Matthew 25–27

The Story of Ten Bridesmaids

25“Here is what the kingdom of heaven will be like at that time. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. ²Five of them were foolish. Five were wise. ³The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t take any olive oil with them. ⁴The wise ones took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵The groom did not come for a long time. So the bridesmaids all grew tired and fell asleep.

⁶“At midnight someone cried out, ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷“Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready. ⁸The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’

⁹“ ‘No,’ they replied. ‘There may not be enough for all of us. Instead, go to those who sell oil. Buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰“So they went to buy the oil. But while they were on their way, the groom arrived. The bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the wedding dinner. Then the door was shut.

¹¹“Later, the other bridesmaids also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’

¹²“But he replied, ‘What I’m about to tell you is true. I don’t know you.’

¹³“So keep watch. You do not know the day or the hour that the groom will come.

The Story of Three Servants

¹⁴“Again, here is what the kingdom of heaven will be like. A man was going on a journey. He sent for his servants and put them in charge of his property. ¹⁵He gave $10,000 to one. He gave $4,000 to another. And he gave $2,000 to the third. The man gave each servant the amount of money he knew the servant could take care of. Then he went on his journey.

¹⁶“The servant who had received the $10,000 went at once and put his money to work. He earned $10,000 more. ¹⁷The one with the $4,000 earned $4,000 more. ¹⁸But the man who had received $2,000 went and dug a hole in the ground. He hid his master’s money in it.

¹⁹“After a long time the master of those servants returned. He wanted to collect all the money they had earned. ²⁰The man who had received $10,000 brought the other $10,000. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you trusted me with $10,000. See, I have earned $10,000 more.’

²¹“His master replied, ‘You have done well, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²²“The man with $4,000 also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you trusted me with $4,000. See, I have earned $4,000 more.’

²³“His master replied, ‘You have done well, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²⁴“Then the man who had received $2,000 came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest where you have not planted. You gather crops where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵So I was afraid. I went out and hid your $2,000 in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶“His master replied, ‘You evil, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not planted? You knew that I gather crops where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷Well then, you should have put my money in the bank. When I returned, I would have received it back with interest.’

²⁸“Then his master commanded the other servants, ‘Take the $2,000 from him. Give it to the one who has $20,000. ²⁹Everyone who has will be given more. He will have more than enough. And what about anyone who doesn’t have? Even what he has will be taken away from him. ³⁰Throw that worthless servant outside. There in the darkness, people will sob and grind their teeth.’

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹“The Son of Man will come in all his glory. All the angels will come with him. Then he will sit on his throne in the glory of heaven. ³²All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will separate the people into two groups. He will be like a shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep to his right and the goats to his left.

³⁴“Then the King will speak to those on his right. He will say, ‘My Father has blessed you. Come and take what is yours. It is the kingdom prepared for you since the world was created. ³⁵I was hungry. And you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty. And you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger. And you invited me in. ³⁶I needed clothes. And you gave them to me. I was sick. And you took care of me. I was in prison. And you came to visit me.’

³⁷“Then the people who have done what is right will answer him. ‘Lord,’ they will ask, ‘when did we see you hungry and feed you? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you as a stranger and invite you in? When did we see you needing clothes and give them to you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘What I’m about to tell you is true. Anything you did for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘You are cursed! Go away from me into the fire that burns forever. It has been prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²I was hungry. But you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty. But you gave me nothing to drink. ⁴³I was a stranger. But you did not invite me in. I needed clothes. But you did not give me any. I was sick and in prison. But you did not take care of me.’

⁴⁴“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty and not help you? When did we see you as a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and not help you?’

⁴⁵“He will reply, ‘What I’m about to tell you is true. Anything you didn’t do for one of the least important of these, you didn’t do for me.’

⁴⁶“Then they will go away to be punished forever. But those who have done what is right will receive eternal life.”

The Plan to Kill Jesus

26Jesus finished saying all these things. Then he said to his disciples, ²“As you know, the Passover Feast is two days away. The Son of Man will be handed over to be nailed to a cross.”

³Then the chief priests met with the elders of the people. They met in the palace of Caiaphas, the high priest. ⁴They made plans to arrest Jesus in a clever way. They wanted to kill him. ⁵“But not during the Feast,” they said. “The people may stir up trouble.”

A Woman Pours Perfume on Jesus

⁶Jesus was in Bethany. He was in the home of a man named Simon, who had a skin disease. ⁷A woman came to Jesus with a special sealed jar of very expensive perfume. She poured the perfume on his head while he was at the table.

⁸When the disciples saw this, they became angry. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹“The perfume could have been sold at a high price. The money could have been given to poor people.”

¹⁰Jesus was aware of this. So he said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹You will always have poor people with you. But you will not always have me. ¹²She poured the perfume on my body to prepare me to be buried. ¹³What I’m about to tell you is true. What she has done will be told anywhere this good news is preached all over the world. It will be told in memory of her.”

Judas Agrees to Hand Jesus Over

¹⁴One of the Twelve went to the chief priests. His name was Judas Iscariot. ¹⁵He asked, “What will you give me if I hand Jesus over to you?” So they counted out 30 silver coins for him. ¹⁶From then on, Judas watched for the right time to hand Jesus over to them.

The Lord’s Supper

¹⁷It was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The disciples came to Jesus. They asked, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?”

¹⁸He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover at your house with my disciples.” ’ ”

¹⁹So the disciples did what Jesus had told them to do. They prepared the Passover meal.

²⁰When evening came, Jesus was at the table with the Twelve. ²¹While they were eating, he said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. One of you will hand me over to my enemies.”

²²The disciples became very sad. One after the other, they began to say to him, “It’s not I, Lord, is it?”

²³Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will hand me over. ²⁴The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But how terrible it will be for the one who hands over the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²⁵Judas was the one who was going to hand him over. He said, “It’s not I, Rabbi, is it?”

Jesus answered, “Yes. It is you.”

²⁶While they were eating, Jesus took bread. He gave thanks and broke it. He handed it to his disciples and said, “Take this and eat it. This is my body.”

²⁷Then he took the cup. He gave thanks and handed it to them. He said, “All of you drink from it. ²⁸This is my blood of the new covenant. It is poured out to forgive the sins of many. ²⁹Here is what I tell you. From now on, I won’t drink wine with you again until the day I drink it with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

³⁰Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus Says That Peter Will Fail

³¹Jesus told them, “This very night you will all turn away because of me. It is written that the Lord said,

“ ‘I will strike the shepherd down.

Then the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

³²But after I rise from the dead, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

³³Peter replied, “All the others may turn away because of you. But I never will.”

³⁴“What I’m about to tell you is true,” Jesus answered. “It will happen this very night. Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.”

³⁵But Peter said, “I may have to die with you. But I will never say I don’t know you.” And all the other disciples said the same thing.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

³⁶Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

³⁷He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him. He began to be sad and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul…