Matthew 24:36-25:30

New American Standard Bible

³⁶ “But ^(A)about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For ^[a]the ^(B)coming of the Son of Man will be ^(C)just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(D)marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that ^(E)Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not ^[b]understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the ^(F)coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ At that time there will be two men in the field; one ^[c]will be taken and one ^[d]will be left. ^41 (G)Two women will be grinding at the ^[e](H)mill; one ^[f]will be taken and one ^[g]will be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

⁴² “Therefore ^(I)be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But ^[h]be sure of this, that ^(J)if the head of the house had known ^(K)at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ For this reason ^(L)you must be ready as well; for ^(M)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵ “^(N)Who then is the ^(O)faithful and ^(P)sensible slave whom his ^[i]master ^(Q)put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave whom his ^[j]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I say to you that ^(R)he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My ^[k]master ^[l]is not coming for a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk; ⁵⁰ then the ^[m]master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, ⁵¹ and he will ^[n]cut him in two and assign ^[o]him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be ^(S)weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Parable of Ten Virgins

25 “Then ^(T)the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their ^(U)lamps and went out to meet the groom. ² Five of them were foolish, and five were ^(V)prudent. ³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take extra oil with them; ⁴ but the ^(W)prudent ones took oil in flasks with their lamps. ⁵ Now while the groom was delaying, they all became drowsy and began to sleep. ⁶ But at midnight ^[p]there finally was a shout: ‘Behold, the groom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ But the foolish virgins said to the prudent ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ However, the ^(X)prudent ones answered, ‘No, there most certainly would not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ But while they were ^[q]on their way to buy the oil, the groom came, and those who were ^(Y)ready went in with him to ^(Z)the wedding feast; and ^(AA)the door was shut. ¹¹ Yet later, the other virgins also came, saying, ‘^(AB)Lord, lord, open up for us.’ ¹² But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ ^13 (AC)Be on the alert then, because you do not know the day nor the hour.

Parable of the Talents

¹⁴ “^(AD)For it is just like a man ^(AE)about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five ^[r](AF)talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he ^(AG)went on his journey. ¹⁶ The one who had received the five ^(AH)talents immediately went and did business with them, and earned five more talents. ¹⁷ In the same way the one who had received the two talents earned two more. ¹⁸ But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his ^[s]master’s money.

¹⁹ “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *^(AI)settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The one who had received the five ^(AJ)talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have earned five more talents.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(AK)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will ^(AL)put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your ^[t]master.’

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

²⁴ “Now the one who had received the one ^(AO)talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours.’

²⁶ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You ^[u]worthless, lazy slave! Did you know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have ^[v]put my money in the bank, and ^[w]on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. ²⁸ Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

²⁹ “^(AP)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 And throw the worthless slave into ^(AQ)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.