Luke 19:13-24 ▼

13 [Before he left,] he called ten of his servants and gave them ten coins. He said to his servants, 'Invest this money until I come back.'

14 |The citizens of his own country hated him. They sent representatives to follow him and say [to the person who was going to appoint him], 'We don't want this man to be our king.'

15 |After he was appointed king, he came back. Then he said, 'Call those servants to whom I gave money. I want to know how much each one has made by investing.'

16 |The first servant said, 'Sir, the coin you gave me has earned ten times as much.'

17 |The king said to him, 'Good job! You're a good servant. You proved that you could be trusted with a little money. Take charge of ten cities.'

18 |The second servant said, 'The coin you gave me, sir, has made five times as much.'

19 |The king said to this servant, 'You take charge of five cities.'

20 |Then the other servant said, 'Sir, look! Here's your coin. I've kept it in a cloth for safekeeping because

21 I was afraid of you. You're a tough person to get along with. You take what isn't yours and harvest grain you haven't planted.'

22 |The king said to him, 'I'll judge you by what you've said, you evil servant! You knew that I was a tough person to get along with. You knew that I take what isn't mine and harvest grain I haven't planted.

23 Then why didn't you put my money in the bank? When I came back, I could have collected it with interest.'

24 The king told his men, 'Take his coin away, and give it to the man who has ten.'