New Testament in a Year

³² “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. ³³ Sell what you have and give to those in need. This will fatten your purses in heaven! And the purses of heaven have no rips or holes in them. Your treasures there will never disappear; no thief can steal them; no moth can destroy them. ³⁴ Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.

³⁵ “Be prepared—all dressed and ready— ³⁶ for your Lord’s return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. ³⁷ There will be great joy for those who are ready and waiting for his return. He himself will seat them and put on a waiter’s uniform and serve them as they sit and eat! ³⁸ He may come at nine o’clock at night—or even at midnight. But whenever he comes, there will be joy for his servants who are ready!

³⁹ “Everyone would be ready for him if they knew the exact hour of his return—just as they would be ready for a thief if they knew when he was coming. ⁴⁰ So be ready all the time. For I, the Messiah,^[a] will come when least expected.”

⁴¹ Peter asked, “Lord, are you talking just to us or to everyone?”

^42-44 And the Lord replied, “I’m talking to any faithful, sensible man whose master gives him the responsibility of feeding the other servants. If his master returns and finds that he has done a good job, there will be a reward—his master will put him in charge of all he owns.

⁴⁵ “But if the man begins to think, ‘My Lord won’t be back for a long time,’ and begins to whip the men and women he is supposed to protect, and to spend his time at drinking parties and in drunkenness— ⁴⁶ well, his master will return without notice and remove him from his position of trust and assign him to the place of the unfaithful. ⁴⁷ He will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty he refused to do it.

⁴⁸ “But anyone who is not aware that he is doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, for their responsibility is greater.

⁴⁹ “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and, oh, that my task were completed! ⁵⁰ There is a terrible baptism ahead of me, and how I am pent up until it is accomplished!

⁵¹ “Do you think I have come to give peace to the earth? No! Rather, strife and division! ⁵² From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or perhaps the other way around. ⁵³ A father will decide one way about me; his son, the other; mother and daughter will disagree; and the decision of an honored mother-in-law^[b] will be spurned by her daughter-in-law.”

⁵⁴ Then he turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right.

⁵⁵ “When the south wind blows you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is. ⁵⁶ Hypocrites! You interpret the sky well enough, but you refuse to notice the warnings all around you about the crisis ahead. ⁵⁷ Why do you refuse to see for yourselves what is right?

⁵⁸ “If you meet your accuser on the way to court, try to settle the matter before it reaches the judge, lest he sentence you to jail; ⁵⁹ for if that happens, you won’t be free again until the last penny is paid in full.”