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The Gospel According to St. Matthew

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- Chapter 25 -

1
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2
Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
3
The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take along any extra oil.
4
But the wise ones took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
5
When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6
At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
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Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.
8
The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9
‘No,’ said the wise ones, ‘or there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10
But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.
11
Later the other virgins arrived and said, ‘Lord, lord, open the door for us!’
12
But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’
13
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.(a)

The Parable of the Talents

(Luke 19:11–27)
14
For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions.
15
To one he gave five talents,(b) to another two talents, and to another one talent—each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey.
16
The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work (c) and gained five more.
17
Likewise, the one with the two talents gained two more.
18
But the servant who had received the one talent 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 to settle accounts with them.
20
The servant who had received the five talents came and presented five more. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. 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. Enter into the joy of your master!’
22
The servant who had received the two talents also came and said, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. 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. Enter into the joy of your master!’
24
Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
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So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what belongs to you.’
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‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ replied his master. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed.
27
Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received it back with interest.
28
Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.
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For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
30
And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Sheep and the Goats

31
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.
32
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
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He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.
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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 something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,
36
I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’
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 take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39
When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
40
And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
41
Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire 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 take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44
And they too will reply, ‘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 the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’
46
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Footnotes

(a)25:13 BYZ and TR include when the Son of Man comes.
(b)25:15 A talent was worth about twenty years’ wages for a laborer.
(c)25:16 Or 15... And he went on his journey at once. 16... went and put them to work. Translators vary as to the placement of the Greek adverb eutheōs (at once) at the end of verse 15 or at the beginning of verse 16.
1
“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2
Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
3
Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them,
4
but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5
Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6
But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’
7
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. (a)
8
The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
9
But the wise answered, saying, ‘What if there isn’t enough for us and you? You go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’
10
While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.
11
Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’
12
But he answered, ‘Most certainly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13
Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

The Parable of the Talents

(Luke 19:11–27)
14
“For it is like a man going into another country, who called his own servants and entrusted his goods to them.
15
To one he gave five talents, (b) to another two, to another one, to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.
16
Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.
17
In the same way, he also who got the two gained another two.
18
But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the earth and hid his lord’s money.
19
“Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and settled accounts with them.
20
He who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents in addition to them.’
21
“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
22
“He also who got the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents in addition to them.’
23
“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24
“He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow, and gathering where you didn’t scatter.
25
I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’
26
“But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter.
27
You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest.
28
Take away therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.
29
For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away.
30
Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Sheep and the Goats

31
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
32
Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33
He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34
Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
35
for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in.
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 will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?
38
When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you?
39
When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’
40
“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, (c) you did it to me.’
41
Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
42
for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;
43
I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44
“Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
45
“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’
46
These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Footnotes

(a)25:7 The end of the wick of an oil lamp needs to be cut off periodically to avoid having it become clogged with carbon deposits. The wick height is also adjusted so that the flame burns evenly and gives good light without producing a lot of smoke.
(b)25:15 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds (usually used to weigh silver unless otherwise specified)
(c)25:40 The word for “brothers” here may be also correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
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