MattheW 25:33 | 1583 them were fool ish and five were wise . 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them . 4 The wise ones , how ev er , took oil in jars along with their lamps . 5 The bride groom was a long time in com ing , and they all be came drowsy and fell asleep .
6
“ At mid night the cry rang out : ‘ Here ’ s the bride groom ! Come out to meet him !’
7
“ Then all the vir gins woke up and trimmed their lamps . 8 The fool ish ones said to the wise , ‘ Give us some of your oil ; our lamps are go ing out .’
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“ ‘ No ,’ they re plied , ‘ there may not be enough for both us and you . In stead , go to those who sell oil and buy some for your selves .’
10
“ But while they were on their way to buy the oil , the bride groom ar rived . The vir gins who were ready went in with him to the wed ding ban quet . And the door was shut .
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“ Lat er the oth ers also came . ‘ Lord , Lord ,’ they said , ‘ open the door for us !’
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“ But he re plied , ‘ Tru ly I tell you , I don ’ t know you .’ 13
“ There fore keep watch , be cause you do not know the day or the hour .
The Parable of the Bags of Gold
25:14-30Ref — Lk 19:12-27
14
“ Again , it will be like a man go ing on a journey , who called his ser vants and en trust ed his wealth to them . 15 To one he gave five bags of gold , to an oth er two bags , and to an oth er one bag , a each ac cord ing to his abil i ty . Then he went on his jour ney . 16 The man who had re ceived five bags of gold went at once and put his mon ey 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 re ceived one bag went off , dug a hole in the ground and hid his mas ter ’ s mon ey .
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“ Af ter a long time the mas ter of those ser vants re turned and set tled ac counts with them . 20 The man who had re ceived five bags of gold brought the oth er five . ‘ Mas ter ,’ he said , ‘ you en trust ed me with five bags of gold . See , I have gained five more .’
21
“ His mas ter re plied , ‘ Well done , good and faith ful ser vant ! You have been faith ful with a few things ; I will put you in charge of many things . Come and share your mas ter ’ s hap pi ness !’
22
“ The man with two bags of gold also came . ‘ Mas ter ,’ he said , ‘ you en trust ed me with two bags of gold ; see , I have gained two more .’
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“ His mas ter re plied , ‘ Well done , good and faith ful ser vant ! You have been faith ful with a few things ; I will put you in charge of many things . Come and share your mas ter ’ s hap pi ness !’
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“ Then the man who had re ceived one bag of gold came . ‘ Mas ter ,’ he said , ‘ I knew that you are a hard man , har vest ing where you have not sown and gath er ing where you have not scat tered seed .
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So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground . See , here is what be longs to you .’
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“ His mas ter re plied , ‘ You wick ed , lazy servant ! So you knew that I har vest where I have not sown and gath er where I have not scat tered seed ?
27
Well then , you should have put my mon ey on de pos it with the bank ers , so that when I re turned I would have re ceived it back with in ter est .
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“ ‘ So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags . 29 For who ever has will be giv en more , and they will have an abun dance . Who ever does not have , even what they have will be tak en from them . 30 And throw that worth less ser vant out side , into the darkness , where there will be weep ing and gnash ing of teeth .’
The Sheep and the Goats
31
“ When the Son of Man comes in his glo ry , and all the an gels with him , he will sit on his glo ri ous throne . 32 All the na tions will be gath ered be fore him , and he will sep a rate the peo ple one from an oth er as a shep herd sep a rates the sheep from the goats . 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left .
a
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 .
25:4 The wise ones , however , took oil All ten women are expecting the bridegroom , but only five are fully prepared . 25:10 wedding banquet A possible allusion to the Messianic banquet at the end of the age ( compare 8:11 and note ). door was shut Compare Isa 22:22 ; Lk 13:25 ; Rev 3:7 – 8 .
25:14 – 30 Like the illustration in Mt 24:45 – 51 , this parable focuses on the theme of responsibility in the master ’ s absence .
25:15 five bags of gold The Greek text indicates an amount equal to 75 years ’ wages ( see note on 18:24 ). 25:24 harvesting where you have not sown Refers to the shrewdness of the master . The servant ’ s statement shows that he should have known better than to simply give back the same amount that he received . He understood what the master wanted — a return on the investment — but he chose a different course of action . 25:29 For whoever has will be given more Faithfulness results in blessing and reward ( see 13:12 ; Pr 9:9 ). 25:30 weeping and gnashing of teeth See note on Mt 8:12 .
25:31 – 46 Jesus ’ final parable in Matthew looks ahead to a time of judgment . The scene he describes here seems to resume his earlier account of the Son of Man sending out the angels ( 24:31 ).
25:31 Son of Man See 8:20 and note . 25:32 a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats When shepherds brought in their flocks at the end of the day , they typically put the goats in a sheltered area while leaving the sheep in an open-air pen .