¹⁴“For it is just like a man going on a journey. ^hHe called his own ^•slaves and turned over his possessions to them. ¹⁵To one he gave five talents; ⁱto another, two; and to another, one—to each according to his own ability. Then he went on a journey. ^jImmediately ¹⁶the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. ¹⁷In the same way the man with two earned two more. ¹⁸But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹“After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. Look, I’ve earned five more talents.’

²¹“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy!’ ^k

²²“Then the man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. Look, I’ve earned two more talents.’

²³“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy!’

Read in Logos

Matthew 25:21: His 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.’

Footnotes

•The strong Greek word doulos cannot be accurately translated in English as servant or bond servant; the HCSB translates this word as slave, not out of insensitivity to the legitimate concerns of modern English speakers, but out of a commitment to accurately convey the brutal reality of the Roman empire’s inhumane institution as well as the ownership called for by Christ.
i25:15 Worth a very large sum of money; a talent = 6,000 denarii

Cross references

h25:14–30 Lk 19:12–27
j25:15 Mt 18:24; Lk 19:13; Rm 12:6; 1Co 12:11; Eph 4:7
k25:21 Mt 24:45, 47; Lk 12:44; 22:28; Heb 12:2