Bible verses about "talent" | AUV

¹ “Be careful that you do not do your good deeds in front of people for the purpose of being seen by them, for [if you do] you will not have a reward from your Father in heaven. ² “Therefore, when you give money to help poor people, do not blow a trumpet in front of you [i.e., to call attention to it] as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and streets. They do this in order to win praise from people. It is true when I say to you, they have [already] received their reward. ³ But when you give money to help poor people, do not allow your left hand to know what your right hand is doing [i.e., do it inconspicuously] ⁴ so that your giving to poor people may be done secretly. Then your Father, who sees what is done secretly, will pay you back. ⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners [i.e., in prominent view of everyone] in order to be seen [and praised] by people. ⁶ But when you pray, go to a private place and after closing the door, pray to your Father who is in a secret place, and [since] He sees in secret places, He will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not use worthless repetitions like the [unconverted] Gentiles, for they think their lengthy, repetitious wording [in prayer] is more likely to be heard [by God]. ⁸ So, do not be like them, for your Father [already] knows what things you need, [even] before you ask Him. ⁹ Therefore, you should pray this way: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be highly honored. ¹⁰ May your kingdom come [to earth]; may your will be done on earth just as it is [already being done] in heaven. ¹¹ Give us our [needed] food for the day. ¹² And forgive us of the wrongs we have done to others, since we have also forgiven the wrongs done to us. ¹³ And do not allow us to fall under temptation, but deliver us from [being harmed by] the evil one.’ ¹⁴ For if you forgive the wrongs people have done [to you], your heavenly Father will also forgive the wrongs you have done [to Him]. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive the wrongs people have done [to you], neither will your Father forgive the wrongs you have done [to Him]. ¹⁶ “In addition, when you fast [i.e., go without food and/or drink for religious reasons], do not be like the hypocrites with long faces, for they go around with gloomy expressions on their faces in order to advertise that they are fasting. It is true when I say to you, these people have [already] received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, groom your hair and wash your face ¹⁸ so that people will not see that you are fasting, but [only] your Father who is in secret [will know about it]. For, [since] He sees [what is done] in secret, He will repay you. ¹⁹ “Do not store your valuables [here] on earth, where moths can eat them and where rust can corrode them, and where burglars can break in and steal [them]. ²⁰ But [rather] store up your valuables in heaven [i.e., by investing your life in spiritual things], where neither moths can eat nor rust corrode, nor burglars break in and steal, ²¹ for wherever [you store] your valuables, that is where your heart [i.e., your real concern] will be also. ²² Your eye is [like] a lamp to your body [i.e., your life]. If your eye sees things correctly, [then] your whole body [i.e., your entire life] will be illuminated [i.e., be directed into proper conduct]. ²³ But if your eye sees things wrongly, [then] your whole body [i.e., your entire life] will be full of darkness [i.e., will not be lived properly]. If therefore, the light you have is [really] darkness [i.e., if you are not seeing life properly], that darkness will be very great [i.e., you cannot possibly live properly]. ²⁴ No person can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or else he will cling to the one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and material things [at the same time]. ²⁵ “So I tell you, do not worry about [the material things of] your life, [such as] what you will eat or what you will drink, or about what you will wear on your body. There are more important things in life than food, and more important things about your body than the clothing you wear. ²⁶ Look at the birds in the sky; they do not plant seeds or harvest [a crop] or store [things] in barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them [adequately]. Are you not a lot more valuable than they are? ²⁷ And which one of you can worry yourself into living a single day longer? ²⁸ And why are you worrying about clothing? Consider how [wild] lilies grow in a field; they do not work or weave, ²⁹ yet I tell you that even Solomon, clothed in his very finest royal robes, was never dressed [as luxuriously] as one of these flowers. ³⁰ So, if God so [beautifully] dresses the grass in a field, which is [green] today, and [then] tomorrow [dries up and] is thrown in the oven [i.e., as fuel], will He not do even more in providing your clothing, you people with such little faith? ³¹ Therefore, do not worry by asking, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ ³² For these are the things that the [unconverted] Gentiles keep trying to get. But your heavenly Father [already] knows you need these things. ³³ So, you should put the kingdom of God and what He says is right first [in your lives], then all these things [i.e., food, drink and clothing] will be provided for you. ³⁴ Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have enough to be worried about in itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

¹⁴ Everything you do should be done lovingly.

¹⁴ You people are [like] light in the world. A city built on a hill will not go unnoticed. ¹⁵ Neither does a person light an [olive oil] lamp and place it under a bushel-sized container, but on a stand where it can illuminate everything in the house. ¹⁶ In that same way, you should allow your light [i.e., influence] to shine in front of people, so that they will see your good deeds and [be led to] honor your Father in heaven.

¹⁰ As each of you has received a gift [from God], you should make use of it [in the body], so that you will be [good] caretakers of the many unearned ways that God favors you.

¹⁷ Every good thing that is given and every perfect gift [received] is from above, coming down from the Father of [heavenly] lights, with whom there can be no change or shifting shadow [i.e., God always remains the same].

¹⁴ “For the kingdom of heaven is similar to a man who planned to go on a trip to a distant country, so called his servants and entrusted to each of them a large sum of money [Note: The narrative that follows suggests that the man was turning over some of his assets to financial managers to invest for him]. ¹⁵ He gave one servant five talents [Note: This ‘talent’ was a large sum of money in the form of a certain weight of silver. It was the equivalent of sixty years of a farm laborer’s wages, or about $750,000 in 1994 income]. He gave two talents to another servant and one talent to another. He gave to each one an amount in keeping with his ability [to invest it wisely], and then left on his trip. ¹⁶ The one with the five talents soon invested the money in business transactions which netted him five more. ¹⁷ In the same way the one who was given two talents made two more. ¹⁸ But the one who was given one talent went and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money. ¹⁹ Now after a long time the master of these servants returned [from his trip] and proceeded to go over his accounts with each of them. ²⁰ The one who had been given five talents came bringing another five and reported, ‘Master, you entrusted me with five talents. Look, I have earned five more with them.’ ²¹ His master replied, ‘Well done, you are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been trustworthy over a [relatively] few things, so I will place you over many things. Come and share in your master’s joy.’ ²² And the one who was given two talents came and reported, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. Look, I have earned two more with them.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, you are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been trustworthy over a [relatively] few things, [so] I will place you over many things. Come and share in your master’s joy.’ ²⁴ Then the one who was given [only] one talent came and reported, ‘Master, I knew you were a difficult man who reaped where you had not sown, and gathered a harvest where you had not scattered seed, ²⁵ and I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you [can] have your own talent [back].’ ²⁶ But his master said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy servant. [Since] you knew that I reaped where I had not sown and gathered where I had not scattered seed, ²⁷ you should have therefore deposited my money in the bank [so] when I returned, [at least] I would have received my own money back, with interest. ²⁸ Take the one talent away from him, therefore, and give it to the servant who had the ten talents. ²⁹ For to every person who has [something], more will be given, so he will have plenty. But from the person who has [virtually] nothing, even that [little bit] he has will be taken away [from him]. ³⁰ Throw out that worthless servant into the [place of] outer darkness, where there will be crying and excruciating pain.

⁶ And we [all] have different gifts, in harmony with the unearned favor [God has] shown us. If our gift is the ability to prophesy [i.e., to speak for God], we should make use of this gift in harmony with the amount of faith we have.