Be in Readiness

³⁵ “^[a](A)Be prepared, and keep your ^(B)lamps lit. ³⁶ You are also to be like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door for him when he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find ^(C)on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that ^(D)he will ^[b]prepare himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and he will come up and serve them. ^38 (E)Whether he comes in the ^[c]second watch, or even in the ^[d]third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹ “^(F)But ^[e]be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be ^(G)broken into. ^40 (H)You too, be ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think He will.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You telling this parable to us, or ^(I)to everyone else as well?” ⁴² And ^(J)the Lord said, “^(K)Who then is the faithful and sensible ^(L)steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that ^(M)slave whom his ^[f]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will take a long time to come,’ and he begins to beat the other slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; ⁴⁶ then the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, and will ^[g]cut him in two, and assign ^[h]him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accordance with his will, will ^(N)receive many blows, ⁴⁸ but the one who did not ^(O)know it, and committed acts deserving of ^[i]a beating, will receive only a few blows. ^(P)From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Christ Divides People

⁴⁹ “I ^[j]have come to cast fire upon the earth; and ^[k]how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a ^(Q)baptism ^[l]to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! ^51 (R)Do you think that I came to provide peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; ⁵² for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(S)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Teaching in the Villages

²² And He was passing through one city and village after another, teaching, and ^(A)proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. ²³ And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, ²⁴ “^(B)Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ Once the head of the house gets up and ^(C)shuts the door, and you begin standing outside and knocking on the door, saying, ‘^(D)Lord, open up to us!’ and He then will answer and say to you, ‘^(E)I do not know where you are from.’ ²⁶ Then you will ^(F)begin saying, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets!’ ²⁷ And yet He will ^[a]say, ‘^(G)I do not know where you are from; ^(H)leave Me, all you ^[b]evildoers.’ ^28 (I)In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. ²⁹ And they ^(J)will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And behold, ^(K)some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

^9 (A)I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

^9 (A)The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but ^(B)is patient toward you, ^(C)not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.