Matthew 25
25
1“The kingdom of heaven is like ten girls, who took their lamps with them to go and meet the bridegroom. 2Five were foolish, and five were wise. 3The foolish girls took their lamps but didn't take any oil with them, 4while the wise took jars of oil with them as well as their lamps. 5The bridegroom took a long time and all the girls became drowsy and fell asleep. 6At midnight the shout came, ‘Look, the bridegroom's here! Come out and meet him!’ 7All the girls got up and trimmed the wicks of their lamps. The foolish girls said to the wise ones, 8‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ But the wise girls replied, 9‘No, because otherwise there won't be enough for both you and for us. Go to the shopkeepers and buy some oil for yourselves.’ 10While they went to buy oil, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was locked shut. 11The other girls came later. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they called, ‘Open the door for us!’ 12But he answered, ‘I tell you the truth: I don't know you.’ 13So stay alert, for you don't know the day, or the hour.
14It's like a man who went away on a trip. He called in his servants and entrusted them with what he owned. 15To one of them he gave five talents,#25:15. Probably referring to talents of silver, a large amount of money. to another he gave two, and to another one, according to their different abilities. Then he left. 16Immediately the one with five talents went and invested them in a business, and made another five talents. 17In the same way the one with two talents made another two. 18But the man who'd received the one talent went off and dug a hole and hid his master's money. 19A long time later the master of those servants returned, and settled accounts with them. 20The one with five talents came and presented the other five talents. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘You gave me five talents. Look, I've made a profit of five talents.’ 21His master said to him, ‘You've done well—you are a good, faithful servant. You have proved yourself trustworthy over small things, so now I'm placing you in charge over many things. Be happy because I'm really pleased with you!’ 22The one with two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘You gave me two talents. Look, I've made a profit of two talents.’ 23His master said to him, ‘You've done well—you are a good, faithful servant. You have proved trustworthy over small things, so now I'm placing you in charge over many things. Be happy because I'm really pleased with you!’
24Then the man with one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I know that you're a hard man. You reap where you didn't sow, and you harvest crops that you didn't plant. 25So since I was afraid of you I went and buried your talent in the ground. Look, you can have back what belongs to you.’ 26But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you think I reap where I don't sow, and harvest crops I didn't plant, 27then you should have deposited my silver in the bank so that when I returned I could have had my money with interest. 28Take the talent away from him, and give it to the one with ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given even more; and everyone who doesn't have anything, even what they have will be taken away from them. 30Now throw this useless servant out into the darkness where there'll be crying and gnashing of teeth.’
31But when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his majestic throne. 32Everyone will be brought before him. He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He'll place the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left. 34Then the king will say to the ones on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, and inherit the kingdom that's been prepared for you from the beginning of the world. 35For I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in. 36I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then those who are right will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and fed you, or thirsty and gave you a drink? 38When did we see you as a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’ 40The king will tell them, ‘I tell you the truth: whatever you did for one of these least important brothers of mine you did for me.’
41He'll also say to those on his left, ‘Go away from me, you who are doomed, into the eternal#25:41. Eternal in consequence, rather than in duration. fire prepared for the devil and his angels! 42For I was hungry and you didn't give me anything to eat. I was thirsty and you didn't give me a drink. 43I was a stranger and you didn't invite me in. I was naked and you didn't clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you didn't visit me.’ 44Then they will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn't look after you?’ 45Then he will tell them, ‘I tell you the truth: whatever you didn't do for one of these least important brothers of mine you didn't do for me.’ 46They will go away into eternal condemnation, but those who are good will enter eternal life.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Matthew 25
25
A Story About Ten Bridesmaids
1“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to wait for the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The five foolish bridesmaids took their lamps, but they did not take more oil for the lamps to burn. 4The wise bridesmaids took their lamps and more oil in jars. 5Because the bridegroom was late, they became sleepy and went to sleep.
6“At midnight someone cried out, ‘The bridegroom is coming! Come and meet him!’ 7Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready. 8But the foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 9The wise bridesmaids answered, ‘No, the oil we have might not be enough for all of us. Go to the people who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10“So while the five foolish bridesmaids went to buy oil, the bridegroom came. The bridesmaids who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding feast. Then the door was closed and locked.
11“Later the others came back and said, ‘Sir, sir, open the door to let us in.’ 12But the bridegroom answered, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t want to know you.’
13“So always be ready, because you don’t know the day or the hour the Son of Man will come.
A Story About Three Servants
14“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was going to another place for a visit. Before he left, he called for his servants and told them to take care of his things while he was gone. 15He gave one servant five bags of gold, another servant two bags of gold, and a third servant one bag of gold, to each one as much as he could handle. Then he left. 16The servant who got five bags went quickly to invest the money and earned five more bags. 17In the same way, the servant who had two bags invested them and earned two more. 18But the servant who got one bag went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.
19“After a long time the master came home and asked the servants what they did with his money. 20The servant who was given five bags of gold brought five more bags to the master and said, ‘Master, you trusted me to care for five bags of gold, so I used your five bags to earn five more.’ 21The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things, I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.’
22“Then the servant who had been given two bags of gold came to the master and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of gold to care for, so I used your two bags to earn two more.’ 23The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things, I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.’
24“Then the servant who had been given one bag of gold came to the master and said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a hard man. You harvest things you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not sow any seed. 25So I was afraid and went and hid your money in the ground. Here is your bag of gold.’ 26The master answered, ‘You are a wicked and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest things I did not plant and that I gather crops where I did not sow any seed. 27So you should have put my gold in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would have received my gold back with interest.’
28“So the master told his other servants, ‘Take the bag of gold from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags of gold. 29Those who have much will get more, and they will have much more than they need. But those who do not have much will have everything taken away from them.’ 30Then the master said, ‘Throw that useless servant outside, into the darkness where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’
The King Will Judge All People
31“The Son of Man will come again in his great glory, with all his angels. He will be King and sit on his great throne. 32All the nations of the world will be gathered before him, and he will separate them into two groups as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33The Son of Man will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34“Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, my Father has given you his blessing. Receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made. 35I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. 36I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37“Then the good people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our house? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’
40“Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.’
41“Then the King will say to those on his left, ‘Go away from me. You will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever that was prepared for the devil and his angels. 42I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. 43I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
44“Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or alone and away from home or without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?’
45“Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you refused to do for even the least of my people here, you refused to do for me.’
46“These people will go off to be punished forever, but the good people will go to live forever.”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.