October 10, 2009

Matthew 25:1-26:35


1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.2 “Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.3 “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.5 “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.6 “But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’7 “Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.8 “The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’9 “But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’10 “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.11 “Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’12 “But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
14 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.15 “To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.16 “Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.17 “In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.
18 “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.20 “The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’
21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
22 “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’
23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
24 “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
25 ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’
26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.27 ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
28 ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
30 “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 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 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to 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 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been 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; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’44 “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’45 “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 26

1 When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples,
2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.”
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, named Caiaphas;4 and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him.
5 But they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people.”
6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper,7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. 8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste?9 “For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me.11 “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me.12 “For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.
13 “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests15 and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.
16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.
17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’”
19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.21 As they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.”22 Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?”23 And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me.24 “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”
25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.”
26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.
29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD , AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED .’32 “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”33 But Peter said to Him, “ Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.