Matthew 25:34
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Study Note
Study Note
'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' The royal welcome to the righteous reveals that their inheritance was 'prepared from the foundation of the world' — predating their acts of mercy and grounding their reception in divine election rather than earned reward. Ephesians 1:4 ('chosen in him before the foundation of the world') and Revelation 13:8 ('the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world') use the same temporal marker to establish the priority of divine grace over human merit. The kingdom as inheritance (klēronomia) draws on Psalm 2:8 and the Abrahamic promise, making the sheep's welcome the culmination of the entire redemptive story.
Other Translations
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
`Then shall the king say to those on his right hand, Come ye, the blessed of my Father, inherit the reign that hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
Then will the King say to those on his right, Come, you who have the blessing of my Father, into the kingdom made ready for you before the world was:
Cross References
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Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier …
For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.
And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers …
Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon …
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I …
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall …
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall …
And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; …