25
“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.+ The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 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 marriage 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.
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,+ to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. \wj* 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 reconciled 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 besides 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 besides 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 did not sow, and gathering where you did not 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.’
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,+ 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.”
+1:1Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean “Anointed One”+1:16“Jesus” means “Salvation”.+1:20“Behold”, from “ἰδοὺ”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.+2:1The word for “wise men” (magoi) can also mean teachers, scientists, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, or sorcerers.+3:6or, immersed+3:7or, immersion+3:11or, immerse+3:11TR and NU add “and with fire”+3:13i.e., the Jordan River+4:10TR and NU read “Go away” instead of “Get behind me”+4:18TR reads “Jesus” instead of “he”+5:5or, land.+5:18literally, iota+5:18or, serif+5:22NU omits “without a cause”.+5:22“Raca” is an Aramaic insult, related to the word for “empty” and conveying the idea of empty-headedness.+5:22or, Hell+5:26literally, kodrantes. A kodrantes was a small copper coin worth about 2 lepta (widow’s mites)—not enough to buy very much of anything.+5:27TR adds “to the ancients”.+5:29or, Hell+5:30or, Hell+5:43Leviticus 19:18+5:43not in the Bible, but see Qumran Manual of Discipline Ix, 21-26+5:47NU reads “Gentiles” instead of “tax collectors”.+6:13NU omits “For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.”+6:27literally, cubit+7:14TR reads “Because” instead of “How”+8:15TR reads “them” instead of “him”+8:28NU reads “Gadarenes”+9:13NU omits “to repentance”.+9:20or, tassel+9:36TR reads “weary” instead of “harassed”+10:3NU omits “Lebbaeus, who was also called”+10:8TR adds “raise the dead,”+10:25Literally, Lord of the Flies, or the devil+10:28or, Hell.+10:29An assarion is a small coin worth one tenth of a drachma or a sixteenth of a denarius. An assarion is approximately the wages of one half hour of agricultural labor.+11:12or, plunder it.+11:19NU reads “actions” instead of “children”+11:23or, Hell+12:35TR adds “of the heart”+13:25darnel is a weed grass (probably bearded darnel or lolium temulentum) that looks very much like wheat until it is mature, when the difference becomes very apparent.+13:33literally, three sata 3 sata is about 39 liters or a bit more than a bushel+13:55or, Judah+14:25The night was equally divided into four watches, so the fourth watch is approximately 3:00 a.m. to sunrise.+14:27or, I AM!+14:36or, tassel+16:18Peter’s name, Petros in Greek, is the word for a specific rock or stone.+16:18Greek, petra, a rock mass or bedrock.+16:18or, Hell+17:21NU omits verse 21.+17:24A didrachma is a Greek silver coin worth 2 drachmas, about as much as 2 Roman denarii, or about 2 days’ wages. It was commonly used to pay the half-shekel temple tax, because 2 drachmas were worth one half shekel of silver. A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.+17:27A stater is a silver coin equivalent to four Attic or two Alexandrian drachmas, or a Jewish shekel: just exactly enough to cover the half-shekel temple tax for two people. A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, usually in the form of a silver coin.+18:9or, Hell+18:24Ten thousand talents (about 300 metric tons of silver) represents an extremely large sum of money, equivalent to about 60,000,000 denarii, where one denarius was typical of one day’s wages for agricultural labor.+18:28100 denarii was about one sixtieth of a talent, or about 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of silver.+19:17So MT and TR. NU reads “Why do you ask me about what is good?”+20:2A denarius is a silver Roman coin worth 1/25th of a Roman aureus. This was a common wage for a day of farm labor.+20:3Time was measured from sunrise to sunset, so the third hour would be about 9:00 a.m..+20:5noon and 3:00 p.m.+20:65:00 p.m.+20:26TR reads “let him be” instead of “shall be”+21:1TR & NU read “Bethphage” instead of “Bethsphage”+21:9“Hosanna” means “save us” or “help us, we pray”.+22:24or, seed+22:25or, seed+23:5phylacteries (tefillin in Hebrew) are small leather pouches that some Jewish men wear on their forehead and arm in prayer. They are used to carry a small scroll with some Scripture in it. See Deuteronomy 6:8.+23:5or, tassels+23:14Some Greek manuscripts reverse the order of verses 13 and 14, and some omit verse 13, numbering verse 14 as 13. NU omits verse 14.+23:15or, Hell+23:21NU reads “lives”+23:23cumin is an aromatic seed from Cuminum cyminum, resembling caraway in flavor and appearance. It is used as a spice.+23:25TR reads “self-indulgence” instead of “unrighteousness”+23:33or, Hell+24:28or, eagles+24:34The word for “generation” (genea) can also be translated as “race.”+24:36NU adds “nor the son”+25:7The 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.+25:15A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds (usually used to weigh silver unless otherwise specified)+25:40The word for “brothers” here may be also correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”