Scriptures Plain & Simple (Matthew 25:31-46)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Matthew 25:31-46:

On the day of judgment, God’s Appointed One
will appear in all his glory with his angels
       and assume his place of authority as Judge.
Everyone of every nation will be there,
and he will separate them
       as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.

“Sheep to my right! Goats to my left!”
the King will announce,
       before pronouncing final judgment:

“To you on my right, my Father now gives his blessing.
So, come and enter the kingdom prepared for you
       before the world was created or even conceived.
I was hungry, and you gave me food;
       I was thirsty, and you gave me water.
              I was a stranger, and you welcomed me;
I was naked and you gave me clothes;
       I was sick, and you cared for me;
              I was in jail, and you came to visit me.”

Though you’ve pleased me, still you’ll ask,
“When were you hungry, and I gave you food?
       When were you thirsty, and I gave you water?
              When were you a stranger, and I welcomed you?
When were you naked, and I gave you clothes?
       When were you sick, and I cared for you?
              When were you in jail, and I came to visit you?”

Then I will remind you —
Whenever you did any of these things for any one
       of those who seemed so insignificant,
              you did it fo rme.

Now for those of you on my left — Get away from me!
Go into the eternal fire God has prepared
       for the devil and his angels.
I was hungry, and you gave me no food;
       I was thirsty, and you gave me no water.
              I was a stranger, and you didn’t welcome me;
I was naked and you gave me no clothes;
       I was sick, and you didn’t care for me;
              I was in jail, and you didn’t come to visit me.

Though you’ve displeased me, still you’ll ask,
“When did I fail to do any of these things for you?”

Then I will remind you —
Whenever you turned your back on any one
       of those who seemed so insignificant,
              you turned your back on me.

Translation commentary on Matthew 25:32

Before him means “in front of him” and does not refer to before him in time.

Will be gathered may imply an agent, as in “They will gather all the nations before him,” but it may also have the meaning “will come together” or “will gather themselves together” (see, for example, 22.41; 26.3; 27.17). Several commentators believe that the verb refers primarily to the action of a shepherd gathering his sheep, and that is the symbolism intended here. But Matthew uses this verb twenty-four times in his Gospel, and in all of the New Testament it appears some fifty-nine times, but never with “sheep” as its object. Since it is unlikely, therefore, that sheep are implied, there is also little basis for assuming the shepherd as agent. So it is not very likely that Matthew intends that the verb be understood in a sense of someone actually gathering the people for this judgment scene. Thus “will gather together” will be the better rendering.

In place of all the nations, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “all the people of the earth.” New Jerusalem Bible‘s footnote indicates that the meaning is “Every human being of every period of history.” This is important because the translation should not give the impression that the judge will separate righteous nations from others; it is the righteous people as individuals who will be separated from the others.

As a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats reflects Palestinian life. During the day the sheep and goats graze together, but at night they are separated, because goats must be kept warm at night, while sheep prefer to sleep in the open air. Good News Translation and Barclay have rendered separate them one from another as “divide (or, separate) them into two groups.”

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 .