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Matthew 25:45
ESV Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
NIV "He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
NASB Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’
CSB "Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
NLT And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
KJV Then 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.
NKJV Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

What does Matthew 25:45 mean?

Jesus praised His true followers, chosen by God (Ephesians 4:1; Matthew 24:22; Mark 13:27; Romans 11:7; Titus 1:1), for meeting His desperate needs when He was sick, starving, naked, and in prison. By this, He meant that their obedience to His commands (John 13:31–35; 14:15) proved they were, in fact, true believers. This made their acts of love to one another equivalent to acts of love directly done for Christ (Matthew 10:40–42).

To the faithless group, those destined for eternal fire (Matthew 25:41), Christ notes that they failed to help Him in His greatest times of need. Pleading ignorance (Matthew 25:44), the group claims to have never seen Jesus hungry, thirsty, or suffering. Using the same principle, however, Jesus answers that their failure to meet the needs of those who suffer was a failure to meet His own needs. Their lack of help for those people is something Jesus took personally, as if these offenders had passed Him by while in obvious distress.
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