Matthew 25–27

The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids

²⁵“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten young women^q took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.^{r* 2}Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.^{* 3}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 was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.^{* 6}But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷Then all those young women^s got up and trimmed their lamps.^{* 8}The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.^{* 11}Later the other young women^t came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’^{* 12}But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ ¹³Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.^u*

The Parable of the Talents

¹⁴“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them;^{* 15}to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. At once^{* 16}the one who had received the five talents went off and traded with them and made five more talents. ¹⁷In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. ¹⁸But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.^{* 20}Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ ²¹His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’^{* 22}And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ ²³His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter,^{* 25}so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ ²⁶But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter? ²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.^{* 28}So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. ²⁹For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.^{* 30}As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’^*

The Judgment of the Nations

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.^{* 32}All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,^{* 33}and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,^{* 35}for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,^{* 36}I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’^{* 37}Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’^{* 41}Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels,^{* 42}for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’^{* 46}And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.”^*

The Plot to Kill Jesus

²⁶When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,^{* 2}“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”^*

³Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,^{* 4}and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.^{* 5}But they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”^*

The Anointing at Bethany

⁶Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^{v* 7}a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. ⁸But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste? ⁹For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor.” ¹⁰But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. ¹¹For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.^{* 12}By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial.^{* 13}Truly I tell you, wherever this good news^w is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

¹⁴Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver.^{* 16}And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

¹⁷On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’ ”^{* 19}So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.^*

²⁰When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve disciples,^{x 21}and while they were eating he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” ²²And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” ²³He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.^{* 24}The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” ²⁵Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”

The Institution of the Lord’s Supper

²⁶While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it^y he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”^{* 27}Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, ²⁸for this is my blood of the^z covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.^{* 29}I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”^*

³⁰When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.^*

Peter’s Denial Foretold

³¹Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away^a because of me this night, for it is written,

‘I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’^*

³²“But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”^{* 33}Peter said to him, “Even if all fall away^b because of you, I will never fall away.”^{c 34}Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.”^{* 35}Peter said to him, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples.^*

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

³⁶Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and agitated.^{* 38}Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.”^{* 39}And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.”^{* 40}Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour?^{* 41}Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;^d the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”^{* 42}Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this…