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No One Knows the Day or Time

(Mark 13.32-37; Luke 17.26-30,34-36)

36 No one knows the day or hour. The angels in heaven don't know, and the Son himself doesn't know.[a] Only the Father knows. 37 (A) When the Son of Man appears, things will be just as they were when Noah lived. 38 People were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day the flood came and Noah went into the big boat. 39 (B) They didn't know anything was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. This is how it will be when the Son of Man appears.

40 Two men will be in the same field, but only one will be taken. The other will be left. 41 Two women will be together grinding grain, but only one will be taken. The other will be left. 42 So be on your guard! You don't know when your Lord will come. 43 (C) Homeowners never know when a thief is coming, and they are always on guard to keep one from breaking in. 44 Always be ready! You don't know when the Son of Man will come.

Faithful and Unfaithful Servants

(Luke 12.35-48)

45 Who are faithful and wise servants? Who are the ones the master will put in charge of giving the other servants their food supplies at the proper time? 46 Servants are fortunate if their master comes and finds them doing their job. 47 You may be sure a servant who is always faithful will be put in charge of everything the master owns. 48 But suppose one of the servants thinks the master won't return until late. 49 Suppose this evil servant starts beating the other servants and eats and drinks with people who are drunk. 50 If that happens, the master will surely come on a day and at a time when the servant least expects him. 51 This servant will then be punished and thrown out with the ones who only pretended to serve their master. There they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.

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Footnotes

  1. 24.36 and the Son himself doesn't know: These words are not in some manuscripts.

The Day and Hour Unknown(A)(B)

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father.(C) 37 As it was in the days of Noah,(D) so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,(E) up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.(F) 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.(G) 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.(H)

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.(I) 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming,(J) he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready,(K) because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,(L) whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.(M) 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.(N) 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.(O) 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(P)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.