191 In the third month after the children of Israel went out from Egypt, on the same day, they came into the waste land of Sinai. 2 And when they had gone away from Rephidim and had come into the waste land of Sinai, they put up their tents in the waste land before the mountain: there Israel put up its tents. 3 And Moses went up to God, and the voice of the Lord came to him from the mountain, saying, Say to the family of Jacob, and give word to the children of Israel: 4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I took you, as on eagles' wings, guiding you to myself. 5 If now you will truly give ear to my voice and keep my agreement, you will be my special property out of all the peoples: for all the earth is mine: 6 And you will be a kingdom of priests to me, and a holy nation. These are the words which you are to say to the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and sent for the chiefs of the people and put before them all these words which the Lord had given him orders to say. 8 And all the people, answering together, said, Whatever the Lord has said we will do. And Moses took back to the Lord the words of the people.
9 And the Lord said to Moses, See, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that what I say to you may come to the ears of the people and they may have belief in you for ever. And Moses gave the Lord word of what the people had said. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, Go to the people and make them holy today and tomorrow, and let their clothing be washed. 11 And by the third day let them be ready: for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai, before the eyes of all the people. 12 And let limits be marked out for the people round the mountain, and say to them, Take care not to go up the mountain or near the sides of it: whoever puts his foot on the mountain will certainly come to his death: 13 He is not to be touched by a hand, but is to be stoned or have an arrow put through him; man or beast, he is to be put to death: at the long sounding of a horn they may come up to the mountain. 14 Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and made the people holy; and their clothing was washed. 15 And he said to the people, Be ready by the third day: do not come near a woman.
16 And when morning came on the third day, there were thunders and flames and a thick cloud on the mountain, and a horn sounding very loud; and all the people in the tents were shaking with fear. 17 And Moses made the people come out of their tents and take their places before God; and they came to the foot of the mountain, 18 And all the mountain of Sinai was smoking, for the Lord had come down on it in fire: and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a great burning; and all the mountain was shaking. 19 And when the sound of the horn became louder and louder, Moses' words were answered by the voice of God. 20 Then the Lord came down on to Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and the Lord sent for Moses to come up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and give the people orders to keep back, for fear that a great number of them, forcing their way through to see the Lord, may come to destruction. 22 And let the priests who come near to the Lord make themselves holy, for fear that the Lord may come on them suddenly. 23 And Moses said to the Lord, The people will not be able to come up the mountain, for you gave us orders to put limits round the mountain, marking it out and making it holy. 24 And the Lord said to him, Go down, and you and Aaron may come up; but let not the priests and the people make their way through to the Lord, or he will come on them suddenly. 25 So Moses went down to the people and said this to them.
201 And God said all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house. 3 You are to have no other gods but me. 4 You are not to make an image or picture of anything in heaven or on the earth or in the waters under the earth: 5 You may not go down on your faces before them or give them worship: for I, the Lord your God, am a God who will not give his honour to another; and I will send punishment on the children for the wrongdoing of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation of my haters; 6 And I will have mercy through a thousand generations on those who have love for me and keep my laws. 7 You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose; whoever takes the Lord's name on his lips for an evil purpose will be judged a sinner by the Lord 8 Keep in memory the Sabbath and let it be a holy day. 9 On six days do all your work: 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on that day you are to do no work, you or your son or your daughter, your man-servant or your woman-servant, your cattle or the man from a strange country who is living among you: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and everything in them, and he took his rest on the seventh day: for this reason the Lord has given his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy.
12 Give honour to your father and to your mother, so that your life may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 13 Do not put anyone to death without cause. 14 Do not be false to the married relation. 15 Do not take the property of another. 16 Do not give false witness against your neighbour. 17 Let not your desire be turned to your neighbour's house, or his wife or his man-servant or his woman-servant or his ox or his ass or anything which is his.
