The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like^(A) ten virgins who took their lamps^(B) and went out to meet the bridegroom.^{(C) 2} Five of them were foolish and five were wise.^{(D) 3} The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.^(E)

⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’^(F)

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet.^(G) And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’^(H)

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.^(I)

The Parable of the Bags of Gold^(J)

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey,^(K) who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability.^(L) Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag 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.^{(M) 20} The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.^(N) Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.^(O) Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.^{(P) 30} And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’^(Q)

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes^(R) in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.^{(S) 32} All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate^(T) the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.^{(U) 33} He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom^(V) prepared for you since the creation of the world.^{(W) 35} For I 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 invited me in,^{(X) 36} I needed clothes and you clothed me,^(Y) I was sick and you looked after me,^(Z) I was in prison and you came to visit me.’^(AA)

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’^(AB)

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me,^(AC) you who are cursed, into the eternal fire^(AD) prepared for the devil and his angels.^{(AE) 42} For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’^(AF)

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.^(AG)”^(AH)

The Plot Against Jesus^(A)

26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things,^(B) he said to his disciples, ² “As you know, the Passover^(C) is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled^(D) in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,^{(E) 4} and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.^{(F) 5} “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot^(G) among the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany^(H)(I)

⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany^(J) in the home of Simon the Leper, ⁷ a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

⁸ When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you,^[a](K) but you will not always have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.^{(L) 13} Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus^(M)

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot^(N)—went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.^{(O) 16} From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

³ Then Mary took about a pint^[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume;^(A) she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.^(B) And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

The Last Supper^(A)(B)(C)

¹⁷ On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread,^(D) the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”^(E)

¹⁸ He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time^(F) is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” ¹⁹ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.

²⁰ When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. ²¹ And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”^(G)

²² They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

²³ Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.^{(H) 24} The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.^(I) But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²⁵ Then Judas, the one who would betray him,^(J) said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”^(K)

Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it^(L) and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

²⁷ Then he took a cup,^(M) and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the^[a] covenant,^(N) which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.^{(O) 29} I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you^(P) in my Father’s kingdom.”

³⁰ When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.^(Q)

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial^(A)

³¹ Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me,^(B) for it is written:

³² But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”^(D)

³³ Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

³⁴ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”^(E)

³⁵ But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you,^(F) I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Gethsemane^(A)

³⁶ Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee^(B) along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸ Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow^(C) to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”^(D)

³⁹ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup^(E) be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”^(F)

⁴⁰ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me^(G) for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹ “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.^(H) The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴² He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”^(I)

⁴³ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

⁴⁵ Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour^(J) has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”