All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Parallel translations
- WEB Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
- KJV And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
- NKJV All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
- NASB And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
- NLT All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
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
All nations are gathered before him and he separates them as a shepherd divides sheep from goats. Christ judges every person, dividing humanity decisively.
Overview
Every nation stands before the King, and he separates people with the ease and authority of a shepherd. The sheep-and-goats image conveys a clear, final division based on his judgment. No one is overlooked in this universal assize. It underscores that all people are accountable to Christ and will be sorted according to their true standing before him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Mal 3:18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
- Matt 13:49So will it be at the end of the age: The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous,
- 2 Cor 5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
- Ps 98:9before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
- Ezek 34:17–22This is what the Lord GOD says to you, My flock: ‘I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the goats.
- Matt 3:12His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
- Ps 96:13before the LORD, for He is coming—He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.
- Rev 20:12–15And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
- Ps 1:5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
- Ps 50:3–5Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.
- John 10:14I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,
- Matt 13:42–43And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
- Rom 14:10–12Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
- Rom 2:12All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.
- Rom 2:16on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.
- Ezek 20:38And I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land in which they dwell, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
- John 10:27My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
- Acts 17:30–31Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.
- Ps 78:52He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.
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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 25:32 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.