Matthew 25
Jubilee Bible 2000
25 ¶ Then shall the kingdom of the heavens be likened unto ten virgins who, taking their lamps, went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were prudent, and five were foolish.
3 Those that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them;
4 but the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the prudent, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out.
9 But the prudent answered, saying, Lest there be not enough for us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and those that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut.
11 Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man comes.
14 ¶ For it is like a man travelling into a far country, who called his own slaves and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each one according to his faculty, and straightway took his journey.
16 And after he was gone, he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same and made another five talents.
17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained another two.
18 But he that had received one went and dug in the earth and hid his lord’s money.
19 And after a long time the lord of those slaves came and reckoned accounts with them.
20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, Lord, thou didst deliver unto me five talents; behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful slave; thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou didst deliver unto me two talents; behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful slave; thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not scattered;
25 therefore, I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth; behold, thou hast what is thine.
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful slave, thou knewest that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I have not scattered;
27 therefore, it was expedient for thee to have put my money to the bankers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with interest.
28 Take, therefore, the talent from him and give it unto him who has ten talents.
29 For unto every one that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance, but from him that has not shall be taken away even that which he has.
30 And cast ye the unprofitable slave into the outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
31 ¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he shall sit upon the throne of his glory,
32 and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats,
33 and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto those on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
35 for I was hungry, and ye gave me food; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;
36 naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee? or thirsty and give thee drink?
38 When did we see thee a stranger and take thee in? or naked and clothe thee?
39 Or when did we see thee sick or in prison and come unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brothers, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then he shall also say unto those who shall be on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels;
42 for I was hungry, and ye gave me no food; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink;
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then they shall also answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then he shall answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of my brothers, ye did it not to me.
46 And they shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Matthew 25
Easy-to-Read Version
A Story About Ten Girls
25 “At that time God’s kingdom will be like ten girls who went to wait for the bridegroom. They took their lamps with them. 2 Five of the girls were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The foolish girls took their lamps with them, but they did not take extra oil for the lamps. 4 The wise girls took their lamps and more oil in jars. 5 When the bridegroom was very late, the girls could not keep their eyes open, and they all fell asleep.
6 “At midnight someone announced, ‘The bridegroom is coming! Come and meet him!’
7 “Then all the girls woke up. They made their lamps ready. 8 But the foolish girls said to the wise girls, ‘Give us some of your oil. The oil in our lamps is all gone.’
9 “The wise girls answered, ‘No! The oil we have might not be enough for all of us. But go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “So the foolish girls went to buy oil. While they were gone, the bridegroom came. The girls who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding feast. Then the door was closed and locked.
11 “Later, the other girls came. They said, ‘Sir, sir! Open the door to let us in.’
12 “But the bridegroom answered, ‘Certainly not! I don’t even know you.’
13 “So always be ready. You don’t know the day or the time when the Son of Man will come.
A Story About Three Servants(A)
14 “At that time God’s kingdom will also be like a man leaving home to travel to another place for a visit. Before he left, he talked with his servants. He told his servants to take care of his things while he was gone. 15 He decided how much each servant would be able to care for. The man gave one servant five bags of money.[a] He gave another servant two bags. And he gave a third servant one bag. Then he left. 16 The servant who got five bags went quickly to invest the money. Those five bags of money earned five more. 17 It was the same with the servant who had two bags. That servant invested the money and earned two more. 18 But the servant who got one bag of money went away and dug a hole in the ground. Then he hid his master’s money in the hole.
19 “After a long time the master came home. He asked the servants what they did with his money. 20 The servant who got five bags brought that amount and five more bags of money to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you trusted me to care for five bags of money. So I used them to earn five more.’
21 “The master answered, ‘You did right. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with that small amount of money. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’
22 “Then the servant who got two bags of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of money to care for. So I used your two bags to earn two more.’
23 “The master answered, ‘You did right. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with a small amount of money. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’
24 “Then the servant who got one bag of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, I knew you were a very hard man. You harvest what you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not put any seed. 25 So I was afraid. I went and hid your money in the ground. Here is the one bag of money you gave me.’
26 “The master answered, ‘You are a bad and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest what I did not plant and that I gather crops where I did not put any seed. 27 So you should have put my money in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would get my money back. And I would also get the interest that my money earned.’
28 “So the master told his other servants, ‘Take the one bag of money from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags. 29 Everyone who uses what they have will get more. They will have much more than they need. But people who do not use what they have will have everything taken away from them.’ 30 Then the master said, ‘Throw that useless servant outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’
The Son of Man Will Judge All People
31 “The Son of Man will come again with divine greatness, and all his angels will come with him. He will sit as king on his great and glorious throne. 32 All the people of the world will be gathered before him. Then he will separate everyone into two groups. It will be like a shepherd separating his sheep from his goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the king will say to the godly people on his right, ‘Come, my Father has great blessings for you. The kingdom he promised is now yours. It has been prepared for you since the world was made. 35 It is yours because when I was hungry, you gave me food to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I had no place to stay, you welcomed me into your home. 36 When I was without clothes, you gave me something to wear. When I was sick, you cared for me. When I was in prison, you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the godly people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you with no place to stay and welcome you into our home? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’
40 “Then the king will answer, ‘The truth is, anything you did for any of my people here,[b] you also did for me.’
41 “Then the king will say to the evil people on his left, ‘Get away from me. God has already decided that you will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever—the fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 You must go away because when I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me nothing to drink. 43 When I had no place to stay, you did not welcome me into your home. When I was without clothes, you gave me nothing to wear. When I was sick and in prison, you did not care for me.’
44 “Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? When did we see you without a place to stay? Or when did we see you without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see any of this and not help you?’
45 “The king will answer, ‘The truth is, anything you refused to do for any of my people here, you refused to do for me.’
46 “Then these evil people will go away to be punished forever. But the godly people will go and enjoy eternal life.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 25:15 bags of money Literally, “ talanta” or “talents.” A talent was about 27 to 36 kg (60 to 80 pounds) of gold, silver, or copper coins. Also in verses 20, 22, 24, 28.
- Matthew 25:40 any of my people here Literally, “one of the least of these brothers of mine.” Also in verse 45.
Copyright © 2013, 2020 by Ransom Press International
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International