Matthew 25–27

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ^dten virgins who took their lamps¹ and went to meet ^ethe bridegroom.^{2 2}Five of them were foolish, and five were ^wwise. ³For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵As the bridegroom ^fwas delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶But ^gat midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷Then all those virgins rose and ^htrimmed their lamps. ⁸And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and ⁱthose who were ready went in with him to ^jthe marriage feast, and ^kthe door was shut. ¹¹Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ^l‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ^12lBut he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, ^mI do not know you.’ ¹³ⁿWatch therefore, for you ^oknow neither the day nor the hour.

The Parable of the Talents

^14p“For ^qit will be like a man ^rgoing on a journey, who called his servants³ and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵To one he gave five ^stalents,⁴ to another two, to another one, ^tto each according to his ability. Then he ^rwent away. ¹⁶He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸But he who had received the one talent went and ^udug in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹Now ^vafter a long time the master of those servants came and ^wsettled accounts with them. ²⁰And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ ²¹His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^xfaithful servant.^{5 y}You have been faithful over a little; ^zI will set you over much. Enter into ^athe joy of your master.’ ²²And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ ²³His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be ^ba hard man, reaping ^cwhere you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, ^dyou have what is yours.’ ²⁶But his master answered him, ‘You ^ewicked and ^eslothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ^29fFor to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰And ^gcast ^hthe worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place ^gthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Final Judgment

³¹ⁱ“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, ^jthen he will sit on his glorious throne. ³²Before him ^kwill be gathered ^lall the nations, and ^mhe will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates ⁿthe sheep from the goats. ³³And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴Then ^othe King will say to ^pthose on his right, ‘Come, you ^qwho are blessed by my Father, ^rinherit ^sthe kingdom ^tprepared for you ^ufrom the foundation of the world. ³⁵For ^vI was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you ^wgave me drink, ^xI was a stranger and you welcomed me, ^36vI was naked and you clothed me, ^yI was sick and you ^zvisited me, ^aI was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰And ^bthe King will answer them, ^c‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these ^dmy brothers,⁶ you did it to me.’

⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ^e‘Depart from me, you ^fcursed, into ^gthe eternal fire prepared for ^hthe devil and his angels. ⁴²For ⁱI was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, ^jyou did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away ^kinto eternal punishment, but the righteous ^kinto ^leternal life.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, ^2m“You know that after two days ⁿthe Passover is coming, and ^othe Son of Man ^pwill be delivered up to be crucified.”

^3qThen the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in ^rthe palace of the high priest, whose name was ^sCaiaphas, ^4tand plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. ⁵But they said, “Not during the feast, ^ulest there be an uproar among the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

^6vNow when Jesus was at ^wBethany in the house of Simon the leper,^{1 7}a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. ⁸And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹For this could have been sold for a large sum and ^xgiven to the poor.” ¹⁰But ^yJesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹For ^zyou always have the poor with you, but ^ayou will not always have me. ¹²In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it ^bto prepare me for burial. ¹³Truly, I say to you, wherever ^cthis gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told ^din memory of her.”

Judas to Betray Jesus

^14eThen one of the twelve, whose name was ^fJudas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they ^gpaid him ^hthirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶And from that moment he sought an opportunity ⁱto betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

^17jNow on ^kthe first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ^l‘The Teacher says, ^mMy time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’ ” ¹⁹And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.

²⁰ⁿWhen it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.^{2 21}And as they were eating, ^ohe said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” ²²And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” ²³He answered, ^p“He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. ²⁴The Son of Man goes ^qas it is written of him, but ^rwoe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! ^sIt would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” ²⁵Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, ^tRabbi?” He said to him, ^u“You have said so.”

Institution of the Lord’s Supper

^26vNow as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and ^wafter blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; ^xthis is my body.” ²⁷And he took a cup, and when he ^yhad given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, ²⁸for ^xthis is my ^zblood of the³ covenant, which is poured out for ^amany ^bfor the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you ^cin my Father’s kingdom.”

Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial

^30dAnd when they had sung a hymn, ^ethey went out to ^fthe Mount of Olives. ³¹Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will ^gstrike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ ³²But after I am raised up, ^hI will go before you to Galilee.” ³³ⁱPeter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” ^34jJesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, ^kbefore the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” ^35lPeter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

^36mThen Jesus went with them ^eto a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷And taking with him ⁿPeter and ^othe two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, ^p“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and ^qwatch⁴ with me.” ³⁹And going a little farther he fell on his face ^rand prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let ^sthis cup pass from me; ^tnevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” ⁴⁰And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? ^41qWatch and ^upray that you ^vmay not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ⁴²Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, ^wyour will be done.” ⁴³And again he came and found them sleeping, for ^xtheir eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for ^ythe third time,…