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23 Then Jesus spake to the multitudes, and to his disciples,

saying, `On the seat of Moses sat down the scribes and the Pharisees;

all, then, as much as they may say to you to observe, observe and do, but according to their works do not, for they say, and do not;

for they bind together burdens heavy and grievous to be borne, and lay upon the shoulders of men, but with their finger they will not move them.

`And all their works they do to be seen by men, and they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the fringes of their garments,

they love also the chief couches in the supper, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

and the salutations in the market-places, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

`And ye -- ye may not be called Rabbi, for one is your director -- the Christ, and all ye are brethren;

and ye may not call [any] your father on the earth, for one is your Father, who is in the heavens,

10 nor may ye be called directors, for one is your director -- the Christ.

11 And the greater of you shall be your ministrant,

12 and whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.

13 `Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut up the reign of the heavens before men, for ye do not go in, nor those going in do ye suffer to enter.

14 `Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye eat up the houses of the widows, and for a pretence make long prayers, because of this ye shall receive more abundant judgment.

15 `Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye go round the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and whenever it may happen -- ye make him a son of gehenna twofold more than yourselves.

16 `Wo to you, blind guides, who are saying, Whoever may swear by the sanctuary, it is nothing, but whoever may swear by the gold of the sanctuary -- is debtor!

17 Fools and blind! for which [is] greater, the gold, or the sanctuary that is sanctifying the gold?

18 `And, whoever may swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever may swear by the gift that is upon it -- is debtor!

19 Fools and blind! for which [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that is sanctifying the gift?

20 `He therefore who did swear by the altar, doth swear by it, and by all things on it;

21 and he who did swear by the sanctuary, doth swear by it, and by Him who is dwelling in it;

22 and he who did swear by the heaven, doth swear by the throne of God, and by Him who is sitting upon it.

23 `Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye give tithe of the mint, and the dill, and the cumin, and did neglect the weightier things of the Law -- the judgment, and the kindness, and the faith; these it behoved [you] to do, and those not to neglect.

24 `Blind guides! who are straining out the gnat, and the camel are swallowing.

25 `Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye make clean the outside of the cup and the plate, and within they are full of rapine and incontinence.

26 `Blind Pharisee! cleanse first the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside of them also may become clean.

27 `Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye are like to whitewashed sepulchres, which outwardly indeed do appear beautiful, and within are full of bones of dead men, and of all uncleanness;

28 so also ye outwardly indeed do appear to men righteous, and within ye are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 `Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the tombs of the righteous,

30 and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31 So that ye testify to yourselves, that ye are sons of them who did murder the prophets;

32 and ye -- ye fill up the measure of your fathers.

33 `Serpents! brood of vipers! how may ye escape from the judgment of the gehenna?

34 `Because of this, lo, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and of them ye will kill and crucify, and of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and will pursue from city to city;

35 that on you may come all the righteous blood being poured out on the earth from the blood of Abel the righteous, unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar:

36 verily I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.

37 `Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that art killing the prophets, and stoning those sent unto thee, how often did I will to gather thy children together, as a hen doth gather her own chickens under the wings, and ye did not will.

38 Lo, left desolate to you is your house;

39 for I say to you, ye may not see me henceforth, till ye may say, Blessed [is] he who is coming in the name of the Lord.'

24 And having gone forth, Jesus departed from the temple, and his disciples came near to show him the buildings of the temple,

and Jesus said to them, `Do ye not see all these? verily I say to you, There may not be left here a stone upon a stone, that shall not be thrown down.'

And when he is sitting on the mount of the Olives, the disciples came near to him by himself, saying, `Tell us, when shall these be? and what [is] the sign of thy presence, and of the full end of the age?'

And Jesus answering said to them, `Take heed that no one may lead you astray,

for many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they shall lead many astray,

and ye shall begin to hear of wars, and reports of wars; see, be not troubled, for it behoveth all [these] to come to pass, but the end is not yet.

`For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places;

and all these [are] the beginning of sorrows;

then they shall deliver you up to tribulation, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated by all the nations because of my name;

10 and then shall many be stumbled, and they shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another.

11 `And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray;

12 and because of the abounding of the lawlessness, the love of the many shall become cold;

13 but he who did endure to the end, he shall be saved;

14 and this good news of the reign shall be proclaimed in all the world, for a testimony to all the nations; and then shall the end arrive.

15 `Whenever, therefore, ye may see the abomination of the desolation, that was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever is reading let him observe)

16 then those in Judea -- let them flee to the mounts;

17 he on the house-top -- let him not come down to take up any thing out of his house;

18 and he in the field -- let him not turn back to take his garments.

19 `And wo to those with child, and to those giving suck in those days;

20 and pray ye that your flight may not be in winter, nor on a sabbath;

21 for there shall be then great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world till now, no, nor may be.

