When we forgive our offenders, does it mean we do not want God to punish them anymore?

On of the biggest issues i have had with easily forgiving is because of some (ill advised?) thought that doing so automatically exempts the person from punishment, i know its naive, but when one is young, that would be the best one could do. But i think that this may not be the case. I read in a christian leaders webpage (iv since lost the link to the page) that refusing to forgive because of some form of fear that the other party will sort of get away with it 'reveals a flawed eschatology' he argued since even Christ when just about to be crucified asked Peter to put back his sword, since if he saw fit, Christ would have asked for angels. From this he argued that we do not necessarily have to think the person will not be punished to forgive, rather we are letting God deal with punishing them. (Im talking about dealing with unforgiveness of major events, stuff that we may struggle with over long periods). What does it mean (or involve) to forgive? 1. Let them of the hook so they do not get punished. 2. Let them off the hook so God is the one to punish them.