1 “Then will the kingdom of the heavens be likened to ten virgins, who, having taken their lamps, went forth to meet the bridegroom; 2 and five of them were prudent, and five foolish; 3 they who were foolish having taken their lamps, did not take with themselves oil; 4 and the prudent took oil in their vessels, with their lamps. 5 And the bridegroom lingering, they all nodded and were sleeping, 6 and in the middle of the night a cry was made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go forth to meet him! 7 Then all those virgins rose, and trimmed their lamps, 8 and the foolish said to the prudent, Give us of your oil, because our lamps are going out; 9 and the prudent answered, saying, Lest there may not be sufficient for us and you, go rather to those selling, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they are going away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those ready went in with him to the wedding feasts, and the door was shut; 11 and afterward come also the rest of the virgins, saying, Lord, lord, open to us; 12 and he answering said, Truly I say to you, I have not known you. 13 Watch therefore, for you have not known the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man comes. 14 For—as a man going abroad called his own servants, and delivered to them his substance, 15 and to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each according to his several ability, went abroad immediately. 16 And he who received the five talents, having gone, worked with them, and made five other talents; 17 in like manner also he who [received] the two, he gained, also he, other two; 18 and he who received the one, having gone away, dug in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. 19 And after a long time comes the lord of those servants, and takes reckoning with them; 20 and he who received the five talents, having come, brought five other talents, saying, Lord, you delivered five talents to me; behold, I gained five other talents besides them. 21 And his lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant, you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your lord. 22 And he also, who received the two talents, having come, said, Lord, you delivered to me two talents; behold, I gained two other talents besides them. 23 His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant, you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your lord. 24 And he also who has received the one talent, having come, said, Lord, I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering from where you did not scatter; 25 and having been afraid, having gone away, I hid your talent in the earth; behold, you have your own! 26 And his lord answering said to him, Evil servant, and slothful, you had known that I reap where I did not sow, and I gather from where I did not scatter! 27 It was necessary [for] you then to put my money to the money-lenders, and having come I had received my own with increase. 28 Take therefore from him the talent, and give to him having the ten talents, 29 for to everyone having will be given, and he will have overabundance, and from him who is not having, even that which he has will be taken from him; 30 and cast forth the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness; there will be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth. 31 And whenever the Son of Man may come in His glory, and all the holy messengers with Him, then He will sit on a throne of His glory; 32 and all the nations will be gathered together before Him, and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and He will set the sheep indeed on His right hand, and the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come, the blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I hungered, and you gave Me to eat; I thirsted, and you gave Me to drink; I was a stranger, and you received Me; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you looked after Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. 37 Then will the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungering, and we nourished? Or thirsting, and we gave to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and we received? Or naked, and we clothed? 39 And when did we see You ailing or in prison, and we came to You? 40 And the King answering, will say to them, Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did [it] to one of these My brothers—the least—you did [it] to Me. 41 Then will He say also to those on the left hand, Go from Me, the cursed, into the continuous fire that has been prepared for the Devil and his messengers; 42 for I hungered, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I thirsted, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not receive Me; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and you did not look after Me. 44 Then they will answer, they also, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and we did not minister to You? 45 Then will He answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did [it] not to one of these, the least, you did [it] not to Me. 46 And these will go away into continuous punishment, but the righteous into continuous life.”
Matthew · Literal Standard Version
