Bible Reading Plan – Day 283

₁“At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. Once there were ten young women who took their oil lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ₂Five of them were foolish, and the other five were wise. ₃The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any extra oil with them, ₄while the wise ones took containers full of oil for their lamps. ₅The bridegroom was late in coming, so the women began to nod and fall asleep.

₆“It was already midnight when the cry rang out, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come and meet him!’ ₇The ten women woke up and trimmed their lamps. ₈Then the foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Let us have some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ ₉‘No, indeed,’ the wise ones answered, ‘there is not enough for you and for us. Go to the shop and buy some for yourselves.’ ₁₀So the foolish women went off to buy some oil; and while they were gone, the bridegroom arrived. The five who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was closed.

₁₁“Later the other women arrived. ‘Sir, sir! Let us in!’ they cried out. ₁₂‘Certainly not! I don't know you,’ the bridegroom answered.”

₁₃And Jesus concluded, “Be on your guard, then, because you do not know the day or the hour.

₁₄“At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. Once there was a man who was about to go on a journey; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property. ₁₅He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave 5,000 gold coins, to another he gave 2,000, and to another he gave 1,000. Then he left on his journey. ₁₆The servant who had received 5,000 coins went at once and invested his money and earned another 5,000. ₁₇In the same way the servant who had received 2,000 coins earned another 2,000. ₁₈But the servant who had received 1,000 coins went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.

₁₉“After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. ₂₀The servant who had received 5,000 coins came in and handed over the other 5,000. ‘You gave me 5,000 coins, sir,’ he said. ‘Look! Here are another 5,000 that I have earned.’ ₂₁‘Well done, you good and faithful servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!’

₂₂“Then the servant who had been given 2,000 coins came in and said, ‘You gave me 2,000 coins, sir. Look! Here are another 2,000 that I have earned.’ ₂₃‘Well done, you good and faithful servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!’

₂₄“Then the servant who had received 1,000 coins came in and said, ‘Sir, I know you are a hard man; you reap harvests where you did not sow, and you gather crops where you did not scatter seed. ₂₅I was afraid, so I went off and hid your money in the ground. Look! Here is what belongs to you.’

₂₆“ ‘You bad and lazy servant!’ his master said. ‘You knew, did you, that I reap harvests where I did not sow, and gather crops where I did not scatter seed? ₂₇Well, then, you should have deposited my money in the bank, and I would have received it all back with interest when I returned. ₂₈Now, take the money away from him and give it to the one who has 10,000 coins. ₂₉For to every person who has something, even more will be given, and he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him. ₃₀As for this useless servant — throw him outside in the darkness; there he will cry and grind his teeth.’

₃₁“When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on his royal throne, ₃₂and the people of all the nations will be gathered before him. Then he will divide them into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ₃₃He will put the righteous people on his right and the others on his left. ₃₄Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world. ₃₅I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, ₃₆naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.’

₃₇“The righteous will then answer him, ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? ₃₈When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? ₃₉When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ ₄₀The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these members of my family, you did it for me!’

₄₁“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Away from me, you that are under God's curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels! ₄₂I was hungry but you would not feed me, thirsty but you would not give me a drink; ₄₃I was a stranger but you would not welcome me in your homes, naked but you would not clothe me; I was sick and in prison but you would not take care of me.’

₄₄“Then they will answer him, ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and would not help you?’ ₄₅The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me.’ ₄₆These, then, will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life.”

₁When Jesus had finished teaching all these things, he said to his disciples, ₂“In two days, as you know, it will be the Passover Festival, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

₃Then the chief priests and the elders met together in the palace of Caiaphas, the High Priest, ₄and made plans to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death. ₅“We must not do it during the festival,” they said, “or the people will riot.”

₆Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, a man who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease. ₇While Jesus was eating, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar filled with an expensive perfume, which she poured on his head. ₈The disciples saw this and became angry. “Why all this waste?” they asked. ₉“This perfume could have been sold for a large amount and the money given to the poor!”

₁₀Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? It is a fine and beautiful thing that she has done for me. ₁₁You will always have poor people with you, but you will not always have me. ₁₂What she did was to pour this perfume on my body to get me ready for burial. ₁₃Now, I assure you that wherever this gospel is preached all over the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

₁₄Then one of the twelve disciples — the one named Judas Iscariot — went to the chief priests ₁₅and asked, “What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?” They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to him. ₁₆From then on Judas was looking for a good chance to hand Jesus over to them.

₁₇On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Where do you want us to get the Passover meal ready for you?”

₁₈“Go to a certain man in the city,” he said to them, “and tell him: ‘The Teacher says, My hour has come; my disciples and I will celebrate the Passover at your house.’ ”

₁₉The disciples did as Jesus had told them and prepared the Passover meal.

₂₀When it was evening, Jesus and the twelve disciples sat down to eat. ₂₁During the meal Jesus said, “I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

₂₂The disciples were very upset and began to ask him, one after the other, “Surely, Lord, you don't mean me?”

₂₃Jesus answered, “One who dips his bread in the dish with me will betray me. ₂₄The Son of Man will die as the Scriptures say he will, but how terrible for that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!”

₂₅Judas, the traitor, spoke up. “Surely, Teacher, you don't mean me?” he asked.

Jesus answered, “So you say.”

₂₆While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. “Take and eat it,” he said; “this is my body.”

₂₇Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and gave it to them. “Drink it, all of you,” he said; ₂₈“this is my blood, which seals God's covenant, my blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ₂₉I tell you, I will never again drink this wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in my Father's Kingdom.”

₃₀Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

₃₁Then Jesus said to them, “This very night all of you will run away and leave me, for the scripture says, ‘God will kill the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ ₃₂But after I am raised to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”

₃₃Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, “I will never leave you, even though all the rest do!”

₃₄Jesus said to Peter, “I tell you that before the cock crows tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me.”

₃₅Peter answered, “I will never say that, even if I have to die with you!”

And all the other disciples said the same thing.

₃₆Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ₃₇He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. Grief and anguish came over him, ₃₈and he said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

₃₉He went a little farther on, threw himself face downwards on the ground, and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering from me! Yet not what I want, but what you want.”

₄₀Then he returned to the three disciples and found them asleep; and he said to Peter, “How is it that you three were not able to keep watch with me even for one hour? ₄₁Keep watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

₄₂Once more Jesus went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup of suffering cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” ₄₃He returned once more and found the disciples asleep; they could not keep their eyes open.

₄₄Again Jesus left them, went away, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. ₄₅Then he returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look! The hour has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to the power of sinners. ₄₆Get up, let us go. Look, here is the man who is betraying me!”

₄₇Jesus was still speaking when Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs and sent by the chief priests and the elders. ₄₈The traitor had given the crowd a signal: “The man I kiss is the one you want. Arrest him!”

₄₉Judas went straight to Jesus and said, “Peace be with you, Teacher,” and kissed him.

₅₀Jesus answered, “Be quick about it, friend!”

Then they came up, arrested Jesus, and held him tight. ₅₁One of those who were with Jesus drew his sword and struck at the High Priest's slave, cutting off his ear. ₅₂“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him. “All who take the sword will die by the sword. ₅₃Don't you know that I could call on my Father for help, and at once he would send me more than twelve armies of angels? ₅₄But in that case, how could the Scriptures come true which say that this is what must happen?”

₅₅Then Jesus spoke to the crowd, “Did you have to come with swords and clubs to capture me, as though I were an outlaw? Every day I sat down and taught in the Temple, and you did not arrest me. ₅₆But all this has happened in order to make what the prophets wrote in the Scriptures come true.”

Then all the disciples left him and ran away.