Book of Common Prayer

¹⁴ But how can people call someone if they have not believed in him? And how can they believe in him if they have not heard about him? And how can they hear about him if no one tells them about him?

¹⁵ And how can people tell about him if no one sends them? The holy writings say, `How good are the feet of those who bring the good news of peace and happiness.'

¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the good news. It is as Isaiah said it would be, `Lord, who has believed what we have told them?'

¹⁷ So people believe because they hear. They hear because people tell them about Christ.

¹⁸ But I ask, have they not heard? Yes, they have. The holy writings say, `Their voice has gone out all over the earth. And their words have gone out all over the world.'

¹⁹ But I ask, did not the Jews know? First the book of Moses says, `I will make you jealous through people who are not a nation like the Jews. I will make you angry through people who do not even know or understand these things.'

²⁰ But the book of Isaiah says even stronger words. `The people who did not look for me have found me. I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.'

²¹ But he says about the Jews, `All day I held out my hands to a people who did not obey me, who said wrong things against me.'

³² `Learn a lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its branches begin to grow and the leaves come, then you know it will soon be the warm time of the year.

³³ It is the same when you see all these things. You will know that the time is very near, right at the door.

³⁴ I tell you the truth. The people who are living then, will not die before all these things happen.

³⁵ The sky and the earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.'

³⁶ `But no one knows the day and the hour when the Son of Man will come. Even the angels in heaven and the Son do not know. Only the Father knows.

³⁷ When the Son of Man comes, it will be as it was in the time of Noah.

³⁸ In the days before the water covered the earth, people ate and drank. They married and gave their daughters to be married. Then one day Noah went into his house built on a boat.

³⁹ The people did not know until much water came and killed them all. When the Son of Man comes, it will be like that.

⁴⁰ Two men will be working together in the field. One will be taken and the other will be left.

⁴¹ Two women will be making flour together. One woman will be taken away and one woman will be left.

⁴² So watch! You do not know what day your Lord will come.

⁴³ And remember this. The owner of the house does not know at what time of the night a man will come to steal something. If he knew, he would watch and not let the man break into his house.

⁴⁴ So, be ready! The Son of Man will come at a time when you are not looking for him.

⁴⁵ `Who is like a wise servant who can be trusted? His master will put him in charge of his other servants. He gives them their food at the right time.

⁴⁶ The servant who is doing this when his master comes, will be blessed.

⁴⁷ I tell you the truth. His master will put him in charge of all that he has.

⁴⁸ But if the servant is bad, he will say to himself, "My master will not come just now."

⁴⁹ Then he will begin to beat the other servants. He will eat and drink with men who are drunk.

⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day the servant is not looking for him. He will not know the time he is coming home.

⁵¹ The master will punish him and lock him in with people who are not true. People there will cry and grind [make a noise with] their teeth.'