God's New Bible

The Gospel According to St. Matthew

Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic

- Chapter 25 -

1
“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be like ten virgins, who, taking their lamps, went out to meet the groom and the bride.
2
But five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.
3
For the five foolish, having brought their lamps, did not take oil with them.
4
Yet truly, the prudent ones brought the oil, in their containers, with the lamps.
5
Since the bridegroom was delayed, they all fell asleep, and they were sleeping.
6
But in the middle of the night, a cry went out: ‘Behold, the groom is arriving. Go out to meet him.’
7
Then all those virgins rose up and trimmed their lamps.
8
But the foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give to us from your oil, for our lamps are being extinguished.’
9
The prudent responded by saying, ‘Lest perhaps there may not be enough for us and for you, it would be better for you to go to the vendors and buy some for yourselves.’
10
But while they were going to buy it, the groom arrived. And those who were prepared entered with him to the wedding, and the door was closed.
11
Yet truly, at the very end, the remaining virgins also arrived, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’
12
But he responded by saying, ‘Amen I say to you, I do not know you.’
13
And so you must be vigilant, because you do not know the day or the hour.

The Parable of the Talents

(Luke 19:11–27)
14
For it is like a man setting out on a long journey, who called his servants and delivered to them his goods.
15
And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, yet to another he gave one, to each according to his own ability. And promptly, he set out.
16
Then he who had received five talents went out, and he made use of these, and he gained another five.
17
And similarly, he who had received two gained another two.
18
But he who had received one, going out, dug into the earth, and he hid the money of his lord.
19
Yet truly, after a long time, the lord of those servants returned and he settled accounts with them.
20
And when he who had received five talents approached, he brought another five talents, saying: ‘Lord, you delivered five talents to me. Behold, I have increased it by another five.’
21
His lord said to him: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Since you have been faithful over a few things, I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the gladness of your lord.’
22
Then he who had received two talents also approached, and he said: ‘Lord, you delivered two talents to me. Behold, I have gained another two.’
23
His lord said to him: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Since you have been faithful over a few things, I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the gladness of your lord.’
24
Then he who had received one talent, approaching, said: ‘Lord, I know that you are a hard man. You reap where you have not sown, and gather where you have not scattered.
25
And so, being afraid, I went out and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’
26
But his lord said to him in response: ‘You evil and lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered.
27
Therefore, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and then, at my arrival, at least I would have received what is mine with interest.
28
And so, take the talent away from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.
29
For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he shall have in abundance. But from him who has not, even what he seems to have, shall be taken away.
30
And cast that useless 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 will have arrived in his majesty, and all the Angels with him, then he will sit upon the seat of his majesty.
32
And all the nations shall be gathered together before him. And he shall separate them from one another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33
And he shall station the sheep, indeed, on his right, but the goats on his left.
34
Then the King shall say to those who will be on his right: ‘Come, you blessed of my Father. Possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35
For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in;
36
naked, and you covered me; sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.’
37
Then the just will answer him, saying: ‘Lord, when have we seen you hungry, and fed you; thirsty, and given you drink?
38
And when have we seen you a stranger, and taken you in? Or naked, and covered you?
39
Or when did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit to you?’
40
And in response, the King shall say to them, ‘Amen I say to you, whenever you did this for one of these, the least of my brothers, you did it for me.’
41
Then he shall also say, to those who will be on his left: ‘Depart from me, you accursed ones, into the eternal fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels.
42
For I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and you did not give me to drink;
43
I was a stranger and you did not take me in; naked, and you did not cover me; sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.’
44
Then they will also answer him, saying: ‘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 he shall respond to them by saying: ‘Amen I say to you, whenever you did not do it to one of these least, neither did you do it to me.’
46
And these shall go into eternal punishment, but the just shall go into eternal life.”
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.”