¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability.^(A) 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.^{(B) 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.^(C) 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.^(D) 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.^{(E) 30} And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’^(F)

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes^(G) in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.^{(H) 32} All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate^(I) the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.^{(J) 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^(K) prepared for you since the creation of the world.^{(L) 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,^{(M) 36} I needed clothes and you clothed me,^(N) I was sick and you looked after me,^(O) I was in prison and you came to visit me.’^(P)

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.’^(Q)

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me,^(R) you who are cursed, into the eternal fire^(S) prepared for the devil and his angels.^{(T) 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.’^(U)

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

The Plot Against Jesus^(X)

26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things,^(Y) he said to his disciples, ² “As you know, the Passover^(Z) 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^(AA) in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,^{(AB) 4} and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.^{(AC) 5} “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot^(AD) among the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany^(AE)(AF)

⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany^(AG) 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,^[b](AH) but you will not always have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.^(AI)