Colossians 2:6-7

New International Version

Spiritual Fullness in Christ

⁶So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,^(A) continue to live your lives in him, ⁷rooted^(B) and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught,^(C) and overflowing with thankfulness.

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Jeremiah 17:5-10

New International Version

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,^(A)
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.^(B)
⁶That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places^(C) of the desert,
    in a salt^(D) land where no one lives.

⁷“But blessed^(E) is the one who trusts^(F) in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
⁸They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.^(G)
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought^(H)
    and never fails to bear fruit.”^(I)

⁹The heart^(J) is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

¹⁰“I the Lord search the heart^(K)
and examine the mind,^(L)
to reward^(M) each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”^(N)

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Matthew 25:14-30

New International Version

The Parable of the Bags of Gold^(A)

¹⁴“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey,^(B) who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability.^(C) Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸But 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.^(D) ²⁰The 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.^(E) 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.^(F) 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. ²⁵So 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? ²⁷Well 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. ²⁹For 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.^(G) ³⁰And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’^(H)

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Footnotes

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.