John 20:23

“Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”
King James Version (KJV)

Other Translations of John 20:23

Whose soeuer sinnes yee remit, they are remitted vnto them, and whose soeuer sinnes yee retaine, they are retained.
- King James Version (1611) - Compare to scan of original John chapter 20

"If you forgive the sins of any, {their sins} have been forgiven them; if you retain the {sins} of any, they have been retained."
- New American Standard Version (1995)

whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever `sins' ye retain, they are retained.
- American Standard Version (1901)

Any to whom you give forgiveness, will be made free from their sins; and any from whom you keep back forgiveness, will still be in their sins.
- Basic English Bible

whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them; whose soever [sins] ye retain, they are retained.
- Darby Bible

Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
- Douay Rheims Bible

Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
- Webster's Bible

If you remit the sins of any persons, they remain remitted to them. If you bind fast the sins of any, they remain bound."
- Weymouth Bible

Whoever's sins you forgive, they are forgiven them. Whoever's sins you retain, they have been retained."
- World English Bible

whos synnes ye foryyuen, tho ben foryouun to hem; and whos ye withholden, tho ben withholdun.
- Wycliffe Bible

if of any ye may loose the sins, they are loosed to them; if of any ye may retain, they have been retained.'
- Youngs Literal Bible

Philip L Kilmer's comment on 2020-05-14 10:17:14:

From the cross Jesus said, " forgive them they don't know what they are doing." Where would we be now if He had not said that? Stephen said," lay not this sin to their charge." Did this act of forgiveness have any impact on Saul's (Paul) life? Where would we be now missing 13 books of the New Testament? God has already forgiven humanity, we need to forgive each other. If we don't forgive we put ourselves in bondage.

Clinton's comment on 2015-04-18 13:22:50:

Jesus was showing them the responsibility that The Church would later have of sharing the Gospel of Grace that would save whosoever believed. If anyone did not believe, their sin remained. All sins past, present and future are forgiven once we believe in the risen Christ.

mary mina's comment on 2015-04-02 22:21:54:

Forgive so that you can be forgiven !

David Hathcock's comment on 2015-03-17 07:01:21:

The word "sins " was not in the original manuscripts it was added by the 1611 translators. The verse should read, "whatsoever you forgive, it is forgiven If you do not forgive, they remain ". Only our Heavenly Father has the authoritive to forgive sins. "Sin is the breaking of God 's law ". 1 John 3:4

Richard Hartley's comment on 2015-01-16 15:54:59:

God is the only one who can forgive sins,Jesus said I 'm the way the truth and the life nobody can go to the Father except through me,Jesus is the only mediator between God and man not a Catholic priest.The authority that was given to the apostles was not given to bishops,priests thats there claim is all but there is no valid truth to that at all,they claim 2 passages to back that claim up,that bind and loosen and to forgive sin,there was no Apostlic Succession given to the Catholic Church that is there claim,the Catholic Church did not even come into existence untill the 6 th Century.church your history books ppl.

Stephen Naidoo's comment on 2014-10-12 16:42:59:

DJ, I disagree that Catholics are right when it comes to the forgiveness of sins. Read 1 John 1 v 9. In my opinion concerning this portion of scripture, we must forgive all who sin against us just as Christ did those who crucified and Him and as Stephen did those who stoned him because if we dont, we can hold those persons who sinned against us in bondage thus also causing us to sin in the process because we 're not practicing forgiveness as Christ requires us to. If we have Christ in us then we will find it easy to forgive others just as He asked the Father to forgive us. If we say we have the Love of God in us then forgiveness should be one of our main traits because we should have the true love of God within us. Read 1 Corinthian 13 and 1 John 4 verses 7 and 8. God bless

nancy cid's comment on 2014-08-14 10:25:22:

I think that this verse tests the true condition of our hearts. It reveals whether or not we truly forgive those that have sinned against us. The verse says "If you forgive others their sins are forgiven, if you don 't forgive them their sins are not forgiven. This just shows how willing we truly are to forgive those that hurts us. If we forgive them then they are released, that proves that we are doing what Jesus did.

j's comment on 2014-02-12 06:15:26:

The Son of Man DOES have power on earth to forgive sins that are done personally against you We can forgive Father God has the last say in the end ie Father forgive them for they don t know what they do Yet when people DO know what they do in sin and then do it anyway THEN there is no forgiveness Either on earth or in heaven food for thought

Tom Sawyer's comment on 2014-01-04 04:40:55:

It means what it says

Anonymous's comment on 2013-11-20 10:49:13:

Only God can forgive sin , you sin when you know ,that you are going against God's teaching , and he has given us the Holy Ghost to teach us all things and to bring to our remmberance , what he has told us .

Obilikwu John.'s comment on 2013-10-04 09:23:40:

No man, whatsoever the name or title in the body of Christ can or will ever for give any man's sin, that is no human can put any human in right relationship with God. The meaning of the verse is the provision of forgiveness that is open to everyone through the acceptance of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This commission was first give to the apostels as eyes witnesses then to everyone that will later belive. The bible says, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. How can they hear if there are no preachers. In the gospel of the Lord, the place of many is that man is a vessel. We must not forget that the nature of man is evil, it only requires a sinless God to for make man like Himself.

Louis Nicholson's comment on 2013-06-12 13:39:35:

Catholic priest is authorized to forgive sins. Protestant preachers say when you accept Christ your sins are forgiven, past sins and future sins. I am confused about the forgiveness of future sins, is this with repentance and promise of amendment?

DJ's comment on 2012-08-26 23:29:08:

I think that this verse proves the Catholics are right. Forgiveness is granted by the Priest when we step into a confessional and say "Father forgive me for I have sinned". Christ gave the apostles the power and authority to grant forgiveness, and today absolution can only come through a Priest. Christ clearly authorized the Church Fathers to retain or remit sin, and Christ will not redeem a sinner unless a Priest permits it.

billy fulton's comment on 2011-06-09 09:36:15:

only God can forgive sins in the gospel sense.Could it be The Lord Jesus was talking about the disciples forgiving others who sinned against them? - as he did "father forgive them,they don't know what they are doing"

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