22 And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but because of the chosen, shall those days be shortened.

23 `Then if any one may say to you, Lo, here [is] the Christ! or here! ye may not believe;

24 for there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and they shall give great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, also the chosen.

25 Lo, I did tell you beforehand.

26 `If therefore they may say to you, Lo, in the wilderness he is, ye may not go forth; lo, in the inner chambers, ye may not believe;

27 for as the lightning doth come forth from the east, and doth appear unto the west, so shall be also the presence of the Son of Man;

28 for wherever the carcase may be, there shall the eagles be gathered together.

29 `And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken;

30 and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in the heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth smite the breast, and they shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of the heaven, with power and much glory;

31 and he shall send his messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens unto the ends thereof.

32 `And from the fig-tree learn ye the simile: When already its branch may have become tender, and the leaves it may put forth, ye know that summer [is] nigh,

33 so also ye, when ye may see all these, ye know that it is nigh -- at the doors.

34 Verily I say to you, this generation may not pass away till all these may come to pass.

35 The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

36 `And concerning that day and the hour no one hath known -- not even the messengers of the heavens -- except my Father only;

37 and as the days of Noah -- so shall be also the presence of the Son of Man;

38 for as they were, in the days before the flood, eating, and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, till the day Noah entered into the ark,

39 and they did not know till the flood came and took all away; so shall be also the presence of the Son of Man.

40 Then two men shall be in the field, the one is received, and the one is left;

41 two women shall be grinding in the mill, one is received, and one is left.

42 `Watch ye therefore, because ye have not known in what hour your Lord doth come;

43 and this know, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief doth come, he had watched, and not suffered his house to be broken through;

44 because of this also ye, become ye ready, because in what hour ye do not think, the Son of Man doth come.

45 `Who, then, is the servant, faithful and wise, whom his lord did set over his household, to give them the nourishment in season?

46 Happy that servant, whom his lord, having come, shall find doing so;

47 verily I say to you, that over all his substance he will set him.

48 `And, if that evil servant may say in his heart, My Lord doth delay to come,

49 and may begin to beat the fellow-servants, and to eat and to drink with the drunken,

50 the lord of that servant will arrive in a day when he doth not expect, and in an hour of which he doth not know,

51 and will cut him off, and his portion with the hypocrites will appoint; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.

25 `Then shall the reign of the heavens be likened to ten virgins, who, having taken their lamps, went forth to meet the bridegroom;

and five of them were prudent, and five foolish;

they who were foolish having taken their lamps, did not take with themselves oil;

and the prudent took oil in their vessels, with their lamps.

`And the bridegroom tarrying, they all nodded and were sleeping,

and in the middle of the night a cry was made, Lo, the bridegroom doth come; go ye forth to meet him.

`Then rose all those virgins, and trimmed their lamps,

and the foolish said to the prudent, Give us of your oil, because our lamps are going out;

and the prudent answered, saying -- Lest there may not be sufficient for us and you, go ye rather unto those selling, and buy for yourselves.

10 `And while they are going away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those ready went in with him to the marriage-feasts, and the door was shut;

11 and afterwards come also do the rest of the virgins, saying, Sir, sir, open to us;

12 and he answering said, Verily I say to you, I have not known you.

13 `Watch therefore, for ye have not known the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man doth come.

14 `For -- as a man going abroad did call his own servants, and did deliver to them his substance,

15 and to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each according to his several ability, went abroad immediately.

16 `And he who did receive the five talents, having gone, wrought with them, and made other five talents;

17 in like manner also he who [received] the two, he gained, also he, other two;

18 and he who did receive the one, having gone away, digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

19 `And after a long time cometh the lord of those servants, and taketh reckoning with them;

20 and he who did receive the five talents having come, brought other five talents, saying, `Sir, five talents thou didst deliver to me; lo, other five talents did I gain besides them.

21 `And his lord said to him, Well done, servant, good and faithful, over a few things thou wast faithful, over many things I will set thee; enter into the joy of thy lord.

22 `And he who also did receive the two talents having come, said, Sir, two talents thou didst deliver to me; lo, other two talents I did gain besides them.

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

24 `And he also who hath received the one talent having come, said, Sir, I knew thee, that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering from whence thou didst not scatter;

25 and having been afraid, having gone away, I hid thy talent in the earth; lo, thou hast thine own!

26 `And his lord answering said to him, Evil servant, and slothful, thou hadst known that I reap where I did not sow, and I gather whence I did not scatter!

27 it behoved thee then to put my money to the money-lenders, and having come I had received mine own with increase.

28 `Take therefore from him the talent, and give to him having the ten talents,

29 for to every one having shall be given, and he shall have overabundance, and from him who is not having, even that which he hath shall be taken from him;

30 and the unprofitable servant cast ye forth to the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.

