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25 Then shall the kingdom of the heavens be made like to ten virgins that having taken their torches, went forth to meet the bridegroom.

And five of them were prudent and five foolish.

They that were foolish took their torches and did not take oil with them;

but the prudent took oil in their vessels with their torches.

Now the bridegroom tarrying, they all grew heavy and slept.

But in [the] middle of [the] night there was a cry, Behold, the bridegroom; go forth to meet him.

Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their torches.

And the foolish said to the prudent, Give us of your oil, for our torches are going out.

But the prudent answered saying, [We cannot,] lest it might not suffice for us and for you. Go rather to those that sell, and buy for yourselves.

10 But as they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and the [ones that were] ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.

11 Afterwards come also the rest of the virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us;

12 but he answering said, Verily I say unto you, I do not know you.

13 Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour.

14 For [it is] as [if] a man going away out of a country called his own bondmen and delivered to them his substance.

15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to each according to his particular ability, and immediately went away out of the country.

16 And he that had received the five talents went and trafficked with them, and made five other talents.

17 In like manner also he that [had received] the two, [he also] gained two others.

18 But he that had received the one went and dug in the earth, and hid the money of his lord.

19 And after a long time the lord of those bondmen comes and reckons with them.

20 And he that had received the five talents came to [him] and brought five other talents, saying, [My] lord, thou deliveredst me five talents; behold, I have gained five other talents besides them.

21 His lord said to him, Well, good and faithful bondman, thou wast faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things: enter into the joy of thy lord.

22 And he also that had received the two talents came to [him] and said, [My] lord, thou deliveredst me two talents; behold, I have gained two other talents besides them.

23 His lord said to him, Well, good and faithful bondman, thou wast faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

24 And he also that had received the one talent coming to [him] said, [My] lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hadst not sowed, and gathering from where thou hadst not scattered,

25 and being afraid I went away and hid thy talent in the earth; behold, thou hast that which is thine.

26 And his lord answering said to him, Wicked and slothful bondman, thou knewest that I reap where I had not sowed, and gather from where I had not scattered;

27 thou oughtest then to have put my money to the money-changers, and when I came I should have got what is mine with interest.

28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that has the ten talents:

29 for to every one that has shall be given, and he shall be in abundance; but from him that has not, that even which he has shall be taken from him.

30 And cast out the useless bondman into the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

31 But when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit down upon his throne of glory,

32 and all the nations shall be gathered before him; and he shall separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;

33 and he will set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on [his] left.

34 Then shall the King say to those on his right hand, Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from [the] world's foundation:

35 for I hungered, and ye gave me to eat; I thirsted, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;

36 naked, and ye clothed me; I was ill, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came to me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungering, and nourished thee; or thirsting, and gave thee to drink?

38 and when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in; or naked, and clothed thee?

39 and when saw we thee ill, or in prison, and came to thee?

40 And the King answering shall say to them, Verily, I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me.

41 Then shall he say also to those on the left, Go from me, cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 for I hungered, and ye gave me not to eat; I thirsted, and ye gave me not to drink;

43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye did not clothe me; ill, and in prison, and ye did not visit me.

44 Then shall *they* also answer saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or ill, or in prison, and have not ministered to thee?

45 Then shall he answer them saying, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have not done it to one of these least, neither have ye done it to me.

46 And these shall go away into eternal punishment, and the righteous into life eternal.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like(A) ten virgins who took their lamps(B) and went out to meet the bridegroom.(C) Five of them were foolish and five were wise.(D) The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.(E)

“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’(F)

“‘No,’ they replied, ‘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 the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet.(G) And the door was shut.

11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’(H)

13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.(I)

The Parable of the Bags of Gold(J)

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey,(K) 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.(L) 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.(M) 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.(N) 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.(O) 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.(P) 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’(Q)

The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes(R) in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.(S) 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate(T) the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.(U) 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(V) prepared for you since the creation of the world.(W) 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,(X) 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me,(Y) I was sick and you looked after me,(Z) I was in prison and you came to visit me.’(AA)

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.’(AB)

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me,(AC) you who are cursed, into the eternal fire(AD) prepared for the devil and his angels.(AE) 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.’(AF)

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.(AG)(AH)

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 25:15 Greek five talents … two talents … one talent; also throughout this parable; a talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wage.