Luke 19:11–27

THE PARABLE OF THE TEN MINAS

¹¹As^ak they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem,^al and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.^am

¹²Therefore he said, “A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king and then to return. ¹³He called ten of his servants, gave them ten minas,^D and told them, ‘Engage in business until I come back.’

¹⁴“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’

¹⁵“At his return, having received the authority to be king, he summoned those servants he had given the money to, so that he could find out how much they had made in business. ¹⁶The first came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten more minas.’

¹⁷“ ‘Well done, good^A servant!’ he told him. ‘Because you have been faithful^a in a very small matter, have authority over ten towns.’

¹⁸“The second came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’

¹⁹“So he said to him, ‘You will be over five towns.’

²⁰“And another came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina. I have kept it safe in a cloth ²¹because I was afraid of you since you’re a harsh man: you collect what you didn’t deposit and reap what you didn’t sow.’^b

²²“He told him, ‘I will condemn you by what you have said, you evil servant! If you knew I was a harsh man, collecting what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow, ²³why, then, didn’t you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest.’ ²⁴So he said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

²⁵“But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’

²⁶“ ‘I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.^{c 27}But bring here these enemies of mine,^d who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter^B them in my presence.’ ”