Matthew

Matthew 25:14–23

¹⁴For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions. ¹⁵To one he gave five talents,^b to another two talents, and to another one talent — each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey.

¹⁶The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work^c and gained five more. ¹⁷Likewise, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰The servant who had received the five talents came and presented five more. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

²²The servant who had received the two talents also came and said, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained two more.’

²³His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

Footnotes

b 25:15 A talent was worth about twenty years’ wages for a laborer.
c 25:16 Or ¹⁵... And he went on his journey at once. ¹⁶... went and put them to work. Translators vary as to the placement of the Greek adverb eutheōs (at once) at the end of verse 15 or at the beginning of verse 16.

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