The Parable of the Talents
Making the most of what God has given us
To teach about the kingdom of God, Jesus told a parable. In the parable, a man was preparing to travel to a faraway country. Before leaving, he met with three of his servants and asked them to take care of his money while he was gone.
The man gave each of his servants large amounts of money called talents. He gave one servant five talents. He gave another servant two talents. And he gave the last servant one talent. Then he left on his journey.
The servant who received five talents worked hard. He used the talents to earn five more.
The servant who received two talents worked hard. He used the talents to earn two more.
The servant who received one talent dug a hole and buried the talent in the ground.
After a while, the man came back from his journey. He wanted to know what the servants had done with the talents that he had given them.
The servant who received five talents and the servant who received two talents told their master how they had gained twice as much while he was gone. The master was happy. He said that because they were so faithful, he would trust them with even more to take care of. He told them to be happy.
The servant who received one talent told his master that he had been afraid, so he had hidden the talent in the ground. He gave the talent back to the master.
The master was not happy with this servant. He said that the servant should have used what he had been given to earn more talents. The master gave the talent to the servant who had ten talents. The master wanted his servants to use the talents he gave them to help build up his kingdom.