Matthew 25
25
1 “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, 4but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’ 7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.#25:7 The end of the wick of an oil lamp needs to be cut off periodically to avoid having it become clogged with carbon deposits. The wick height is also adjusted so that the flame burns evenly and gives good light without producing a lot of smoke. 8The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9But the wise answered, saying, ‘What if there isn’t enough for us and you? You go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. 11Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ 12But he answered, ‘Most certainly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
14 “For it is like a man going into another country, who called his own servants and entrusted his goods to them. 15To one he gave five talents,#25:15 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds (usually used to weigh silver unless otherwise specified) to another two, to another one, to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. 16Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17In the same way, he also who got the two gained another two. 18But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the earth and hid his lord’s money.
19 “Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and settled accounts with them. 20He who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents in addition to them.’
21 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
22 “He also who got the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents in addition to them.’
23 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24 “He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow, and gathering where you didn’t scatter. 25I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’
26 “But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. 27You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest. 28Take away therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away. 30Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. 36I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? 38When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’
40 “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, # 25:40 The word for “brothers” here may be also correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.” you did it to me.’ 41Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; 43I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
45 “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ 46These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
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Matthew 25: WMB
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Matthew 25
25
Jesus told a story about 10 young women at a wedding ceremony
1Jesus said to his followers, “This picture story is about what will happen in God’s family, at the time when I come back from heaven.#Luke 12:35
There were some young women that had a special job at a wedding ceremony. When the man getting married came to the house, they had to meet him, and they had to bring him into the house. Then they were all going to eat a big dinner with that man and his new wife. That wedding was at night time, so the young women had their oil lamps with them. 2-4There were 10 of these young women. And 5 of them used their brains. They took jars of extra oil with them for their lamps. But the other 5 women were stupid. They didn’t take any extra oil with them.
5That man getting married didn’t come for a long time, so all the young women got tired and went to sleep.
6In the middle of the night, somebody shouted, ‘He is coming now. Come out to meet him.’
7The 10 young women woke up. Then they got up quickly, and they tried to make their lamps burn bright. 8The 5 stupid women that didn’t have any extra oil said to the other 5 women, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’
9The other women said, ‘Sorry, we can’t do that. There is not enough oil for all of us. You have to go and buy some oil for yourselves.’
10So those 5 stupid women went to buy some oil. While they were away, that man came to the house to get married. The 5 other women were ready, and they went with him into the house, and somebody locked the door. Then they all started to eat the wedding dinner.
11Later, the 5 stupid women came back. They called to that man. They said, ‘Sir, please open the door for us.’
12But he said, ‘Who are you? I don’t know you.’ ”#Luke 13:25
13Then Jesus said, “It will be like that for you too. You don’t know when I will come back. You don’t know the day or the time. So you have to keep on waiting for me properly. You have to be ready for me when I come.”
(We have not yet translated 25:14-30. You can read a story like that story in Luke 19:11-27.)
After Jesus comes back, he will judge everybody
31Jesus said, “I am God’s special man, and one day, I will come back from heaven, and all God’s angel messengers will come with me. At that time, I will be really great and powerful. I will be the biggest boss, and I will sit down on the big boss’s seat.#Matthew 16:27; 19:28 32All the people in the world, from every country, they will all come together in front of me. Then I will split all those people into 2 mobs. 33I will put one mob on one side of me, and the other mob on the other side of me.
34Then I will say to the people on my right-hand side, ‘Come on, you mob. My father is happy with you, so you can be in his family. A long time ago, at the time when he made the world, he made a good place for you. It is ready for you now. 35You see, at one time I was hungry, and you gave me some food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me some water to drink. I was a stranger with nowhere to live, so you took me into your home. 36In the cold weather time I didn’t have enough clothes to keep me warm, so you gave me some more clothes. I was sick, and you looked after me. I was in prison, and you visited me there.’
37Then these good people will say, ‘Sir, when did we ever see you hungry, and give you food? Or thirsty, and give you water to drink? 38When did we ever see you as a stranger, and take you into our homes? When did we ever see you short of clothes, and give you some more clothes? 39When did we ever see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’
40I will say to them, ‘Listen. You did all these things to help my followers. They were not important people, but they were mine, so every time you helped them, you helped me at the same time.’
41Then I will turn to the people on my left-hand side, and I will say to them, ‘Get away from me, you mob that God will punish. Go into that big fire that burns for ever. God made that fire for all the bad spirits and for their boss, the devil. And you have to go there too. 42You see, I was hungry, but you didn’t give me anything to eat. I was thirsty, but you didn’t give me a drink. 43I was a stranger with nowhere to live, but you didn’t take me into your home. I didn’t have enough clothes to keep me warm, but you didn’t give me any more clothes. I was sick, and in prison, but you didn’t visit me.’
44Then they will say, ‘But, sir, when did we ever see you with those problems and not help you? We never saw you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or short of clothes, or sick, or in prison.’
45And I will say to them, ‘Listen. You didn’t do anything to help my friends. They were not important people, but they were my people. Every time you said no to helping them, at that same time you were saying no to helping me.’
46Then that bad mob will go to the bad place, and God will punish them for ever. But the good mob will go to live in the good place for ever.”#Daniel 12:2
(We have not yet translated 26:1—27:62a. You can read those stories and messages in Mark chapters 14 and 15, and Luke chapters 22 and 23. They are about the way people killed Jesus, and put his body in a cave, and blocked that cave with a big stone.)
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