Ready for the Master’s Return

35 “Be ready for service[a] and have your lamps lit.(A) 36 You must be like people waiting for their master(B) to return[b] from the wedding banquet(C) so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.(D) 37 Those slaves the master will find alert(E) when he comes will be blessed. I assure you: He will get ready,[c] have them recline at the table, then come and serve them.(F) 38 If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn,[d] and finds them alert, those slaves are blessed. 39 But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming,(G) he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also be ready,(H) because the Son of Man(I) is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”(J)

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 12:35 Lit Let your loins be girded; an idiom for tying up loose outer clothing in preparation for action; Ex 12:11
  2. Luke 12:36 Lit master, when he should return
  3. Luke 12:37 Lit will gird himself
  4. Luke 12:38 Lit even in the second or third watch

Watchfulness(A)(B)

35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.(C) Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.(D) 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief(E) was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready,(F) because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

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