18 And all the people were watching the thunderings and the flames and the sound of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when they saw it, they kept far off, shaking with fear. 19 And they said to Moses, To your words we will give ear, but let not the voice of God come to our ears, for fear death may come on us. 20 And Moses said to the people, Have no fear: for God has come to put you to the test, so that fearing him you may be kept from sin. 21 And the people kept their places far off, but Moses went near to the dark cloud where God was.
22 And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, You yourselves have seen that my voice has come to you from heaven 23 Gods of silver and gods of gold you are not to make for yourselves. 24 Make for me an altar of earth, offering on it your burned offerings and your peace-offerings, your sheep and your oxen: in every place where I have put the memory of my name, I will come to you and give you my blessing. 25 And if you make me an altar of stone do not make it of cut stones: for the touch of an instrument will make it unclean. 26 And do not go up by steps to my altar, for fear that your bodies may be seen uncovered.
21 Then Peter came and said to him, Lord, what number of times may my brother do wrong against me, and I give him forgiveness? till seven times? 22 Jesus says to him, I say not to you, Till seven times; but, Till seventy times seven. 23 For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king, who went over his accounts with his servants. 24 And at the start, one came to him who was in his debt for ten thousand talents. 25 And because he was not able to make payment, his lord gave orders for him, and his wife, and his sons and daughters, and all he had, to be given for money, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant went down on his face and gave him worship, saying, Lord, give me time to make payment and I will give you all. 27 And the lord of that servant, being moved with pity, let him go, and made him free of the debt. 28 But that servant went out, and meeting one of the other servants, who was in debt to him for one hundred pence, he took him by the throat, saying, Make payment of your debt. 29 So that servant went down on his face, requesting him and saying, Give me time and I will make payment to you. 30 And he would not: but went and put him into prison till he had made payment of the debt. 31 So when the other servants saw what was done they were very sad, and came and gave word to their lord of what had been done. 32 Then his lord sent for him and said, You evil servant; I made you free of all that debt, because of your request to me: 33 Was it not right for you to have mercy on the other servant, even as I had mercy on you? 34 And his lord was very angry, and put him in the hands of those who would give him punishment till he made payment of all the debt. 35 So will my Father in heaven do to you, if you do not everyone, from your hearts, give forgiveness to his brother.
(Read Matthew 18:21-35)
Though we live wholly on mercy and forgiveness, we are backward to forgive the offences of our brethren. This parable shows how much provocation God has from his family on earth, and how untoward his servants are. There are three things in the parable: 1. The master's wonderful clemency. The debt of sin is so great, that we are not able to pay it. See here what every sin deserves; this is the wages of sin, to be sold as a slave. It is the folly of many who are under strong convictions of their sins, to fancy they can make God satisfaction for the wrong they have done him. 2. The servant's unreasonable severity toward his fellow-servant, notwithstanding his lord's clemency toward him. Not that we may make light of wronging our neighbour, for that is also a sin against God; but we should not aggravate our neighbour's wronging us, nor study revenge. Let our complaints, both of the wickedness of the wicked, and of the afflictions of the afflicted, be brought to God, and left with him. 3. The master reproved his servant's cruelty. The greatness of sin magnifies the riches of pardoning mercy; and the comfortable sense of pardoning mercy, does much to dispose our hearts to forgive our brethren. We are not to suppose that God actually forgives men, and afterwards reckons their guilt to them to condemn them; but this latter part of the parable shows the false conclusions many draw as to their sins being pardoned, though their after-conduct shows that they never entered into the spirit, or experienced the sanctifying grace of the gospel. We do not forgive our offending brother aright, if we do not forgive from the heart. Yet this is not enough; we must seek the welfare even of those who offend us. How justly will those be condemned, who, though they bear the Christian name, persist in unmerciful treatment of their brethren! The humbled sinner relies only on free, abounding mercy, through the ransom of the death of Christ. Let us seek more and more for the renewing grace of God, to teach us to forgive others as we hope for forgiveness from him.
