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1 Then shall the kingdom of the heavens be likened to ten virgins, who took their own :lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were foolish, and five wise. 3 For the foolish, when they took their :lamps, took no oil with them: 4 but the wise took oil in the vessels with their own :lamps. 5 Now while the bridegroom tarried, all were asleep. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, Lo, the bridegroom! Come forth to meet him. 7 Then all those :virgins arose, and trimmed their own :lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, Give us of your :oil; because our :lamps are going out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and those ready went in with him to the marriage †feast: and the door was shut. 11 And afterward come also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Amen I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour. 14 For it is just as when a man, going into another country, called his own :bondmen, and delivered to them his :goods. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his several :ability; and he went into another country. 16 Straightway who received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained other five talents. 17 Likewise he of the two gained other two. 18 But who received the one went away and dug in the earth, and hid the money of his :lord. 19 Now after a long time the lord of those :bondmen cometh, and maketh a reckoning with them. 20 And who received the five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst to me five talents: see, I have gained other five talents. 21 His :lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful bondman: thou hast been faithful over few things, I will set thee over many; enter into the joy of thy :lord. 22 And he also of the two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst to me two talents: see, I have gained other two talents. 23 His :lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful bondman: thou hast been faithful over few, I will set thee over many; enter 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 whence thou didst not scatter; 25 and I was afraid, and went away and hid thy :talent in the earth: see, thou hast :thine own. 26 But his :lord answered and said to him: Wicked and slothful bondman, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather whence I scattered not; 27 thou oughtest therefore to have put my :moneys to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back :mine with interest. 28 Take away therefore the talent from him, and give to him that hath the ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, even what he hath shall be taken away. 30 And cast out the unprofitable bondman into the outer :darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the 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, just as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats; 33 and he shall set the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say to them on his right, Come, ye blessed of my :Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the world’s foundation: 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 to them, Amen I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my :brethren, these least, ye did it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also to them on the left, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal :fire :prepared for the devil and his :angels: 42 for I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat; and 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 thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Amen I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these :least, ye did it neither unto me. 46 And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.