Matthew 25

1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who
took their lamps and
went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Now five of them were wise, and
five were foolish.
3Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
4but the wise
took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5But while the
bridegroom was delayed, they
all slumbered and slept.
6"And at midnight a cry was heard: "Behold, the bridegroom is
coming;[1] go out to
meet him!' 7Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
8And the foolish said
to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going
out.' 9But the wise
answered, saying, "No, lest there should not be enough for us and
you; but go rather
to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' 10And while they went
to buy, the
bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the
wedding; and the
door was shut.
11"Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, "Lord, Lord, open
to us!' 12But he
answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'
13"Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour[2] in
which the Son of
Man is coming.

(1) 14 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far
country, who called
his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15And to one he
gave five talents,
to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own
ability; and
immediately he went on a journey. 16Then he who had received the
five talents went
and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17And likewise
he who had
received two gained two more also. 18But he who had received one
went and dug in
the ground, and hid his lord's money. 19After a long time the lord
of those servants
came and settled accounts with them.
20"So he who had received five talents came and brought five other
talents, saying,
"Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five
more talents besides
them.' 21His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful
servant; you were faithful
over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter
into the joy of your
lord.' 22He also who had received two talents came and said, "Lord,
you delivered to
me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'
23His lord said to
him, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful
over a few things, I
will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your
lord.'
24"Then he who had received the one talent came and said, "Lord, I
knew you to be a
hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you
have not
scattered seed. 25And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in
the ground. Look,
there you have what is yours.'
26"But his lord answered and said to him, "You wicked and lazy
servant, you knew that
I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered
seed. 27So you
ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming
I would have
received back my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him,
and give it to him
who has ten talents.
29"For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have
abundance; but from
him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30And
cast the
unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping
and gnashing of
teeth.'

31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy[3]
angels with Him, then
He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32All the nations will be
gathered before Him, and
He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his
sheep from the
goats. 33And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats
on the left.
34Then the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come, you
blessed of My Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world: 35for I was
hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I
was a stranger
and you took Me in; 36I 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 drink? 38When did we see You a
stranger and take
You in, or naked and clothe You? 39Or when did we see You sick, or
in prison, and
come to You?' 40And the King will answer and say to them,
"Assuredly, I say to you,
inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren,
you did it to Me.'
41"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, "Depart from
Me, you cursed, into
the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42for I
was hungry and you
gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43I was a
stranger and you
did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in
prison and you did not
visit Me.'
44"Then they also will answer Him,[4] saying, "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?' 45Then
He will answer them, saying, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as
you did not do it to
one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46And these
will go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Matthew 26

(1) 1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these
sayings, that He said to
His disciples, 2"You know that after two days is the Passover, and
the Son of Man will
be delivered up to be crucified."
3Then the chief priests, the scribes,[1] and the elders of the
people assembled at the
palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4and plotted to
take Jesus by
trickery and kill Him. 5But they said, "Not during the feast, lest
there be an uproar
among the people."

(2) 6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the
leper, 7a woman
came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil,
and she poured it on
His head as He sat at the table. 8But when His disciples saw it,
they were indignant,
saying, "Why this waste? 9For this fragrant oil might have been
sold for much and
given to the poor."
10But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you
trouble the woman?
For she has done a good work for Me. 11For you have the poor with
you always, but
Me you do not have always. 12For in pouring this fragrant oil on My
body, she did it for
My burial. 13Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is
preached in the whole
world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to
her."

(3) 14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the
chief priests 15and
said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?"
And they counted out to
him thirty pieces of silver. 16So from that time he sought
opportunity to betray Him.

(4) 17 Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread
the disciples came
to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You
to eat the
Passover?"
18And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him,
"The Teacher says,
"My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My
disciples.""'
19So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they
prepared the Passover.
20When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21Now as they
were eating,
He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."
22And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to
say to Him, "Lord,
is it I?"
23He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish
will betray Me.
24The Son of Man indeed goes 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."
25Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is
it I?"
He said to him, "You have said it."

(5) 26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed[2] and
broke it, and gave it
to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."
27Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them,
saying, "Drink from it,
all of you. 28For this is My blood of the new[3] covenant, which is
shed for many for
the remission of sins. 29But 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."
30And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of
Olives.

Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial
(6) 31 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble
because of Me this
night, for it is written:

"I will strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'[4]

32But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."
33Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble
because of You, I
will never be made to stumble."
34Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night,
before the rooster crows,
you will deny Me three times."
35Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not
deny You!"
And so said all the disciples.

(7) 36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and
said to the
disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there." 37And He took
with Him Peter and
the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply
distressed. 38Then
He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.
Stay here and
watch with Me."
39He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed,
saying, "O My Father, if it is
possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will,
but as You will."
40Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said
to Peter, "What!
Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41Watch and pray, lest you
enter into
temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
42Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My
Father, if this cup
cannot pass away from Me unless[5] I drink it, Your will be done."
43And He came and
found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.
44So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time,
saying the same
words. 45Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you
still sleeping and
resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being
betrayed into the
hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at
hand."

(8) 47 And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the
twelve, with a great
multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and
elders of the people.
48Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss,
He is the One;
seize Him." 49Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings,
Rabbi!" and kissed
Him.
50But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"
Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him. 51And
suddenly, one of those
who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword,
struck the servant of
the high priest, and cut off his ear.
52But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who
take the sword will
perish[6] by the sword. 53Or do you think that I cannot now pray to
My Father, and
He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? 54How
then could the
Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"
55In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as
against a robber,
with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in
the temple, and
you did not seize Me. 56But all this was done that the Scriptures
of the prophets might
be fulfilled."
Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

(9) 57 And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to
Caiaphas the high priest,
where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58But Peter
followed Him at a
distance to the high priest's courtyard. And he went in and sat
with the servants to
see the end.
59Now the chief priests, the elders,[7] and all the council sought
false testimony
against Jesus to put Him to death, 60but found none. Even though
many false
witnesses came forward, they found none.[8] But at last two false
witnesses[9] came
forward 61and said, "This fellow said, "I am able to destroy the
temple of God and to
build it in three days."'
62And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer
nothing? What is it these
men testify against You?" 63But Jesus kept silent. And the high
priest answered and
said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if
You are the Christ, the
Son of God!"
64Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to
you, hereafter you will
see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and
coming on the clouds of
heaven."
65Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken
blasphemy! What
further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His
blasphemy!
66What do you think?"
They answered and said, "He is deserving of death."
67Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him
with the palms of
their hands, 68saying, "Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who
struck You?"

(10) 69 Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl
came to him,
saying, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee."
70But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you
are saying."
71And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and
said to those
who were there, "This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth."
72But again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man!"
73And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter,
"Surely you also are
one of them, for your speech betrays you."
74Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the
Man!"
Immediately a rooster crowed. 75And Peter remembered the word of
Jesus who had
said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three
times." So he went out
and wept bitterly.