Farewell Service

Hymns, readings and a printed program for a Christian funeral

Matthew 25:31–46

A Catholic funeral reading (Gospel), with the full text in the King James Version and the Douay-Rheims.

Reads in about 3 minutes16 versesCatholic: Gospel

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King James Version

  1. 31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
  2. 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
  3. 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
  4. 34Then 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:
  5. 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
  6. 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
  7. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
  8. 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
  9. 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
  10. 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
  11. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
  12. 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
  13. 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
  14. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
  15. 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
  16. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Douay-Rheims

  1. 31And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty.
  2. 32And all nations shall be gathered together before him: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats:
  3. 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.
  4. 34Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
  5. 35For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in:
  6. 36Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.
  7. 37Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry and fed thee: thirsty and gave thee drink?
  8. 38Or when did we see thee a stranger and took thee in? Or naked and covered thee?
  9. 39Or when did we see thee sick or in prison and came to thee?
  10. 40And the king answering shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.
  11. 41Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels.
  12. 42For I was hungry and you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty and you gave me not to drink.
  13. 43I was a stranger and you took me not in: naked and you covered me not: sick and in prison and you did not visit me.
  14. 44Then they also shall answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to thee?
  15. 45Then he shall answer them, saying: Amen: I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me.
  16. 46And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.

Most Catholic parishes in the US read the New American Bible. Read Matthew 25 in the NABRE at usccb.org.

Where this reading is used

  • Catholic: Gospel (Lectionary for Mass, no. 1016)

Hymns based on it

Scripture: King James Version (1769 text) and Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (Project Gutenberg #1581); both public domain. Citation as listed in the Lectionary for Mass.