Matthew · 46 verses
Matthew 25
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
All ten virgins fall asleep while waiting for the bridegroom, and the command to keep watch arrives only after the lamps, the midnight cry, and the shut door.
The lamps and the shut doorvv. 1–13
Ten virgins take lamps to meet a bridegroom: five bring spare oil, five bring only their lamps. The bridegroom delays, and every one of them falls asleep—a remarkably democratic nap. At midnight the cry comes, the lamps are trimmed, and the foolish discover that a lamp without oil is an urgent little problem. The wise decline to divide their supply, sending the others to buy oil; but the bridegroom arrives while they are away, and the ready enter the wedding banquet. The door is shut. When the others return, their plea is answered by the starkest of introductions: he does not know them.
The talents and the buried coinvv. 14–30
A man going on a journey entrusts his possessions to three servants: five talents to one, two to another, and one to the last, according to ability. The first two put the money to work and double it; the third digs a hole and buries his master’s money, which is a very thorough way of ensuring that it does not go anywhere. After a long time the master returns. The first two receive the same praise and the same invitation into their master’s joy, while the third offers back exactly what he was given. His fear has produced a hole, a rebuke, and the transfer of his talent to the servant who now has ten. Then comes the outer darkness, with its weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The King and the least of thesevv. 31–46
The Son of Man arrives in glory with all the angels, sits on his throne, and gathers all nations before him. Like a shepherd sorting sheep from goats, he places the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. The King praises those on his right for feeding, welcoming, clothing, tending, and visiting him; they are baffled, since they never saw the King in those conditions. The condemned are equally surprised when told that their neglect of hungry, thirsty, strange, naked, sick, or imprisoned people was neglect of him. Both groups learn the hidden identity of the service or refusal. The chapter ends with two destinations: eternal punishment and eternal life.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Matt 25:1“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Matt 25:2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
Matt 25:3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take along any extra oil.
Matt 25:4But the wise ones took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
Matt 25:5When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
Matt 25:6At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
Matt 25:7Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.
Matt 25:8The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
Matt 25:9‘No,’ said the wise ones, ‘or there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
Matt 25:10But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.
Matt 25:11Later the other virgins arrived and said, ‘Lord, lord, open the door for us!’
Matt 25:12But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’
Matt 25:13Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Matt 25:14For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions.
Matt 25:15To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent—each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey.
Matt 25:16The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work and gained five more.
Matt 25:17Likewise, the one with the two talents gained two more.
Matt 25:18But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
Matt 25:19After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
Matt 25:20The servant who had received the five talents came and presented five more. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
Matt 25:21His 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. Enter into the joy of your master!’
Matt 25:22The servant who had received the two talents also came and said, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained two more.’
Matt 25:23His 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. Enter into the joy of your master!’
Matt 25:24Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
Matt 25:25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what belongs to you.’
Matt 25:26‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ replied his master. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed.
Matt 25:27Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received it back with interest.
Matt 25:28Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.
Matt 25:29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
Matt 25:30And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matt 25:31When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.
Matt 25:32All 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.
Matt 25:33He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.
Matt 25:34Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Matt 25:35For 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 took Me in,
Matt 25:36I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’
Matt 25:37Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?
Matt 25:38When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
Matt 25:39When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
Matt 25:40And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
Matt 25:41Then 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.
Matt 25:42For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink,
Matt 25:43I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’
Matt 25:44And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
Matt 25:45Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’
Matt 25:46And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 662 passages were voted onto 43 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 1Luke 12:35–36Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.
- 40Proverbs 19:17Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.
- 21Matthew 25:23His 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. Enter into the joy of your master!’
- 21Luke 16:10Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
- 40Proverbs 14:31Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
- 40Matthew 10:42And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”
- 21John 12:26If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
- 1Matthew 24:42–51Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
- 1Revelation 19:7Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.
- 40Mark 9:41Indeed, if anyone gives you even a cup of water because you bear the name of Christ, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.
- 1Philippians 2:15–16so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
- 351 John 3:16–19By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
- 401 Peter 1:22Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
- 35James 2:15–16Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
- 13Revelation 16:15“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
- 14Mark 13:34It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch.
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