Parable Of The Talents

14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be
illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called
together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he
was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver to
one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the
last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left
on his trip.


16 “The servant who received the five bags
of silver began to invest the money and earned five more.
17 The servant with two bags of silver also
went to work and earned two more. 18 But
the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the
ground and hid the master’s money.


19 “After a long time their master returned
from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had
used his money. 20 The servant to whom he
had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more
and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and
I have earned five more.’


21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well
done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in
handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more
responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’


22 “The servant who had received the two
bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two
bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’


23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good
and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this
small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities.
Let’s celebrate together!’


24 “Then the servant with the one bag of
silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man,
harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t
cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose
your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money
back.’


26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and
lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and
gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why
didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have
gotten some interest on it.’


28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from
this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver.
29 To those who use well what they are
given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance.
But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be
taken away. 30 Now throw this useless
servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.’