Mat 25:41 Then shall he said also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Alternaative: And then he said to those on his left, Go from me, you who have have had curses called down on you, to the fire, lasting for the age, readied by the deceiver and his messengers.

Christ only discusses the "deceiver," which is translated as "devil," three times in Matthew: during the three temptations of Christ (Mat 4:1-11), during the parable of the sower (Mat 13:39) and in this verse. It is interesting that Luke uses it only in the three temptations, and a different parable of the sower (Luk 8:12). John uses the word to refer to Judas twice, (Jhn 6:70, Jhn 13:2) and as the "father" of the Jewish religious leaders who argued with Christ (Jhn 8:44).

While we can connect this deceiver with the "devil" in the Old Testament, who was most prominent as the "tester" (better translation) of Job, Christ uses the idea to personify the idea of an opponent of truth. This idea is very important in his temptations where Christ is telling us that our physical, mental, and emotional desires can mislead us from what is true. In both "sower" parables, the "seed" is the truth. The opponent of truth either sows weeds to choke out the truth or destroys the seeds before they take root.

My alternative in bold here is meant to point out that the "prepared" clause has two very different potential meanings. I don't espouse either one of those interpretations but point out that they both exist. In these situations, I suggest that all interpretations have value rather than one is right and that the other are wrong. This is why I point out those meanings that are overlooked in the common English translations.

Is the fire prepared "for" the deceiver or "by" the deceiver? We cannot tell from the original text. I usually don't get this technical, but the reasons are complicted. The word, diabolo, is in the dative form. Dative usually indicates someone receiving something, but in ancient Greek, there is a form called "the dative of agent," that is, the doer of an action. In classical Greek, the doer is usually genitive, but in the special case, where the verb is perfect or pluperfect passive, the dative is used. The verb here hetoimazô is in the perfect passive. The dative of action is not only possible but strongly suggested by the form.

While God is the cause of all things, the absence of God and the absence of truth "prepares" its own fate. The punishment is in a very real sense, created by the crime. In Christ's words, the root crime is always the same: acting on the illusions that are meant to test us rather than acting on the basis of truth.

As I said, I think both versions are true. The fire (of the junkyard or the bread oven) is created for the deceiver by God and by the deceiver, despite God. The deceiver is a personification of the "trials" we face in life, and those who claim those lies are truth, either in their words or actions, are the messengers of the deceiver. Those on the left here, have condemned themselves by acting on and spreading a great lie: that productivity and caring do not matter.

"Depart" is from poreuô (poreuomai), which means "make to go," "carry," "convey," "bring," "go," "march," and "proceed." It is almost always translated as "go" in the NT.

"Cursed" is from kataraomai (kataraomai), which means "to call down curses upon."

"Everlasting" is from aiônios (aionios), which means "lasting for an age," "perpetual," and "eternal." From "aion" which is used in the bible to mean an "age."

"Prepared" is from hetoimazô (hetoimazo), which means in the passive, "to be prepared."

"Devil" is from diabolos (diabolos), which means "slanderous," "backbiting," and "slanderer."