11 Ἀκουόντων δὲ αὐτῶν ταῦτα, προσθεὶς εἴπεν παραβολήν, διὰ τὸ ἐγγὺς αὐτὸν εἴναι Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ δοκεῖν αὐτοὺς ὅτι παραχρῆμα μέλλει ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἀναφαίνεσθαι.
11 While they were listening to him speak, he spoke, adding a parable, since he was near Jerusalem and they felt that the kingdom of god was about to be manifested just now.
12 Εἴπεν οὖν, Ἄνθρωπός τις εὐγενὴς ἐπορεύθη εἰς χώραν μακράν, λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ βασιλείαν, καὶ ὑποστρέψαι.
12 He said, then, “A man of good birth left for a far country, to take for himself kingship and then return.
13 Καλέσας δὲ δέκα δούλους ἑαυτοῦ, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς δέκα μνᾶς, καὶ εἴπεν πρὸς αὐτούς, Πραγματεύσασθε ἕως ἔρχομαι.
13 Having called ten of his slaves, he gave them ten mines and said to them, “Take care of it until I come.”
The mine is an ancient Greek gold monetary unit equivalent to 100 drachmas, and the verb pragmatéuomai, meaning to take care of business, is also linked to the commercial sphere.
14 Οἱ δὲ πολῖται αὐτοῦ ἐμίσουν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀπέστειλαν πρεσβείαν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ, λέγοντες, Οὐ θέλομεν τοῦτον βασιλεῦσαι ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς.
14 But the citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying, “We do not want this one to reign over us.”
Jesus is talking about himself here. To the people who expect him to restore Israel’s earthly kingship, he announces that they are mistaken. The citizens of Jerusalem will not accept his kingship; he will be crowned with thorns. Nevertheless, he will be victorious and king through his mercy and resurrection, and he will return in his kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, to judge the living and the dead.
15 Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἐπανελθεῖν αὐτὸν λαβόντα τὴν βασιλείαν, καὶ εἴπεν φωνηθῆναι αὐτῷ τοὺς δούλους τούτους, οἷς ἔδωκεν τὸ ἀργύριον, ἵνα γνῷ τίς τί διεπραγματεύσατο.
15 And it came to pass when he returned, that, taking the kingship, he said that the slaves to whom he had given the money should be called, in order to know what each one had achieved.
16 Παρεγένετο δὲ ὁ πρῶτος, λέγων, Κύριε, ἡ μνᾶ σου προσειργάσατο δέκα μνᾶς.
16 Then came the first, saying, “Lord, your mine has produced ten mines.
17 Καὶ εἴπεν αὐτῷ, Εὖ, ἀγαθὲ δοῦλε- ὅτι ἐν ἐλαχίστῳ πιστὸς ἐγένου, ἴσθι ἐξουσίαν ἔχων ἐπάνω δέκα πόλεων.
17 And he said to him, “Well done, good slave: since you have been faithful in very little, be having authority over ten cities.”
18 Καὶ ἦλθεν ὁ δεύτερος, λέγων, Κύριε, ἡ μνᾶ σου ἐποίησεν πέντε μνᾶς.
18 And came the second, saying, “Lord, your mine has made five mines.”
19 Εἴπεν δὲ καὶ τούτῳ, Καὶ σὺ γίνου ἐπάνω πέντε πόλεων.
19 Then he said to this one, “And you become [having authority] over five cities.”
20Καὶ ἕτερος ἦλθεν, λέγων, Κύριε, ἰδού, ἡ μνᾶ σου, ἣν εἴχον ἀποκειμένην ἐν σουδαρίῳ-
20 And there came another, saying, “Lord, here is your mine, which I had laid aside in a cloth:
21 ἐφοβούμην γάρ σε, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος αὐστηρὸς εἴ- αἴρεις ὃ οὐκ ἔθηκας, καὶ θερίζεις ὃ οὐκ ἔσπειρας.
21 I was afraid of you, since you are a severe man: you seize what you have not placed and you reap what you have not sown.”
22 Λέγει δὲ αὐτῷ, Ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου κρινῶ σε, πονηρὲ δοῦλε. ᾜδεις ὅτι ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος αὐστηρός εἰμι, αἴρων ὃ οὐκ ἔθηκα, καὶ θερίζων ὃ οὐκ ἔσπειρα-
22 Then he said to him, “I judge you by your own mouth, wicked slave. You had seen [in the sense of considered] that I am a severe man, seizing what I have not placed and reaping what I have not sown:
23 καὶ διὰ τί οὐκ ἔδωκας τὸ ἀργύριόν μου ἐπὶ τράπεζαν, καὶ ἐγὼ ἐλθὼν σὺν τόκῳ ἂν ἔπραξα αὐτό;
23 why didn’t you give my money to a bank and me having come I would have taken it back with interest?”
24 Καὶ τοῖς παρεστῶσιν εἴπεν, Ἄρατε ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τὴν μνᾶν, καὶ δότε τῷ τὰς δέκα μνᾶς ἔχοντι.
24 And to those who were present he said, “Take away the mine from him and give it to the one who has ten mines.”
25 Καὶ εἴπαν αὐτῷ, Κύριε, ἔχει δέκα μνᾶς.
25 And they said to him, “Lord, he has ten mines.”
26 Λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν, ὅτι παντὶ τῷ ἔχοντι δοθήσεται- ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ μὴ ἔχοντος, καὶ ὃ ἔχει ἀρθήσεται ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ.
26 “I tell you that to everyone who has, it will be given: while to him who does not have, it will be taken away what he has.
27 Πλὴν τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου ἐκείνους, τοὺς μὴ θελήσαντάς με βασιλεῦσαι ἐπ’ αὐτούς, ἀγάγετε ὧδε, καὶ κατασφάξατε ἔμπροσθέν μου.
27 But these, my enemies, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.”