Mat 25 | NASB1995 | STEP | “ Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins , who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom .

Matthew 25

Parable of Ten Virgins

1 “Then ^athe kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their ^blamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 “Five of them were foolish, and five were ^cprudent. 3 “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the ^dprudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. 5 “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. 6 “But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 “Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 “The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 “But the ^eprudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ^fready went in with him to ^gthe wedding feast; and ^hthe door was shut. 11 “Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘ ⁱLord, lord, open up for us.’ 12 “But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 ^j“Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

Parable of the Talents

14 ^k“For it is just like a man ^l about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 “To one he gave five ^{▼▼ A talent was worth about fifteen years’ wages of a laborer
,} ⁿtalents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he ^owent on his journey. 16 “Immediately the one who had received the five ^ptalents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17 “In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. 18 “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his ^{▼▼ Or lord’s}master’s money.

19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and ^r settled accounts with them. 20 “The one who had received the five ^stalents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ 21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^tfaithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will ^uput you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your ^{▼▼ Or lord}master.’

22 “Also the one who had received the two ^wtalents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ 23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^xfaithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

24 “And the one also who had received the one ^ytalent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25 ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 27 ‘Then you ought to have put my money ^{▼▼ Lit to the bankers}in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

29 ^aa“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 “Throw out the worthless slave into ^abthe outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Judgment

31 “But when ^acthe Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then ^adHe will sit on His glorious throne. 32 “All the nations will be ^aegathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, ^afas the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep ^agon His right, and the goats ^ahon the left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, ^aiinherit the kingdom prepared for you ^ajfrom the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For ^akI was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; ^alI was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 ^amnaked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you ^anvisited Me; ^aoI was in prison, and you came to 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 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 ^ap“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, ^aqto the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘ ^arDepart from Me, accursed ones, into the ^aseternal fire which has been prepared for ^atthe 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 invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not ^{▼▼ Or serve}take care of You?’ 45 “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 “These will go away into ^aveternal punishment, but the righteous into ^aweternal life.”