Be Ready for His Coming

⁴² “Therefore ^(A)be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But ^[a]be sure of this, that ^(B)if the head of the house had known ^(C)at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ For this reason ^(D)you must be ready as well; for ^(E)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵ “^(F)Who then is the ^(G)faithful and ^(H)sensible slave whom his ^[b]master ^(I)put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave whom his ^[c]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I say to you that ^(J)he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My ^[d]master ^[e]is not coming for a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk; ⁵⁰ then the ^[f]master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, ⁵¹ and he will ^[g]cut him in two and assign ^[h]him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be ^(K)weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Parable of Ten Virgins

25 “Then ^(L)the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their ^(M)lamps and went out to meet the groom. ² Five of them were foolish, and five were ^(N)prudent. ³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take extra oil with them; ⁴ but the ^(O)prudent ones took oil in flasks with their lamps. ⁵ Now while the groom was delaying, they all became drowsy and began to sleep. ⁶ But at midnight ^[i]there finally was a shout: ‘Behold, the groom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ But the foolish virgins said to the prudent ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ However, the ^(P)prudent ones answered, ‘No, there most certainly would not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ But while they were ^[j]on their way to buy the oil, the groom came, and those who were ^(Q)ready went in with him to ^(R)the wedding feast; and ^(S)the door was shut. ¹¹ Yet later, the other virgins also came, saying, ‘^(T)Lord, lord, open up for us.’ ¹² But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ ^13 (U)Be on the alert then, because you do not know the day nor the hour.

Parable of the Talents

¹⁴ “^(V)For it is just like a man ^(W)about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five ^[k](X)talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he ^(Y)went on his journey. ¹⁶ The one who had received the five ^(Z)talents immediately went and did business with them, and earned five more talents. ¹⁷ In the same way the one who had received the two talents earned two more. ¹⁸ But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his ^[l]master’s money.

¹⁹ “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *^(AA)settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The one who had received the five ^(AB)talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have earned five more talents.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(AC)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will ^(AD)put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your ^[m]master.’

²² “Also the one who had received the two ^(AE)talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have earned two more talents.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(AF)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’

²⁴ “Now the one who had received the one ^(AG)talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours.’

²⁶ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You ^[n]worthless, lazy slave! Did you know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have ^[o]put my money in the bank, and ^[p]on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. ²⁸ Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

²⁹ “^(AH)For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. ³⁰ And throw the worthless slave into ^(AI)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.