New Testament in a Year

³² Treasure in Heaven.^[a]“Fear not, little flock, for your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can come near and no moth can destroy. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there will your heart also be.

Parables about Watchfulness^[b]

³⁵ The Parable of the Vigilant Steward.^[c]“Fasten your belts for service and have your lamps lit. ³⁶ Be like servants who are waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that they may open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he arrives. Amen, I say to you, he will fasten his belt, have them recline to eat, and proceed to wait on them himself. ³⁸ If he comes in the second watch^[d] or in the third and finds them still awake, blessed are those servants.

³⁹ The Hour of the Son of Man.^[e]“But keep this in mind: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ So you must also be prepared, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

⁴¹ The Parable of the Faithful Servant.^[f] Then Peter asked, “Lord, are you directing this parable to us or do you mean it for everyone?” ⁴² The Lord replied, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward whom his master will put in charge of his household to give its members their allotment of food at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that servant if his master finds him doing so when he arrives home. ⁴⁴ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his property.

⁴⁵ “But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is detained in arriving,’ and he proceeds to beat the menservants and the maids, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that servant will return on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will punish him and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

⁴⁷ “The servant who knew his master’s wishes but did not get ready or do what his master wanted will receive a severe beating. ⁴⁸ But the one who did not know those wishes, and who acted in such a manner as to deserve a beating, will be beaten less severely. Much will be demanded of a person to whom much has been given, and even more will be asked of a person to whom more has been entrusted.

The Urgency of Making the Decision

⁴⁹ Jesus and His Passion.^[g]“I have come to spread fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already blazing! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it has been completed!

⁵¹ Jesus, Cause of Dissensions.^[h]“Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

⁵² “From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; ⁵³ they will be divided, 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.”

⁵⁴ Discerning the Signs of the Times.^[i] He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain,’ and so it happens. ⁵⁵ And when you see the wind blowing from the south, you say, ‘It is going to be hot,’ and so it happens. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky. Why then do you not know how to interpret the present time?

⁵⁷ Reconciling with Others before the Judgment.^[j]“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ Thus, when you are going to court with your opponent, make an effort to settle the matter with him on the way. If you fail to do so, he may drag you before the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the officer, and the officer will throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not be given your freedom until you have paid your debt down to the very last penny.”