"Soon one of the servants came, saying, 'My lord, here is your five hundred dollars, just as you gave it to me. I have kept it safe for you, wrapped up in a napkin. For I was afraid of you; you are such a hard, selfish man. You pick up what you never put down; and you reap what you do not sow.'
"'You worthless servant!' answered the king, 'out of your own words will I pass judgment upon you. You knew, did you, that I was a hard man, picking up what I never put down, and reaping what I did not sow! If you knew this, why then did you not put my money into the bank? Then when I came home I could have gotten interest upon it, the money gained by lending it.'
"Then he said to those standing by, 'Take away from him the five hundred dollars, and give it to the one who has five thousand dollars!'
"'My lord,' they said, 'why, he has five thousand dollars already! Why give it to him?'
"'That is the very reason why he should have it,' said the king. 'I tell you, that to him who has, more shall be given; and as for him who has not, even the little that he has shall be taken away from him.'"
"'And now, for these enemies of mine,' the king went on, 'those men who sent word that they would not have me for their king, seize them, and bind them in chains and bring them here. Let them be slain in my sight!'"
With these words Jesus went onward up the mountain road leading to Jerusalem.