Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Parallel translations
- WEB You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest.
- BSB Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received it back with interest.
- NKJV So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
- NASB Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
- NLT why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
At least he should have banked the money to earn interest. Minimal faithfulness was within reach, yet he gave none.
Overview
The master points out that even the easiest, lowest-risk faithfulness would have honored the trust. The servant's total inaction leaves him without excuse. The verse shows that God expects his gifts to be put to use in some fruitful way. Refusing even minimal stewardship reveals a heart unwilling to serve the master at all.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Luke 19:22–23And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
- Jude 1:15To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
- Deut 23:19–20Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury:
- Rom 3:19Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 25:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.