31 `And whenever the Son of Man may come in his glory, and all the holy messengers with him, then he shall sit upon a throne of his glory;

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

33 and he shall set the sheep indeed on his right hand, and the goats on the left.

34 `Then shall the king say to those on his right hand, Come ye, the blessed of my Father, inherit the reign that hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

35 for I did hunger, and ye gave me to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye received me;

36 naked, and ye put around me; I was infirm, and ye looked after me; in prison I was, and ye came unto me.

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

38 and when did we see thee a stranger, and we received? or naked, and we put around?

39 and when did we see thee infirm, or in prison, and we came unto thee?

40 `And the king answering, shall say to them, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] to one of these my brethren -- the least -- to me ye did [it].

41 Then shall he say also to those on the left hand, Go ye from me, the cursed, to the fire, the age-during, that hath been prepared for the Devil and his messengers;

42 for I did hunger, and ye gave me not to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me not to drink;

43 a stranger I was, and ye did not receive me; naked, and ye put not around me; infirm, and in prison, and ye did not look after me.

44 `Then shall they answer, they also, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or infirm, or in prison, and we did not minister to thee?

45 `Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of these, the least, ye did [it] not to me.

46 And these shall go away to punishment age-during, but the righteous to life age-during.'

A Warning Against Hypocrisy(A)(B)

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law(C) and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.(D)

“Everything they do is done for people to see:(E) They make their phylacteries[a](F) wide and the tassels on their garments(G) long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;(H) they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.(I)

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father,(J) and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant.(K) 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.(L)

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!(M) You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.(N) [14] [b]

15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,(O) and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell(P) as you are.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides!(Q) You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’(R) 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?(S) 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?(T) 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells(U) in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.(V)

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth(W) of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.(X) You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides!(Y) You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,(Z) but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.(AA) 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,(AB) which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets(AC) and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.(AD) 32 Go ahead, then, and complete(AE) what your ancestors started!(AF)

33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers!(AG) How will you escape being condemned to hell?(AH) 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;(AI) others you will flog in your synagogues(AJ) and pursue from town to town.(AK) 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel(AL) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,(AM) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.(AN) 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.(AO)

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,(AP) how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,(AQ) and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.(AR) 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[c](AS)

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times(AT)

24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another;(AU) every one will be thrown down.”

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,(AV) the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming(AW) and of the end of the age?”(AX)

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.(AY) For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.(AZ) You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.(BA) There will be famines(BB) and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted(BC) and put to death,(BD) and you will be hated by all nations because of me.(BE) 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets(BF) will appear and deceive many people.(BG) 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.(BH) 14 And this gospel of the kingdom(BI) will be preached in the whole world(BJ) as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15 “So when you see standing in the holy place(BK) ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[d](BL) spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop(BM) go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!(BN) 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.(BO)

22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect(BP) those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.(BQ) 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders(BR) to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning(BS) that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming(BT) of the Son of Man.(BU) 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.(BV)

29 “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[e](BW)

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[f] will mourn(BX) when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,(BY) with power and great glory.[g] 31 And he will send his angels(BZ) with a loud trumpet call,(CA) and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[h] is near, right at the door.(CB) 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.(CC) 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.(CD)

The Day and Hour Unknown(CE)(CF)

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[i] but only the Father.(CG) 37 As it was in the days of Noah,(CH) so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,(CI) up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.(CJ) 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.(CK) 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.(CL)

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.(CM) 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming,(CN) he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready,(CO) because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,(CP) whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.(CQ) 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.(CR) 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.(CS) 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(CT)

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like(CU) ten virgins who took their lamps(CV) and went out to meet the bridegroom.(CW) Five of them were foolish and five were wise.(CX) 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.(CY)

“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.’(CZ)

“‘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.(DA) 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.’(DB)

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

The Parable of the Bags of Gold(DD)

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey,(DE) 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,[j] each according to his ability.(DF) 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.(DG) 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.(DH) 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.(DI) 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.(DJ) 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’(DK)

The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes(DL) in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.(DM) 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate(DN) the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.(DO) 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(DP) prepared for you since the creation of the world.(DQ) 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,(DR) 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me,(DS) I was sick and you looked after me,(DT) I was in prison and you came to visit me.’(DU)

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.’(DV)

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

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

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 23:5 That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm
  2. Matthew 23:14 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.
  3. Matthew 23:39 Psalm 118:26
  4. Matthew 24:15 Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11
  5. Matthew 24:29 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
  6. Matthew 24:30 Or the tribes of the land
  7. Matthew 24:30 See Daniel 7:13-14.
  8. Matthew 24:33 Or he
  9. Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.
  10. 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.