Be Ready for His Coming

⁴² “Therefore ^(A)stay awake, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

⁴⁴ For this reason ^(A)you also must be ready; for ^(B)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

¹⁰ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ^(A)ready went in with him to ^(B)the wedding feast; and ^(C)the door was shut.

^13 (A)Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

³⁹ “^(A)But ^[a]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 ^[b](B)broken into. ^40 (C)You too, be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not ^[c]expect.”

⁴¹ Now Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or ^(D)to everyone else as well?” ⁴² And ^(E)the Lord said, “^(F)Who then is the faithful and prudent ^(G)steward, whom his master will put in charge of his ^[d]servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that ^(H)slave whom his ^[e]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 ^[f]will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will ^(I)receive many beatings, ⁴⁸ but the one who did not ^(J)know it, and committed deeds worthy of a beating, will receive but a few. ^(K)From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Not Peace, but Division

⁴⁹ “I ^[g]have come to cast fire upon the earth, and ^[h]how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a ^(L)baptism to ^[i]undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished! ^51 (M)Do you think that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, 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, ^(N)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.”

⁵⁴ And He was also saying to the crowds, “^(O)When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it happens. ⁵⁵ And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ^(P)hot day,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(Q)You know how to examine the appearance of the earth and the sky, but ^[j]why do you not examine this present time?

⁵⁷ “And ^(R)why do you not even judge for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ For ^(S)while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to ^[k]settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the last ^[l](T)lepton.”

³⁶ But ^(A)keep on the alert at all times, praying earnestly that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to ^(B)stand before the Son of Man.”