Matthew 25
25
A Story about Ten Bridesmaids
1“When the end comes, the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids. They took their oil lamps and went to meet the groom. 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3The foolish bridesmaids took their lamps, but they didn’t take any extra oil. 4The wise bridesmaids, however, took along extra oil for their lamps. 5Since the groom was late, all the bridesmaids became drowsy and fell asleep.
6“At midnight someone shouted, ‘The groom is here! Come to meet him!’ 7Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready.
8“The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’
9“But the wise bridesmaids replied, ‘We can’t do that. There won’t be enough for both of us. Go! Find someone to sell you some oil.’
10“While they were buying oil, the groom arrived. The bridesmaids who were ready went with him into the wedding hall, and the door was shut.
11“Later the other bridesmaids arrived and said, ‘Sir, sir, open the door for us!’
12“But he answered them, ‘I don’t even know who you are!’
13“So stay awake, because you don’t know the day or the hour.
A Story about Three Servants
14“The kingdom of heaven is like a man going on a trip. He called his servants and entrusted some money to them. 15He gave one man ten thousand dollars, another four thousand dollars, and another two thousand dollars. Each was given money based on his ability. Then the man went on his trip.
16“The one who received ten thousand dollars invested the money at once and doubled his money. 17The one who had four thousand dollars did the same and also doubled his money. 18But the one who received two thousand dollars went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
19“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The one who received ten thousand dollars brought the additional ten thousand. He said, ‘Sir, you gave me ten thousand dollars. I’ve doubled the amount.’
21“His master replied, ‘Good job! You’re a good and faithful servant! You proved that you could be trusted with a small amount. I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and share your master’s happiness.’
22“The one who received four thousand dollars came and said, ‘Sir, you gave me four thousand dollars. I’ve doubled the amount.’
23“His master replied, ‘Good job! You’re a good and faithful servant! You proved that you could be trusted with a small amount. I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and share your master’s happiness.’
24“Then the one who received two thousand dollars came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you are a hard person to please. You harvest where you haven’t planted and gather where you haven’t scattered any seeds. 25I was afraid. So I hid your two thousand dollars in the ground. Here’s your money!’
26“His master responded, ‘You evil and lazy servant! If you knew that I harvest where I haven’t planted and gather where I haven’t scattered, 27then you should have invested my money with the bankers. When I returned, I would have received my money back with interest. 28Take the two thousand dollars away from him! Give it to the one who has the ten thousand! 29To all who have, more will be given, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken away from those who don’t have much. 30Throw this useless servant outside into the darkness. People will cry and be in extreme pain there.’
Jesus Will Judge the World
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32The people of every nation will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right but the goats on his left.
34“Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, my Father has blessed you! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me into your home. 36I needed clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37“Then the people who have God’s approval will reply to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or see you thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you as a stranger and take you into our homes or see you in need of clothes and give you something to wear? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40“The king will answer them, ‘I can guarantee this truth: Whatever you did for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter how unimportant ⌞they seemed⌟, you did for me.’
41“Then the king will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me! God has cursed you! Go into everlasting fire 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 a stranger, and you didn’t take me into your homes. I needed clothes, and you didn’t give me anything to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t take care of me.’
44“They, too, will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or as a stranger or in need of clothes or sick or in prison and didn’t help you?’
45“He will answer them, ‘I can guarantee this truth: Whatever you failed to do for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter how unimportant ⌞they seemed⌟, you failed to do for me.’
46“These people will go away into eternal punishment, but those with God’s approval will go into eternal life.”
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Matthew 25: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
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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