And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Parallel translations
- WEB These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- BSB And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- NKJV And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- NASB These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- NLT “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
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 unrighteous go to eternal punishment, the righteous to eternal life. The judgment results in two everlasting destinies.
Overview
This concluding verse affirms the reality and permanence of both outcomes, using the same word 'eternal' for each. It teaches the seriousness of final judgment and the glorious hope of everlasting life with Christ. The destinies are determined by one's true relationship to the King, evidenced by a life of love. The passage urges all to take refuge in Christ before that day.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 26
- Dan 12:2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
- John 5:29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
- John 3:36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
- Rev 21:8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
- Rev 20:15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
- Rom 6:23For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- 2 Th 1:9Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
- Rom 5:21That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
- John 3:15–16That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
- Rev 20:10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
- John 10:27–28My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
- Matt 25:41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
- Mark 9:48–49Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
- Mark 9:43–45And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
- 1 Jn 2:25And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
- Gal 6:8For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
- Acts 24:15And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
- John 17:2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
- 1 Jn 5:11–12And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
- Luke 16:26And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
- Matt 19:29And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
- Rev 14:10–11The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
- Rom 2:7–16To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
- Ps 16:10–11For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
- Matt 13:43Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
- Jude 1:21Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 25:46 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.
How traditions read this
How to read "eternal punishment" — and the fate of the lost.
The lost suffer conscious punishment forever. "Eternal punishment" stands parallel to "eternal life" in the very same verse, and Revelation speaks of torment "forever and ever."
Key points · The symmetry of "eternal" in Matthew 25:46; Revelation 14:11; 20:10; the historic majority position.
Augustine; the broad tradition · Athanasian and historic creeds
The lost are finally destroyed — the "second death" — rather than tormented without end. Immortality is God''s gift to the redeemed; "eternal" describes the irreversible result, not unending suffering.
Key points · "Destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt 10:28); "the wages of sin is death"; the second death.
Edward Fudge; John Stott (sympathetic)
All will at last be reconciled to God through Christ; the punishment is corrective, not unending. A minority view, held by some (e.g. Gregory of Nyssa) but rejected by most as outside the historic consensus.
Key points · "That God may be all in all" (1 Cor 15:28); the scope of "all" texts; debated and minority.
Gregory of Nyssa (debated)
Each view is stated as that tradition would put it, with representative sources. Limitless Word presents them side by side and endorses none — see the methodology.