Journey Through God's Word

³¹“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne.

³²All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

³³He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.

³⁵For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.

³⁶I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

³⁷“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?

³⁸Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?

³⁹When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

⁴⁰“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

⁴¹“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.

⁴²For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink.

⁴³I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

⁴⁴“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

⁴⁵“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

⁴⁶“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

²⁷“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.

²⁸Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.

²⁹If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also.

³⁰Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back.

³¹Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

³²“If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them!

³³And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much!

³⁴And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

³⁵“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.

³⁶You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

³⁷“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.

³⁸Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full — pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. ”

¹Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.

²Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

³If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

⁴Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.

⁵For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

⁶Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.

⁷Don’t be misled — you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.

⁸Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.

⁹So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

¹⁰Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone — especially to those in the family of faith.