asks of him, and prays him once and again, and he knows that he has returned from his sin, and hath repented of his evil, he ought to forgive him; and whoever makes haste to forgive, is praiseworthy.''

But then, they say r,

"if he brings all the rams of Nebaioth that are in the world, he is not to have pardon, unless he asks it of him.''

And they seem also to have set times for it, as well as restrain the frequent repetition of it: they observe s;

"if a man returns by repentance, in the intermediate time, (i.e. as the gloss explains it, between the beginning of the year, or New Year's Day, and the day of atonement,) they pardon him; but if he does not return in the intermediate time, though he brings all the rams of Nebaioth in the world, they do not pardon him.''

A man that was always forgiving, was reckoned by them an extraordinary man: it is said t of Mar Zutra bar Nachman, that he was מוחל בכל יום, "forgiving every day"; but yet they do not seem to care to carry it to so great a length, and to repeat it so often as our Lord directs; they allow a man to forgive three times, but not a fourth; Matthew 18:21- :.

q Maimon. Hilchot Chobel Umezik, c. 5. sect. 10. r T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 92. 1. s T. Bab. Rosh Hashama, fol. 17. 2. t Juchasin, fol. 90. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 18:15, Matthew 18:21-22. “Trespass against thee.” Sin against thee, or does anything that gives you an offence or does you an injury.

Rebuke - Reprove. Go and tell him his fault, and seek an explanation. Acquaint him with what has been the effect of his conduct, and the state of your feelings, that he may acknowledge his error and repent.