but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Parallel translations
- KJV But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
- BSB But the wise ones took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
- NKJV but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
- NASB but the prudent ones took oil in flasks with their lamps.
- NLT but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil.
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 wise took oil in their vessels along with their lamps. True readiness includes inward, lasting provision.
Overview
In contrast to the foolish, the wise prepare for the possibility of delay by carrying reserves. This pictures a faith that endures and a heart genuinely supplied for the long wait. Such preparation cannot be improvised at the last moment. The wise represent those whose readiness for Christ is real and sustaining.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Rom 8:9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
- 1 Jn 2:27As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.
- 1 Jn 2:20You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
- John 3:34For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.
- Zech 4:2–3He said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I have seen, and behold, a lamp stand all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are on the top of it;
- Ps 45:7You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
- Gal 5:22–23But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
- 2 Cor 1:22who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.
- John 1:15–16John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’”
- Jude 1:19These are they who cause divisions, and are sensual, not having the Spirit.
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 25:4 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.