Matthew 25 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (43)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Luke 12:35–36; Matthew 24:42–51; Revelation 19:7; Philippians 2:15–16; John 3:29
- 2 Jeremiah 24:2; 1 Corinthians 10:1–5; Matthew 13:47–48; Matthew 13:19–23; 1 John 2:19
- 3 2 Timothy 3:5; Revelation 3:15–16; Isaiah 48:1–2; Isaiah 58:2; Revelation 3:1
- 4 Romans 8:9; 1 John 2:20; 1 John 2:27; John 3:34; Psalm 45:7
- 5 Habakkuk 2:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:6–8; 2 Peter 3:4–9; Matthew 24:48; Luke 20:9
- 6 2 Peter 3:10; John 5:28–29; Matthew 24:31; Matthew 25:1; Matthew 24:44
- 7 Luke 12:35; 2 Peter 3:14; Revelation 3:19–20; Revelation 2:4–5; Revelation 3:2
- 8 Proverbs 13:9; Luke 12:35; Hebrews 4:1; Matthew 13:20–21; Revelation 3:9
- 9 Psalm 49:7–9; Revelation 3:17–18; Isaiah 55:6–7; Isaiah 55:1–3; Ezekiel 14:20
- 10 Luke 13:25; Matthew 24:44; 1 Peter 1:13; Luke 12:36–37; Genesis 7:16
- 11 Matthew 7:21–23; Hebrews 12:16–17
- 12 1 Corinthians 8:3; 2 Timothy 2:19; John 10:27; Luke 13:26–30; Psalm 5:5
- 13 Matthew 24:42–44; Revelation 16:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:6; Luke 21:36; 1 Corinthians 16:13
- 14 Mark 13:34; 1 Peter 4:9–11; Romans 12:6–8; Luke 19:12–27; Matthew 25:14–30
- 15 Matthew 18:24; Luke 19:13–14; Luke 12:48
- 16 Philemon 6–7; 3 John 5–8; 1 Timothy 6:17–18; 2 Timothy 2:6; Acts 13:36
- 17 Proverbs 3:9–10; Ephesians 5:16; Ecclesiastes 11:1–6; Colossians 4:17; 1 Peter 4:10
- 18 2 Peter 1:8; Proverbs 26:13–16; Malachi 1:10; Hebrews 6:12; Haggai 1:2–4
- 19 1 Corinthians 3:12–15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:7–12; Matthew 18:23–24; Luke 16:1–2
- 20 Acts 20:24; 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Timothy 4:1–8; Luke 19:16–17; Colossians 1:29
- 21 Matthew 25:23; Luke 16:10; John 12:26; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 3:21
- 22 2 Corinthians 8:12; Romans 12:6–8; 2 Corinthians 8:7–8; Luke 19:18–19; 2 Corinthians 8:1–3
- 23 Matthew 25:21; Mark 14:8–9; Mark 12:41–44
- 24 Luke 19:20–22; Luke 15:29; Malachi 3:14–15; Ezekiel 18:25–29; Jeremiah 2:31
- 25 2 Timothy 1:6–7; Romans 8:15; Proverbs 26:13; Revelation 21:8; Isaiah 57:11
- 26 Matthew 18:32; Job 15:5–6
- 27 Luke 19:22–23; Jude 15; Deuteronomy 23:19–20; Romans 3:19
- 28 Luke 19:24; Luke 10:42
- 29 Luke 8:18; Matthew 13:12; Mark 4:25; Luke 19:25–26; John 15:2
- 30 Matthew 8:12; Matthew 13:50; Revelation 3:15–16; Matthew 22:13; Hebrews 6:7–8
- 31 Revelation 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–8; Matthew 19:28; Jude 14; Mark 8:38
- 32 Malachi 3:18; Matthew 13:49; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Psalm 98:9; Ezekiel 34:17–22
- 33 Psalm 100:3; Psalm 45:9; John 10:26–28; John 21:15–17; Psalm 110:1
- 34 1 Peter 1:19–20; James 2:5; Revelation 21:7; Revelation 13:8; 1 Peter 1:3–5
- 35 1 John 3:16–19; James 2:15–16; Deuteronomy 15:7–11; Ezekiel 18:7; Ezekiel 18:16
- 36 James 1:27; James 5:14–15; Hebrews 13:3; 2 Timothy 1:16–18; James 2:14–16
- 37 Matthew 6:3; 1 Peter 5:5–6; 1 Chronicles 29:14; Isaiah 64:6; 1 Corinthians 15:10
- 40 Proverbs 19:17; Proverbs 14:31; Matthew 10:42; Mark 9:41; 1 Peter 1:22
- 41 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6–7; Matthew 13:42; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Matthew 7:23
- 42 James 2:15–24; 1 Corinthians 16:22; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; John 5:23; Matthew 12:30
- 44 Luke 10:29; Matthew 7:22; Matthew 25:24–27; Malachi 3:13; Malachi 1:6
- 45 Proverbs 21:13; Proverbs 17:5; Matthew 25:40; Proverbs 14:31; Acts 9:5
- 46 Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; John 3:36; Revelation 21:8; Revelation 20:15
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Ye who were present yesterday remember my promise; which with the Lord's assistance is to be made good to-day, not to you only, but to the many others also who have come together. It is no easy question, who the ten virgins are, of whom five are wise, and five foolish.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
"Then shall the kingdom of Heaven," He saith, "be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. But five of them were wise, and the other five foolish, which took not," He saith, "oil." "Then, while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
And besides; "the eternal fire which the Father has prepared for the devil and his angels," -- they ought to show of which of those Æons that are above it is the image; for it, too, is reckoned part of the creation.
For the truth in the gospel promises to the saints and the faithful that they will be equal to the angels of God; and it is also promised them that they will "go away into life eternal." But if we are certain that we shall never lapse from eternal felicity, while they are not certain, then we shall not be …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
For it will be no longer, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," and thou "tillest the ground," and those former words, that will be said to us; but what is far more grievous than these, the "outer darkness," the bonds that may not be burst, the venomous worm, the "gnashing of teeth;" and this with great reason.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)