^44 (A)Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

¹⁰ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and ^(A)the door was shut.

¹¹ “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ^(B)‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ ¹² But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, ^(C)I do not know you.’

^13 (D)“Watch therefore, for you ^(E)know neither the day nor the hour ^[a]in which the Son of Man is coming.

Put on Christ

¹¹ And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time ^(A)to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹² The night is far spent, the day is at hand. ^(B)Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and ^(C)let us put on the armor of light. ^13 (D)Let us walk ^[a]properly, as in the day, ^(E)not in revelry and drunkenness, ^(F)not in lewdness and lust, ^(G)not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But ^(H)put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ^(I)make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

The Comfort of Christ’s Coming

¹³ But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen ^[a]asleep, lest you sorrow ^(A)as others ^(B)who have no hope. ¹⁴ For ^(C)if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him ^(D)those who ^[b]sleep in Jesus.

¹⁵ For this we say to you ^(E)by the word of the Lord, that ^(F)we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are ^[c]asleep. ¹⁶ For ^(G)the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with ^(H)the trumpet of God. ^(I)And the dead in Christ will rise first. ^17 (J)Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them ^(K)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus ^(L)we shall always be with the Lord. ^18 (M)Therefore comfort one another with these words.