Luke 12:35-40

Expanded Bible

Always Be Ready^(A)

³⁵ “·Be dressed, ready for service [^TLet your loins be girded; ^Ctucking garments into the waist belt to allow swift movement; a metaphor for preparedness], and have your lamps ·shining [burning; lit]. ³⁶ Be like ·servants [^Lpeople] who are waiting for their ·master [lord] to come home from a wedding party. When he comes and knocks, the servants immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ ·They [^LThose servants/slaves] will be ·blessed [happy; or rewarded] when their ·master [lord] comes home, because he sees that they were ·watching [alert; awake] for him. I tell you the truth, the master will dress himself to serve and tell the servants to ·sit at the table [recline; ^Cthe posture for a banquet or dinner party; see 7:36], and he will ·serve [wait on] them [^Ca radical reversal in a culture where a master would never wait on a slave]. ³⁸ Those servants will be ·blessed [happy; or rewarded] when he comes in and finds them ·still waiting [^Lthus; ^Calert and ready], even ·if it is midnight or later [^Leven in the second or third watches; ^Cbetween 9 PM and 3 AM (by Roman reckoning)].

³⁹ “·Remember [Know] this: If the owner of the house knew what time a thief was coming, he would not allow the thief to ·enter [break into] his house. ⁴⁰ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man [^Ca title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14] will come at a time when you don’t expect him!”