And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Parallel translations
- WEB He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
- KJV And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
- BSB He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.
- NASB and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.
- NLT He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
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
He sets the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. The two groups are assigned places of honor and judgment.
Overview
The right hand signifies favor and blessing, the left, rejection. The separation is personal and irreversible, made by the King himself. This pictures the final destinies that await the two groups. It reminds hearers that Christ's judgment results in a real and lasting division among all people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 100:3Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
- Ps 45:9Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women. At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ophir.
- John 10:26–28But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.
- John 21:15–17So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
- Ps 110:1A Psalm by David. Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”
- Ps 79:13So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.
- Gen 48:13–14Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near to him.
- Acts 2:34–35For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand,
- Heb 1:3His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
- Mark 16:19So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
- Ps 95:7for he is our God. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Today, oh that you would hear his voice!
- Eph 1:20which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,
- Gen 48:17–19When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 25:33 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.