A Story About Ten Bridesmaids

25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten ·bridesmaids [^Lvirgins] who took their lamps and went to ·wait for [meet] the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were ·wise [sensible; prudent]. ³ The five foolish ·bridesmaids [^Lvirgins] took their lamps, but they did not take more oil for the lamps to burn. ⁴ The ·wise [sensible; prudent] ·bridesmaids [^Lvirgins] took their lamps and more oil in ·jars [flasks]. ⁵ Because the bridegroom was ·late [delayed], they became ·sleepy [drowsy] and went to sleep.

⁶ “At midnight someone cried out, ‘·The bridegroom is coming [^LLook, the bridegroom]! Come and meet him!’ ⁷ Then all the ·bridesmaids [^Lvirgins] woke up and ·got their lamps ready [trimmed their lamps]. ⁸ But the foolish ones said to the ·wise [sensible; prudent], ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ The ·wise [sensible; prudent] bridesmaids answered, ‘No, the oil we have might not be enough ·for all of us [^Lfor us and for you]. Go to the people who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “So while ·the five foolish bridesmaids [^Lthey] went to buy oil, the bridegroom came. The bridesmaids who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding feast. Then the door was ·closed and locked [^Lshut].

¹¹ “Later the others came back and said, ‘·Sir, sir, [Lord, lord] open the door to let us in.’ ¹² But the bridegroom answered, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “So ·always be ready [stay awake; be alert; keep watch], because you don’t know the day or the hour [^Cthe Son of Man will come].

A Story About Three Servants^(A)

¹⁴ “·The kingdom of heaven [^LIt] is like a man who was going ·to another place for a visit [on a journey/trip]. Before he left, he called for his servants and ·told them to take care of his things while he was gone [^Lentrusted his possessions/wealth to them]. ¹⁵ He gave one servant five ·bags of gold [^Ltalents; ^Ca talent was worth about 6,000 denarii, or twenty years’ wages for a laborer], another servant two ·bags of gold [^Ltalents], and a third servant one ·bag of gold [^Ltalent], to each one ·as much as he could handle [^Laccording to his ability]. Then he left. ¹⁶ The servant who got five ·bags [^Ltalents] went quickly ·to invest the money [and traded with them; and put the money to work] and ·earned [gained] five more. ¹⁷ In the same way, the servant who had two ·invested [traded with] them and ·earned [gained] two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who got one went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time the master came home and ·asked the servants what they did with his money [settled/went over the accounts with them]. ²⁰ The servant who was given five ·bags of gold [^Ltalents] brought five more ·bags [^Ltalents] to the master and said, ‘Master, you trusted me to care for five ·bags of gold [^Ltalents], ·so I used your five to earn [^Lsee, I have earned] five more.’ ²¹ The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good and ·loyal [faithful] servant. Because you were ·loyal [faithful] with ·small [a few] things, I will ·let you care for [put you in charge of] ·much greater [many] things. ·Come and share my joy with me [^LEnter into the joy of your master].’

²² “Then the servant who had been given two ·bags of gold [^Ltalents] came to the master and said, ‘Master, you ·gave me [trusted me with] two ·bags of gold [^Ltalents] to care for, ·so I used your two bags to earn [^Lsee, I have earned] two more.’ ²³ The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good and ·loyal [faithful] servant. Because you were ·loyal [faithful] with ·small [a few] things, I will ·let you care for [put you in charge of] ·much greater [many] things. ·Come and share my joy with me [^LEnter into the joy of your master].’

²⁴ “Then the servant who had been given one ·bag of gold [^Ltalent] came to the master and said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a ·hard [harsh; exacting; demanding] man. You ·harvest things [reap where] you did not ·plant [sow]. You gather crops where you did not sow any seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went and hid your ·money [^Ttalent] in the ground. [^LSee] Here is ·your bag of gold [^Lwhat is yours].’ ²⁶ [^LBut] The master answered, ‘You are a wicked and lazy servant! You say you knew that I ·harvest things [reap where] I did not ·plant [sow] and that I gather crops where I did not sow any seed. ²⁷ So you should have put my ·gold [money] in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would have received ·my gold [what was mine] back with interest.’

²⁸ “·So the master told his other servants, ‘[^LTherefore,] Take the ·bag of gold [^Ltalent] from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten ·bags of gold [^Ltalents]. ²⁹ [^LFor] Those who have much will ·get [be given] more, and they will have ·much more than they need [an abundance]. But those who do not have much will have ·everything [even what they have] taken away from them.’ ³⁰ Then the master said, ‘Throw that ·useless [worthless] servant ·outside, into the darkness [or into the outer darkness,] where ·people will cry and grind their teeth with pain [^Tthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; ^Cindicating agony and remorse].

The King Will Judge All People

³¹ “The Son of Man will come again in his great glory [Dan. 7:13–14], with all his angels. He will ·be King and sit on his [^Lsit on his] ·great [glorious] throne. ³² All the nations of the world will be gathered before him, and he will separate them ·into two groups [^Lone from another] as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ The Son of Man will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, ·my Father has given you his blessing [^Lthose blessed by my Father]. ·Receive [Inherit] the kingdom God has prepared for you ·since the world was made [^Lfrom the creation/foundation of the world]. ³⁵ [^LFor; Because] I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was ·alone and away from home [a stranger], and you ·invited me into your house [welcomed/received me]. ³⁶ I was ·without clothes [naked], and you ·gave me something to wear [clothed me]. I was sick, and you ·cared for [visited; looked after] me. I was in prison, and you ·visited [came to] me.’

³⁷ “Then the ·good [righteous] people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you ·alone and away from home [a stranger] and ·invite you into our house [welcome/receive you]? When did we see you ·without clothes [naked] and ·give you something to wear [clothe you]? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and ·care for [come to] you?’

⁴⁰ “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my ·people here [^Lbrothers (and sisters)], you also did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then the King will say to those on his left, ‘·Go away [Depart] from me. You ·will be punished [are cursed]. Go into the ·fire that burns forever [eternal fire] that was prepared for the devil and his angels [^Cthe demons]. ⁴² [^LFor; Because] I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. ⁴³ I was ·alone and away from home [a stranger], and you did not ·invite me into your house [welcome/receive me]. I was ·without clothes [naked], and you ·gave me nothing to wear [did not clothe me]. I was sick and in prison, and you did not ·care for [visit; look after] me.’

⁴⁴ “Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or ·alone and away from home [a stranger] or ·without clothes [naked] or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not ·help [serve; care for] you?’

⁴⁵ “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, ·anything [to the extent] you refused to do for even the least of ·my people here [^Lthese], you refused to do for me.’

⁴⁶ “These people will go off to ·be punished forever [eternal punishment], but the ·good people [righteous] ·will go to live forever [to eternal life].”