For marks the relation between the preceding invitation and these two verses. The King invites those blessed by his Father to receive their inheritance because of the way they treated him (the King). Translators may need to say “I invite you to come because…” or “You will receive this because….” The righteous are rewarded on the basis of their works of love for persons in desperate need.

I was hungry … thirsty … a stranger … naked … sick … in prison: some have felt that this suggests a “mystical identification of Christ and the needy,” but it is enough to make clear that it is through service to those who are in need that Christ himself chooses to be served. Thus the translation must use the first person, I was hungry.

In some languages I was hungry is more naturally “When I was hungry,” in which case the and of the following phrase may not be needed. “When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat.”

You gave me food (literally “you gave me to eat”) is better than Good News Translation‘s “you fed me,” which may imply the inability of the hungry person to feed himself.

Gave me drink may need to be slightly restructured: “you gave me water to drink.” In the dry and hot climate of Palestine, the giving of water to a thirsty person was a special act of kindness.

Stranger most probably signifies anyone unknown to a person, though it may also carry the meaning “foreigner.”

Welcomed (Good News Translation “received … in your homes”) translates the active form of the verb rendered “will be gathered” of verse 32. Here the meaning is “welcome as a guest”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch appropriately renders “accepted me as one of your own.”

I was naked and you clothed me is not to suggest that the person who provided the clothes actually placed them on the naked person. One may translate “I did not have any clothes, and you gave me clothes to wear.” Some translators understand naked as an exaggeration and translate it as “I didn’t have enough to wear” or “I had no clothes.”

Visited can be “came (or, went) to see me,” but in this context the idea of taking care of is probably better. See Good News Translation “took care of.” For the last verb, came does refer to going to see a person in prison, so “visited” of Good News Translation is quite appropriate there.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .