Matthew 18:15

“If ¹  your brother ²  sins, ³  go and show him his fault ⁴  when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother.

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

"If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.

"If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the fault. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.

"If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him--work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend.

And if your brother does wrong to you, go, make clear to him his error between you and him in private: if he gives ear to you, you have got your brother back again.

"If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.

"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

“If ¹  your brother ²  sins, ³  go and show him his fault ⁴  when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother.

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated. All the “if” clauses in this paragraph are third class conditions in Greek.

² tn The Greek term “brother” can mean “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a) whether male or female. It can also refer to siblings, though here it is used in a broader sense to connote familial relationships within the family of God. Therefore, because of the familial connotations, “brother” has been retained in the translation here in preference to the more generic “fellow believer” (“fellow Christian” would be anachronistic in this context).

³ tc ‡ The earliest and best witnesses lack “against you” after “if your brother sins.” It is quite possible that the shorter reading in these witnesses (א B, as well as 0281 ˹ 579 pc sa) occurred when scribes either intentionally changed the text (to make it more universal in application) or unintentionally changed the text (owing to the similar sound of the end of the verb ἁμαρτήσῃ [Jamarthsh] and the prepositional phrase εἰς σέ [eis se]). However, if the mss were normally copied by sight rather than by sound, especially in the early centuries of Christianity, such an unintentional change is not as likely for these mss. And since scribes normally added material rather than deleted it for intentional changes, on balance, the shorter reading appears to be original. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

⁴ tn Grk “go reprove him.”