Passage

Matthew 25.31-46

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 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... These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:31-32, 46, NASB95)

The closing pericope of Jesus' Olivet Discourse and the most extended single passage on final judgment in the Gospels. The Son of Man returns in glory, separates the nations as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, and renders an eschatological verdict tied to treatment of "the least of these My brothers." The passage is load-bearing for the doctrine of eternal conscious punishment (the parallel "eternal life / eternal punishment" structure of verse 46), for the universalist counter-reading, and for the ethical claim that mercy to the marginalized is treated as mercy to Christ himself.

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"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; 33. and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35. for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; 36. naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink? 38. And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39. And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40. And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me. 41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels: 42. for I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; 43. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44. Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45. Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me. 46. And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:29-46, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"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. 33. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34. Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, 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 food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. 36. I was 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, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? 38. When did we see you as a stranger, and take 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 them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 41. Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; 42. for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; 43. I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ 44. “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’ 45. “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ 46. These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”" (Matthew 25:29-46, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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: 33. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36. Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38. When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39. Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40. And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45. Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." (Matthew 25:29-46, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"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, 33. and he shall set the sheep indeed on his right hand, and the goats on the left. 34. 'Then shall the king say to those on his right hand, Come ye, the blessed of my Father, inherit the reign that hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35. for I did hunger, and ye gave me to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye received me; 36. naked, and ye put around me; I was infirm, and ye looked after me; in prison I was, and ye came unto me. 37. 'Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungering, and we nourished? or thirsting, and we gave to drink? 38. and when did we see thee a stranger, and we received? or naked, and we put around? 39. and when did we see thee infirm, or in prison, and we came unto thee? 40. 'And the king answering, shall say to them, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] to one of these my brethren, the least, to me ye did [it]. 41. Then shall he say also to those on the left hand, Go ye from me, the cursed, to the fire, the age-during, that hath been prepared for the Devil and his messengers; 42. for I did hunger, and ye gave me not to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me not to drink; 43. a stranger I was, and ye did not receive me; naked, and ye put not around me; infirm, and in prison, and ye did not look after me. 44. 'Then shall they answer, they also, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or infirm, or in prison, and we did not minister to thee? 45. 'Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of these, the least, ye did [it] not to me. 46. And these shall go away to punishment age-during, but the righteous to life age-during.'" (Matthew 25:29-46, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Jesus, in private discourse to his disciples
Audience: the inner circle (Peter, James, John, and Andrew per the Mark 13 parallel) on the Mount of Olives
Location: the Mount of Olives, looking across the Kidron Valley to the Jerusalem temple
Time period: Tuesday of Passion Week, c. AD 30, two days before the crucifixion

Theological reading

The pericope is the third and climactic eschatological parable in Matthew 25, following the ten virgins (waiting) and the talents (faithfulness). Unlike the prior two, it is not framed as parable but as direct prophetic vision: when the Son of Man returns "in His glory, and all the angels with Him," he assumes the throne and conducts the universal judgment. The shepherd-separating-sheep-from-goats image is metaphorical, but the judgment scene itself is reported as the event the metaphor refers to. "All the nations" (Greek panta ta ethnē) signals the universal scope: this is not the judgment of one ethnic group but of humanity.

The verdict criterion is striking. Neither group anticipates the basis of judgment. The righteous ask, "Lord, when did we see You hungry?"; the condemned ask the same question in protest. The King answers by identifying himself with "the least of these My brothers" (verse 40) and "the least of these" (verse 45). Interpretation of "least of these My brothers" divides into two traditions. The narrower reading (Carson, Schreiner) restricts "My brothers" to Christ's disciples, especially persecuted missionaries; treatment of itinerant Christian messengers reveals one's true response to Christ. The broader reading (Augustine, most patristic interpreters, modern social-justice traditions) extends "the least" to the marginalized as such: the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned. Both readings agree that the judgment is rendered on visible love-in-action, and that Christ is sacramentally identified with those served.

Verse 46 is the most contested verse in the passage and the most-cited verse in the debate over hell. The parallelism is precise: kolasin aiōnion (eternal punishment) is set against zōēn aiōnion (eternal life). The argument from parallelism runs: whatever duration aiōnion has when modifying "life" it must have when modifying "punishment"; therefore if the life of the righteous is endless, so is the punishment of the wicked. This is the classical case for eternal conscious torment. Conditional-immortality (annihilationist) readers respond that kolasis can name the result of punishment (definitive destruction) rather than ongoing experience, so "eternal punishment" may mean "punishment whose effect is eternal." Universalist readers (Origen, MacDonald, recently Hart) press the underlying Greek aiōnion as "age-pertaining" rather than "infinite-duration," reading it as a finite remedial age. The grammatical-parallelism argument remains the strongest objection to both alternatives.

The passage's apologetic significance is double. Critics cite the verse against orthodox Christianity for endorsing eternal conscious torment as morally monstrous. Orthodox apologists cite the same verse against universalist revisions of biblical anthropology. Both rely on the same parallelism. Pastorally, the passage's ethical edge cuts at performance Christianity: the righteous are surprised to learn they have served Christ, and the condemned are surprised to learn they have refused him. The judgment is rendered on what was actually done, not on what was professed.

Key words

G2920 - krisis, krisis (Strong's G2920). Judgment, the act of separating and pronouncing verdict; the chapter's structural theme.
G3952 - parousia, parousia (Strong's G3952). The royal "coming" of the Son of Man in glory.
G932 - basileia, basileia (Strong's G932). The "kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world" the sheep inherit.
G0165 - aion, aion (Strong's G165). The disputed root behind aiōnion in the "eternal life / eternal punishment" parallelism of verse 46.

Theological themes

Universal judgment of all nations. Not a tribal verdict; panta ta ethnē signals humanity-wide eschatological scope.
Christ identified with the marginalized. Mercy to the least is mercy to Christ; the doctrine grounds Christian social ethics.
Eternal-conscious-torment versus annihilation versus universalism. The parallelism of verse 46 is the central battleground.
Surprise on both sides. Neither the righteous nor the condemned anticipate the verdict; judgment exposes what was actually done.
Olivet-discourse climax. The passage closes Jesus' longest eschatological teaching with personal-judgment focus after preceding cosmic-judgment material.

Cross-references

Matthew 25.46, the verse 46 anchor for the eternal-life / eternal-punishment parallelism.
Matthew 24.27-31, the Son-of-Man-coming-in-glory of the preceding chapter.
Matthew 13.36-43, the parable of the wheat and tares, parallel sheep-goats separation.
Revelation 20:11-15, the great white throne judgment, OT-NT-bracketing this scene.
Daniel 7:13-14, the Son-of-Man-with-clouds prophecy Jesus draws on.

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.