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have patience witL me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him an hundred pence : and laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying. Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not; but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord aU that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me :
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee ?
34 And his lord was wroth, and de- livered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
In these verses the Lord Jesus deals with a deeply im- portant subject, — the forgiveness of injuries. We live in a wicked world, and it is vain to expect that we can escape ill-treatment, however carefully we may behave. To know how to conduct ourselves, when we are ill- treated, is of great moment to our souls.
In the first place, the Lord Jesus lays it down as a generalrule, that we ought to forgive othei^s to the uttermost. Peter put the question, " How oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him ? till seven times ?" He received for answer, " I say not unto thee till seven times, but until seventy times seven."
The rule here laid down must of course be interpreted with sober-minded qualification. Our Lord does not mean that offences against the law of the land and the good order of society, are to be passed over in silence. He does not mean that we are to allow people to commit thefts, and assaults, with impunity. All that He means is, that we are to study a general spirit of mercy and forgivingness towards our brethren. We are to bear