² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes^(A)

He said:

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you,^(M) persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.^{(N) 12} Rejoice and be glad,^(O) because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.^(P)

Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.^(Q)

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world.^(R) A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.^{(S) 16} In the same way, let your light shine before others,^(T) that they may see your good deeds^(U) and glorify^(V) your Father in heaven.

⁴⁰ “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me,^(A) and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.^{(B) 41} Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴² And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”^(C)

⁴⁴ So you also must be ready,^(A) because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,^(B) whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.^{(C) 47} Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.^{(D) 48} But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.^{(E) 50} The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.^(F)

The Parable of the Bags of Gold^(A)

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey,^(B) who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability.^(C) 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.^{(D) 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.^(E) 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.^(F) 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.^{(G) 30} And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’^(H)

The Sheep and the Goats

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

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.’^(S)

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

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

³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them,^(A) and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children^(B) of the Most High,^(C) because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried^(A) and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[a](B) Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

³² “Do not be afraid,^(A) little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.^{(B) 33} Sell your possessions and give to the poor.^(C) Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven^(D) that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.^{(E) 34} For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.^(F)

¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.^{(A) 12} If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is,^(B) because the Day^(C) will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.^{(D) 14} If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.^{(E) 15} If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.^(F)

¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling^(A) or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless^(B) and pure, “children of God^(C) without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”^[a](D) Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ^(E) that I did not run^(F) or labor in vain.^(G)