Passage

Matthew 25.14-30

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"12. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13. Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour."

"14. For it is as when a man, going into another country, called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his several ability; and he went on his journey. 16. Straightway he that received the five talents went and traded with them, and made other five talents. 17. In like manner he also that received the two gained other two. 18. But he that received the one went away and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. 19. Now after a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and maketh a reckoning with them. 20. And he that received the five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: lo, I have gained other five talents. 21. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22. And he also that received the two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: lo, I have gained other two talents. 23. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24. And he also that had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering where thou didst not scatter; 25. and I was afraid, and went away and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, thou hast thine own. 26. But his lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I did not scatter; 27. thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back mine own with interest. 28. Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath the ten talents. 29. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away. 30. And cast ye out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth."

"31. But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: 32. and before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats;" (Matthew 25:12-32, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"12. But he answered, ‘Most certainly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13. Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

"14. “For it is like a man, going into another country, who called his own servants, and entrusted his goods to them. 15. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. 16. Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17. In the same way, he also who got the two gained another two. 18. But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. 19. “Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reconciled accounts with them. 20. He who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents besides them.’ 21. “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22. “He also who got the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents besides them.’ 23. “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 24. “He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter. 25. I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’ 26. “But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. 27. You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest. 28. Take away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29. For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away. 30. Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’"

"31. “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32. Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." (Matthew 25:12-32, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"12. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."

"14. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. ^{talents: a talent is 187.pounds 10.ten shillings, chap.18.24} 16. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. 19. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25. And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27. Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

"31. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32. And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:" (Matthew 25:12-32, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"12. and he answering said, Verily I say to you, I have not known you. 13. 'Watch therefore, for ye have not known the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man doth come."

"14. 'For, as a man going abroad did call his own servants, and did deliver 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 did receive the five talents, having gone, wrought with them, and made other five talents; 17. in like manner also he who [received] the two, he gained, also he, other two; 18. and he who did receive the one, having gone away, digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. 19. 'And after a long time cometh the lord of those servants, and taketh reckoning with them; 20. and he who did receive the five talents having come, brought other five talents, saying, 'Sir, five talents thou didst deliver to me; lo, other five talents did I gain besides them. 21. 'And his lord said to him, Well done, servant, good and faithful, over a few things thou wast faithful, over many things I will set thee; enter into the joy of thy lord. 22. 'And he who also did receive the two talents having come, said, Sir, two talents thou didst deliver to me; lo, other two talents I did gain besides them. 23. 'His lord said to him, Well done, servant, good and faithful, over a few things thou wast faithful, over many things I will set thee; enter into the joy of thy lord. 24. 'And he also who hath received the one talent having come, said, Sir, I knew thee, that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering from whence thou didst not scatter; 25. and having been afraid, having gone away, I hid thy talent in the earth; lo, thou hast thine own! 26. 'And his lord answering said to him, Evil servant, and slothful, thou hadst known that I reap where I did not sow, and I gather whence I did not scatter! 27. it behoved thee then to put my money to the money-lenders, and having come I had received mine own with increase. 28. 'Take therefore from him the talent, and give to him having the ten talents, 29. for to every one having shall be given, and he shall have overabundance, and from him who is not having, even that which he hath shall be taken from him; 30. and the unprofitable servant cast ye forth to the outer darkness; there shall 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 shall sit upon a throne of his glory; 32. and gathered together before him shall be all the nations, and he shall separate them from one another, as the shepherd doth separate the sheep from the goats," (Matthew 25:12-32, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.