Chapter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

Matthew 25:23
ESV His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
NIV His 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. Come and share your master's happiness!'
NASB His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’
CSB "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master's joy.'
NLT 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!’
KJV His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

What does Matthew 25:23 mean?

This verse repeats almost exactly the praise given in Matthew 25:21. The master rewards the servant who used the two talents left to him to build a business that made another two talents. This is another 100 percent return on investment; a fantastic success in terms of business profit and worldly achievement.

Jesus is using the metaphor of financial success to communicate what it means to be His servant. His parable imagines the gifts He will give to His servants on earth—natural ability, skills, resources, money, assets—as things to invest. This is very much why the word "talent" is used in modern English as a reference to God-given abilities. He wants us to use those blessings to deepen our faith in Himself, to increase His glory on the earth, and hopefully to grow His church. It's noteworthy that what the master in this parable truly values is not the objective value of the money these men earned, but their faithfulness in applying what He has given them (Matthew 25:27–29).

Being told "well done" is a reward unto itself coming from the Son of God. Second, the master responds to faithful service over smaller things by giving the opportunity to be responsible for larger things. The reward is not about prestige, necessarily, but the opportunity to have an even greater impact. Finally, the master rewards the servant with a joy that can be shared and entered into: personal relationship with Himself.
Expand
Expand
Expand
What is the Gospel?
Download the app:
BibleRef.com is part of Got Questions Ministries

For answers to your Bible questions, please visit