Matthew 25:31-46
New English Translation
The Judgment
31 “When[a] the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All[b] the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He[c] 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, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him,[d] ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When[e] did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? 39 When[f] did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the king will answer them,[g] ‘I tell you the truth,[h] just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters[i] of mine, you did it for me.’
41 “Then he will say[j] to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels! 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 receive me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they too will answer,[k] ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not give you whatever you needed?’ 45 Then he will answer them,[l] ‘I tell you the truth,[m] just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ 46 And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”[n]
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- Matthew 25:31 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
- Matthew 25:32 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
- Matthew 25:33 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
- Matthew 25:37 tn Grk “answer him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
- Matthew 25:38 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
- Matthew 25:39 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
- Matthew 25:40 tn Grk “answering, the king will say to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
- Matthew 25:40 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
- Matthew 25:40 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). In this context Jesus is ultimately speaking of his “followers” (whether men or women, adults or children), but the familial connotation of “brothers and sisters” is also important to retain here.
- Matthew 25:41 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
- Matthew 25:44 tn Grk “Then they will answer, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
- Matthew 25:45 tn Grk “answer them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
- Matthew 25:45 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
- Matthew 25:46 sn Here the ultimate destination of the righteous is eternal life. In several places Matthew uses “life” or “eternal life” in proximity with “the kingdom of heaven” or merely “the kingdom,” suggesting a close relationship between the two concepts (compare Matt 25:34 with v. 46; Matt 19:16, 17, 29 with vv. 23, 24). Matthew consistently portrays “eternal life” as something a person enters in the world to come, whereas the Gospel of John sees “eternal life” as beginning in the present and continuing into the future (cf. John 5:24).
Matthew 25:31-46
International Standard Version
The Judgment of the Nations
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels are with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be assembled in front of him, and he will cull them out, one from another, like a shepherd separates sheep from goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right but the goats on his left.
34 “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who have been blessed by my Father! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, 35 because 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 welcomed me. 36 I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then the righteous will say to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you something to eat, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or see you naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’
40 The king will answer them, ‘I tell all of you[a] with certainty, since you did it for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me, you who are accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the Devil and his angels! 42 Here’s why: 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 didn’t welcome me. I was naked, and you didn’t clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or as a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t help you?’
45 Then he will say to them, ‘I tell all of you[b] with certainty, since you didn’t do it for one of the least important of these, you didn’t do it for me.’ 46 These people will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go[c] into eternal life.”
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- Matthew 25:40 The Gk. pronoun you is pl.
- Matthew 25:45 The Gk. pronoun you is pl.
- Matthew 25:46 The Gk. lacks will go
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