The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took
their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish
and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any
oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their
lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy
and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to
meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish
ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you.
Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom
arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet.
And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door
for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
The Parable of the Bags of Gold
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his
servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold,
to another two bags, and to another one bag,[Greek five talents … two talents … one talent; also throughout this parable; a talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wage.] each according to his ability.
Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went
at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the
one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one
bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled
accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the
other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I
have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, 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 two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you
entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, 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 one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he
said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and
gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out
and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I
harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27
Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that
when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten
bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And
throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him,
he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before
him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates
the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats
on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are
blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since
the creation of the world. 35 For I 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, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you
looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we
see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I
was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed
clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not
look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of
the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to
eternal life.”
NOTES:
25:1–13 Peculiar to Matthew.
25:1 Then: at the time of the parousia. Kingdom…will be
like: see note on Mt 13:24–30.
25:2–4 Foolish…wise: cf. the contrasted “wise man” and
“fool” of Mt 7:24, 26 where the two are distinguished by good deeds and lack of
them, and such deeds may be signified by the oil of this parable.
25:11–12 Lord, Lord: cf. Mt 7:21. I do not know you: cf. Mt
7:23 where the Greek verb is different but synonymous.
25:13 Stay awake: some scholars see this command as an
addition to the original parable of Matthew’s traditional material, since in Mt
25:5 all the virgins, wise and foolish, fall asleep. But the wise virgins are
adequately equipped for their task, and stay awake may mean no more than to be
prepared; cf. Mt 24:42, 44.
25:14–30 Cf. Lk 19:12–27.
25:14 It will be as when…journey: literally, “For just as a
man who was going on a journey.” Although the comparison is not completed, the
sense is clear; the kingdom of heaven is like the situation here described.
Faithful use of one’s gifts will lead to participation in the fullness of the
kingdom, lazy inactivity to exclusion from it.
25:15 Talents: see note on Mt 18:24.
25:18 Buried his master’s money: see note on Mt 13:44.
25:20–23 Although the first two servants have received and
doubled large sums, their faithful trading is regarded by the master as fidelity
in small matters only, compared with the great responsibilities now to be given
to them. The latter are unspecified. Share your master’s joy: probably the joy
of the banquet of the kingdom; cf. Mt 8:11.
25:26–28 Wicked, lazy servant: this man’s inactivity is not
negligible but seriously culpable. As punishment, he loses the gift he had
received, that is now given to the first servant, whose possessions are already
great.
25:29 See note on Mt 13:12 where there is a similar
application of this maxim.
25:30 See note on Mt 8:11–12.
25:31–46 The conclusion of the discourse, which is peculiar
to Matthew, portrays the final judgment that will accompany the parousia.
Although often called a “parable,” it is not really such, for the only
parabolic elements are the depiction of the Son of Man as a shepherd and of the
righteous and the wicked as sheep and goats, respectively (Mt 25:32–33). The
criterion of judgment will be the deeds of mercy that have been done for the
least of Jesus’ brothers (Mt 25:40). A difficult and important question is the
identification of these least brothers. Are they all people who have suffered
hunger, thirst, etc. (Mt 25:35, 36) or a particular group of such sufferers?
Scholars are divided in their response and arguments can be made for either
side. But leaving aside the problem of what the traditional material that
Matthew edited may have meant, it seems that a stronger case can be made for
the view that in the evangelist’s sense the sufferers are Christians, probably
Christian missionaries whose sufferings were brought upon them by their
preaching of the gospel. The criterion of judgment for all the nations is their
treatment of those who have borne to the world the message of Jesus, and this
means ultimately their acceptance or rejection of Jesus himself; cf. Mt 10:40,
“Whoever receives you, receives me.” See note on Mt 16:27.
25:32 All the nations: before the end the gospel will have
been preached throughout the world (Mt 24:14); thus the Gentiles will be judged
on their response to it. But the phrase all the nations includes the Jews also,
for at the judgment “the Son of Man…will repay everyone according to his
conduct” (Mt 16:27).
25:37–40 The righteous will be astonished that in caring for
the needs of the sufferers they were ministering to the Lord himself. One of
these least brothers of mine: cf. Mt 10:42.
25:41 Fire prepared…his angels: cf. 1 Enoch 10:13 where it
is said of the evil angels and Semyaza, their leader, “In those days they will
lead them into the bottom of the fire—and in torment—in the prison (where) they
will be locked up forever.”
25:44–45 The accursed (Mt 25:41) will be likewise astonished
that their neglect of the sufferers was neglect of the Lord and will receive
from him a similar answer.
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