Limitless Word
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Matthew 25:36 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’
  • BSB I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’
  • NKJV I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
  • NASB naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
  • NLT I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

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

They clothed, visited, and came to him when naked, sick, and imprisoned. Practical mercy marks the lives of the righteous.

Overview

The list of merciful deeds continues, covering the vulnerable and suffering. Such acts demonstrate the reality of saving faith working through love. Again Christ so unites himself with the needy that kindness to them is kindness to him. The verse shows that authentic discipleship is expressed in tangible care for others.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Jas 1:27Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
  • Jas 5:14–15Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
  • Heb 13:3Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
  • 2 Tim 1:16–18The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:
  • Jas 2:14–16What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
  • Acts 20:35I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
  • Heb 10:34For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
  • Acts 28:8–9And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.
  • Phil 4:10–14But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.
  • Matt 25:43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
  • Luke 3:11He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
  • Ezek 18:7And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
  • Job 31:19–20If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;
  • Ezek 34:4The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
  • Isa 58:7Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (16)

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 25:36YouTube · 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 25:36 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.