Matthew 23-25

Matthew 23

¹Then spake Jesus to the multitudes and to his disciples,

²saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat:

³all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not.

⁴Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger.

⁵But all their works they do for to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

⁶and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

⁷and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi.

⁸But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren.

⁹And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

¹⁰Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ.

¹¹But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

¹²And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.

¹³But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter.

¹⁵Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves.

¹⁶Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.

¹⁷Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that hath sanctified the gold?

¹⁸And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a debtor.

¹⁹Ye blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

²⁰He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

²¹And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

²²And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

²³Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone.

²⁴Ye blind guides, which strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel.

²⁵Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess.

²⁶Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also.

²⁷Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

²⁸Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

²⁹Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous,

³⁰and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

³¹Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets.

³²Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

³³Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell?

³⁴Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city:

³⁵that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar.

³⁶Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

³⁷O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

³⁸Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

³⁹For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Matthew 24

¹And Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way; and his disciples came to him to shew him the buildings of the temple.

²But he answered and said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

³And as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

⁴And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray.

⁵For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray.

⁶And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for these things must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet.

⁷For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places.

⁸But all these things are the beginning of travail.

⁹Then shall they deliver you up unto tribulation, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all the nations for my name’s sake.

¹⁰And then shall many stumble, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another.

¹¹And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray.

¹²And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of the many shall wax cold.

¹³But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.

¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.

¹⁵When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that readeth understand),

¹⁶then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains:

¹⁷let him that is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house:

¹⁸and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloke.

¹⁹But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days!

²⁰And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on a sabbath:

²¹for then shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.

²²And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

²³Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ, or, Here; believe it not.

²⁴For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

²⁵Behold, I have told you beforehand.

²⁶If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness; go not forth: Behold, he is in the inner chambers; believe it not.

²⁷For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.

²⁸Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

²⁹But immediately, after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

³⁰and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

³¹And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

³²Now from the fig tree learn her parable: when her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh;

³³even so ye also, when ye see all these things, know ye that he is nigh, even at the doors.

³⁴Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished.

³⁵Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

³⁶But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.

³⁷And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.

³⁸For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,

³⁹and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.

⁴⁰Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left:

⁴¹two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.

⁴²Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.

⁴³But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through.

⁴⁴Therefore be ye also ready: for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.

⁴⁵Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season?

⁴⁶Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

⁴⁷Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath.

⁴⁸But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord tarrieth;

⁴⁹and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken;

⁵⁰the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not,

⁵¹and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25

¹Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

²And five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

³For the foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them:

⁴but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

⁵Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

⁶But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him.

⁷Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

⁸And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out.

⁹But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

¹⁰And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast: and the door was shut.

¹¹Afterward come also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

¹²But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

¹³Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour.

¹⁴For it is as when a man, going into another country, called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶Straightway he that received the five talents went and traded with them, and made other five talents.

¹⁷In like manner he also that received the two gained other two.

¹⁸But he that received the one went away and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

¹⁹Now after a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and maketh a reckoning with them.

²⁰And 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.

²¹His 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.

²²And he also that received the two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: lo, I have gained other two talents.

²³His 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.

²⁴And 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:

²⁵and I was afraid, and went away and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, thou hast thine own.

²⁶But 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;

²⁷thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back mine own with interest.

²⁸Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath the ten talents.

²⁹For 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.

³⁰And cast ye out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

³¹But 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:

³²and 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:

³³and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

³⁴Then 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:

³⁵for 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;

³⁶naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

³⁷Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink?

³⁸And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

³⁹And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

⁴⁰And 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.

⁴¹Then 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:

⁴²for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

⁴³I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

⁴⁴Then shall they also answer, 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?

⁴⁵Then 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.

⁴⁶And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.