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“All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps.
Matthew 25:7 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
  • KJV Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
  • BSB Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.
  • NKJV Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
  • NASB Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.

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 the virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The arrival prompts everyone to make final preparations.

Overview

At the announcement, both wise and foolish spring into action and ready their lamps. Outward activity at the last moment, however, cannot supply what was lacking all along. The scene exposes the difference between those with reserves and those without. It shows that genuine readiness must precede the moment of Christ's coming.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 5

  • Luke 12:35“Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning.
  • Rev 3:19–20As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.
  • 2 Pet 3:14Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight.
  • Rev 2:4–5But I have this against you, that you left your first love.
  • Rev 3:2Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (10)

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 25:7YouTube · 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 25:7 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.