Matthew 25
Revised Geneva Translation
25 “Then the Kingdom of Heaven shall be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 “And five of them were wise, and five foolish.
3 “The foolish took their lamps but took no oil with them.
4 “But the wise took oil in their flasks with their lamps.
5 “Now, while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight there was a cry made, ‘Behold, the bridegroom comes! Go out to meet him!’
7 “Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
8 “And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil. For our lamps are out.’
9 “But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, for there will not be enough for us and you. Rather, go to the market and buy some for yourselves.
10 “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came. And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding. And the gate was shut.
11 “Afterwards the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord! Lord! Open up for us!’
12 “But he answered, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Therefore, watch. For you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come.
14 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is as a man who, going into a strange country, called his servants and handed over his goods to them.
15 “And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, each according to his own ability. And immediately he left home.
16 “Then the one who had received the five talents, went and traded with them, and gained another five talents.
17 “Likewise also, the one who received two, gained another two.
18 “But the one who received the one, went and buried it in the earth, and hid his master’s money.
19 “But after a long season, the master of those servants came and settled with them.
20 “Then the one who had received five talents came, and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five more talents with them.’
21 “Then his master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in little. I will make you ruler over much. Enter into your master’s joy.’
22 “Also, the one who had received two talents came, and said, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents more.’
23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in little. I will make you ruler over much. Enter into your master’s joy.’
24 “Then the one who had received the one talent came, and said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a hard man, who reaps where you do not sow, and gathers where you do not scatter.
25 ‘Therefore, I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’
26 “And his master answered, and said to him, ‘You evil and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter.
27 “‘Therefore, you ought to have put my money in the bank. And then at my coming I would have received my own with interest.
28 “‘Therefore, take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents.
29 “‘For to everyone who has, it shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from the one who has not, even that he has shall be taken away.
30 “‘Therefore, cast that unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
31 “And when the Son of Man comes in His Glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He shall sit upon the throne of His Glory,
32 “And all nations shall be gathered before Him, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 “And He shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King shall say to those on his right hand, ‘Come you blessed of My Father. Take the inheritance of the Kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 “‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me food. I thirsted, and you gave Me drink. I was a stranger, and you took Me in to you.
36 “‘I was naked, and you clothed Me. I was sick, and you visited Me. I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous shall answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You; or thirsty and give You drink?
38 “‘And when did we see You as a stranger and take You in to us; or naked and clothe You?
39 “‘Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 “And the king shall answer, and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these, My brothers, you have done it to Me.’
41 “Then He shall say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me you cursed, into everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 “‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food. I thirsted, and you gave Me no drink.
43 “‘I was a stranger, and you did not take Me in to you. I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they shall answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry; or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
45 “Then He shall answer them, and say, ‘Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
46 “And these shall go into everlasting pain, and the righteous into life eternal.”
Matthew 25
New King James Version
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet (A)the bridegroom. 2 (B)Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, (C)they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight (D)a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom [a]is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and (E)trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and (F)the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, (G)‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, (H)I do not know you.’
13 (I)“Watch therefore, for you (J)know neither the day nor the hour [b]in which the Son of Man is coming.
The Parable of the Talents(K)
14 (L)“For the kingdom of heaven is (M)like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, (N)to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were (O)faithful over a few things, (P)I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into (Q)the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, (R)‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into (S)the joy of your lord.’
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You (T)wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
29 (U)‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant (V)into the outer darkness. (W)There will be weeping and (X)gnashing of teeth.’
The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations
31 (Y)“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the [c]holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 (Z)All the nations will be gathered before Him, and (AA)He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the (AB)sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, (AC)inherit the kingdom (AD)prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 (AE)for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; (AF)I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was (AG)naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; (AH)I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, (AI)inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, (AJ)‘Depart from Me, you cursed, (AK)into the everlasting fire prepared for (AL)the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer [d]Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, (AM)inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And (AN)these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 25:6 NU omits is coming
- Matthew 25:13 NU omits the rest of v. 13.
- Matthew 25:31 NU omits holy
- Matthew 25:44 NU, M omit Him
Matthew 25
English Standard Version
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like (A)ten virgins who took their lamps[a] and went to meet (B)the bridegroom.[b] 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were (C)wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom (D)was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But (E)at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and (F)trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and (G)those who were ready went in with him to (H)the marriage feast, and (I)the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, (J)‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 (K)But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, (L)I do not know you.’ 13 (M)Watch therefore, for you (N)know neither the day nor the hour.
The Parable of the Talents
14 (O)“For (P)it will be like a man (Q)going on a journey, who called his servants[c] and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five (R)talents,[d] to another two, to another one, (S)to each according to his ability. Then he (T)went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and (U)dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now (V)after a long time the master of those servants came and (W)settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and (X)faithful servant.[e] (Y)You have been faithful over a little; (Z)I will set you over much. Enter into (AA)the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be (AB)a hard man, reaping (AC)where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, (AD)you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You (AE)wicked and (AF)slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 (AG)For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And (AH)cast (AI)the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place (AJ)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The Final Judgment
31 (AK)“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, (AL)then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him (AM)will be gathered (AN)all the nations, and (AO)he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates (AP)the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then (AQ)the King will say to (AR)those on his right, ‘Come, you (AS)who are blessed by my Father, (AT)inherit (AU)the kingdom (AV)prepared for you (AW)from the foundation of the world. 35 For (AX)I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you (AY)gave me drink, (AZ)I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 (BA)I was naked and you clothed me, (BB)I was sick and you (BC)visited me, (BD)I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And (BE)the King will answer them, (BF)‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these (BG)my brothers,[f] you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, (BH)‘Depart from me, you (BI)cursed, into (BJ)the eternal fire prepared for (BK)the devil and his angels. 42 For (BL)I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, (BM)you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away (BN)into eternal punishment, but the righteous (BO)into (BP)eternal life.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 25:1 Or torches
- Matthew 25:1 Some manuscripts add and the bride
- Matthew 25:14 Or bondservants; also verse 19
- Matthew 25:15 A talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years' wages for a laborer
- Matthew 25:21 Or bondservant; also verses 23, 26, 30
- Matthew 25:40 Or brothers and sisters
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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