You Must Be Ready

^35 (A)“Stay dressed for action^[a] and ^(B)keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ and be like men who are ^(C)waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and ^(D)knocks. ^37 (E)Blessed are those servants^[b] whom the master finds ^(F)awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, ^(G)he will dress himself for service and ^(H)have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸ If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! ^39 (I)But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour ^(J)the thief was coming, he^[c] would not have left his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ^(K)ready, for ^(L)the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Not Peace, but Division

^49 (A)“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! ^50 (B)I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how ^(C)great is my distress until it is accomplished! ^51 (D)Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? ^(E)No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(F)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Interpreting the Time

⁵⁴ He also said to the crowds, ^(G)“When you see ^(H)a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. ⁵⁵ And ^(I)when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be ^(J)scorching heat,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(K)You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Settle with Your Accuser

⁵⁷ “And why ^(L)do you not judge ^(M)for yourselves what is right? ^58 (N)As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, ^(O)you will never get out until you have paid the very last ^(P)penny.”^[a]