191 In the third month of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in this day they have come into the wilderness of Sinai, 2 and they journey from Rephidim, and enter the wilderness of Sinai, and encamp in the wilderness; and Israel encampeth there before the mount. 3 And Moses hath gone up unto God, and Jehovah calleth unto him out of the mount, saying, 'Thus dost thou say to the house of Jacob, and declare to the sons of Israel, 4 Ye—ye have seen that which I have done to the Egyptians, and I bear you on eagles' wings, and bring you in unto Myself. 5 'And now, if ye really hearken to My voice, then ye have kept My covenant, and been to Me a peculiar treasure more than all the peoples, for all the earth 'is' Mine; 6 and ye—ye are to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation: these 'are' the words which thou dost speak unto the sons of Israel.' 7 And Moses cometh, and calleth for the elders of the people, and setteth before them all these words which Jehovah hath commanded him; 8 and all the people answer together and say, 'All that Jehovah hath spoken we do;' and Moses returneth the words of the people unto Jehovah.
9 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Lo, I am coming unto thee in the thickness of the cloud, so that the people hear in My speaking with thee, and also believe in thee to the age;' and Moses declareth the words of the people unto Jehovah. 10 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Go unto the people; and thou hast sanctified them to-day and to-morrow, and they have washed their garments, 11 and have been prepared for the third day; for on the third day doth Jehovah come down before the eyes of all the people, on mount Sinai. 12 'And thou hast made a border 'for' the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, going up into the mount, or coming against its extremity; whoever is coming against the mount is certainly put to death; 13 a hand cometh not against him, for he is certainly stoned or shot through, whether beast or man it liveth not; in the drawing out of the jubilee cornet they go up into the mount.' 14 And Moses cometh down from the mount unto the people, and sanctifieth the people, and they wash their garments; 15 and he saith unto the people, 'Be ye prepared for the third day, come not nigh unto a woman.'
16 And it cometh to pass, on the third day, while it is morning, that there are voices, and lightnings, and a heavy cloud, on the mount, and the sound of a trumpet very strong; and all the people who 'are' in the camp do tremble. 17 And Moses bringeth out the people to meet God from the camp, and they station themselves at the lower part of the mount, 18 and mount Sinai 'is' wholly a smoke from the presence of Jehovah, who hath come down on it in fire, and its smoke goeth up as smoke of the furnace, and the whole mount trembleth exceedingly; 19 and the sound of the trumpet is going on, and very strong; Moses speaketh, and God doth answer him with a voice. 20 And Jehovah cometh down on mount Sinai, unto the top of the mount, and Jehovah calleth for Moses unto the top of the mount, and Moses goeth up. 21 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Go down, protest to the people, lest they break through unto Jehovah to see, and many of them have fallen; 22 and also the priests who are coming nigh unto Jehovah do sanctify themselves, lest Jehovah break forth on them.' 23 And Moses saith unto Jehovah, 'The people 'is' unable to come up unto mount Sinai, for Thou—Thou hast protested to us, saying, Make a border 'for' the mount, then thou hast sanctified it.' 24 And Jehovah saith unto him, 'Go, descend, then thou hast come up, thou, and Aaron with thee; and the priests and the people do not break through, to come up unto Jehovah, lest He break forth upon them.' 25 And Moses goeth down unto the people, and saith unto them:—
201 'And God speaketh all these words, saying, 2 I 'am' Jehovah thy God, who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants. 3 'Thou hast no other Gods before Me. 4 'Thou dost not make to thyself a graven image, or any likeness which 'is' in the heavens above, or which 'is' in the earth beneath, or which 'is' in the waters under the earth. 5 Thou dost not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I, Jehovah thy God, 'am' a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on the third 'generation', and on the fourth, of those hating Me, 6 and doing kindness to thousands, of those loving Me and keeping My commands. 7 'Thou dost not take up the name of Jehovah thy God for a vain thing, for Jehovah acquitteth not him who taketh up His name for a vain thing. 8 'Remember the Sabbath-day to sanctify it; 9 six days thou dost labour, and hast done all thy work, 10 and the seventh day 'is' a Sabbath to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not do any work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and thy cattle, and thy sojourner who is within thy gates,— 11 for six days hath Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that 'is' in them, and resteth in the seventh day; therefore hath Jehovah blessed the Sabbath-day, and doth sanctify it.
12 'Honour thy father and thy mother, so that thy days are prolonged on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee. 13 'Thou dost not murder. 14 'Thou dost not commit adultery. 15 'Thou dost not steal. 16 'Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony. 17 'Thou dost not desire the house of thy neighbour, thou dost not desire the wife of thy neighbour, or his man-servant, or his handmaid, or his ox, or his ass, or anything which 'is' thy neighbour's.'
18 And all the people are seeing the voices, and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking; and the people see, and move, and stand afar off, 19 and say unto Moses, 'Speak thou with us, and we hear, and let not God speak with us, lest we die.' 20 And Moses saith unto the people, 'Fear not, for to try you hath God come, and in order that His fear may be before your faces—that ye sin not.' 21 And the people stand afar off, and Moses hath drawn nigh unto the thick darkness where God 'is'.
22 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Thus dost thou say unto the sons of Israel: Ye—ye have seen that from the heavens I have spoken with you; 23 ye do not make with Me gods of silver, even gods of gold ye do not make to yourselves. 24 'An altar of earth thou dost make for Me, and thou hast sacrificed on it thy burnt-offerings and thy peace-offerings, thy flock and thy herd; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered I come in unto thee, and have blessed thee. 25 'And if an altar of stones thou dost make to Me, thou dost not build them of hewn work; when thy tool thou hast waved over it, then thou dost pollute it; 26 neither dost thou go up by steps on Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not revealed upon it.
21 Then Peter having come near to him, said, 'Sir, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him—till seven times?' 22 Jesus saith to him, 'I do not say to thee till seven times, but till seventy times seven. 23 'Because of this was the reign of the heavens likened to a man, a king, who did will to take reckoning with his servants, 24 and he having begun to take account, there was brought near to him one debtor of a myriad of talents, 25 and he having nothing to pay, his lord did command him to be sold, and his wife, and the children, and all, whatever he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant then, having fallen down, was bowing to him, saying, Sir, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all; 27 and the lord of that servant having been moved with compassion did release him, and the debt he forgave him. 28 'And, that servant having come forth, found one of his fellow-servants who was owing him an hundred denaries, and having laid hold, he took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that which thou owest. 29 His fellow-servant then, having fallen down at his feet, was calling on him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all; 30 and he would not, but having gone away, he cast him into prison, till he might pay that which was owing. 31 'And his fellow-servants having seen the things that were done, were grieved exceedingly, and having come, shewed fully to their lord all the things that were done; 32 then having called him, his lord saith to him, Evil servant! all that debt I did forgive thee, seeing thou didst call upon me, 33 did it not behove also thee to have dealt kindly with thy fellow-servant, as I also dealt kindly with thee? 34 'And having been wroth, his lord delivered him to the inquisitors, till he might pay all that was owing to him; 35 so also my heavenly Father will do to you, if ye may not forgive each one his brother from your hearts their trespasses.'
(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.
