Matthew 25:14-30

Easy-to-Read Version

A Story About Three Servants^(A)

¹⁴ “At that time God’s kingdom will also be like a man leaving home to travel to another place for a visit. Before he left, he talked with his servants. He told his servants to take care of his things while he was gone. ¹⁵ He decided how much each servant would be able to care for. The man gave one servant five bags of money.^[a] He gave another servant two bags. And he gave a third servant one bag. Then he left. ¹⁶ The servant who got five bags went quickly to invest the money. Those five bags of money earned five more. ¹⁷ It was the same with the servant who had two bags. That servant invested the money and earned two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who got one bag of money went away and dug a hole in the ground. Then he hid his master’s money in the hole.

¹⁹ “After a long time the master came home. He asked the servants what they did with his money. ²⁰ The servant who got five bags brought that amount and five more bags of money to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you trusted me to care for five bags of money. So I used them to earn five more.’

²¹ “The master answered, ‘You did right. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with that small amount of money. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’

²² “Then the servant who got two bags of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of money to care for. So I used your two bags to earn two more.’

²³ “The master answered, ‘You did right. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with a small amount of money. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’

²⁴ “Then the servant who got one bag of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, I knew you were a very hard man. You harvest what you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not put any seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid. I went and hid your money in the ground. Here is the one bag of money you gave me.’

²⁶ “The master answered, ‘You are a bad and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest what I did not plant and that I gather crops where I did not put any seed. ²⁷ So you should have put my money in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would get my money back. And I would also get the interest that my money earned.’

²⁸ “So the master told his other servants, ‘Take the one bag of money from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags. ²⁹ Everyone who uses what they have will get more. They will have much more than they need. But people who do not use what they have will have everything taken away from them.’ ³⁰ Then the master said, ‘Throw that useless servant outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’