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Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:30 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
  • BSB And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
  • NKJV And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
  • NASB And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
  • NLT Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

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

The unprofitable servant is cast into outer darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth. Fruitless, unfaithful service ends in judgment.

Overview

The severe sentence reveals that the servant's neglect exposed an unbelieving heart, not mere underperformance. 'Outer darkness' and 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' are Matthew's images of final exclusion from God's kingdom. The parable thus warns that those who do nothing with Christ's trust show they never truly belonged to him. It presses hearers toward genuine, fruitful faith.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 18

  • Matt 8:12but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
  • Rev 3:15–16“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot.
  • Matt 13:50and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.”
  • Matt 22:13Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’
  • Heb 6:7–8For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often on it, and produces a crop suitable for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God;
  • Jude 1:13wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
  • Titus 3:14Let our people also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they may not be unfruitful.
  • Matt 13:42and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
  • Luke 13:28There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside.
  • Matt 24:51and will cut him in pieces, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.
  • Jer 15:1–2Then Yahweh said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go out!
  • John 15:6If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
  • Matt 5:13“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.
  • Ezek 15:2–5“Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?
  • 2 Pet 2:17These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
  • Luke 14:34–35Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it?
  • Rev 21:8But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
  • Matt 3:10“Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (18)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 25:30YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 25:30 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.