Matthew 24:43-25:13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
43 (A)Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. 44 So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
The Faithful or the Unfaithful Servant.[a] 45 (B)“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time?[b] 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. 47 Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. 48 [c]But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, 50 the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour 51 (C)and will punish him severely[d] and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Chapter 25
The Parable of the Ten Virgins.[e] 1 “Then[f] the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 [g]Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, 4 but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. 11 [h](D)Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ 12 But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 (E)Therefore, stay awake,[i] for you know neither the day nor the hour.
The Parable of the Talents.[j]
Footnotes
- 24:45–51 The second part of the discourse (see note on Mt 24:1–25:46) begins with this parable of the faithful or unfaithful servant; cf. Lk 12:41–46. It is addressed to the leaders of Matthew’s church; the servant has been put in charge of his master’s household (Mt 24:45) even though that household is composed of those who are his fellow servants (Mt 24:49).
- 24:45 To distribute…proper time: readiness for the master’s return means a vigilance that is accompanied by faithful performance of the duty assigned.
- 24:48 My master…delayed: the note of delay is found also in the other parables of this section; cf. Mt 25:5, 19.
- 24:51 Punish him severely: the Greek verb, found in the New Testament only here and in the Lucan parallel (Lk 12:46), means, literally, “cut in two.” With the hypocrites: see note on Mt 6:2. Matthew classes the unfaithful Christian leader with the unbelieving leaders of Judaism. Wailing and grinding of teeth: see note on Mt 8:11–12.
- 25:1–13 Peculiar to Matthew.
- 25:1 Then: at the time of the parousia. Kingdom…will be like: see note on Mt 13:24–30.
- 25:2–4 Foolish…wise: cf. the contrasted “wise man” and “fool” of Mt 7:24, 26 where the two are distinguished by good deeds and lack of them, and such deeds may be signified by the oil of this parable.
- 25:11–12 Lord, Lord: cf. Mt 7:21. I do not know you: cf. Mt 7:23 where the Greek verb is different but synonymous.
- 25:13 Stay awake: some scholars see this command as an addition to the original parable of Matthew’s traditional material, since in Mt 25:5 all the virgins, wise and foolish, fall asleep. But the wise virgins are adequately equipped for their task, and stay awake may mean no more than to be prepared; cf. Mt 24:42, 44.
- 25:14–30 Cf. Lk 19:12–27.
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