Be Ready for His Coming

⁴² “Therefore ^(A)be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

⁴⁴ For this reason ^(A)you must be ready as well; for ^(B)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

¹⁰ But while they were ^[a]on their way to buy the oil, the groom came, and those who were ^(A)ready went in with him to ^(B)the wedding feast; and ^(C)the door was shut.

^13 (A)Be on the alert then, because you do not know the day nor the hour.

³⁹ “^(A)But ^[a]be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be ^(B)broken into. ^40 (C)You too, be ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think He will.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You telling this parable to us, or ^(D)to everyone else as well?” ⁴² And ^(E)the Lord said, “^(F)Who then is the faithful and sensible ^(G)steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that ^(H)slave whom his ^[b]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will take a long time to come,’ and he begins to beat the other slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; ⁴⁶ then the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, and will ^[c]cut him in two, and assign ^[d]him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accordance with his will, will ^(I)receive many blows, ⁴⁸ but the one who did not ^(J)know it, and committed acts deserving of ^[e]a beating, will receive only a few blows. ^(K)From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Christ Divides People

⁴⁹ “I ^[f]have come to cast fire upon the earth; and ^[g]how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a ^(L)baptism ^[h]to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! ^51 (M)Do you think that I came to provide peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; ⁵² for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(N)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 And He was also saying to the crowds, “^(O)Whenever you see a cloud rising ^[i]in the west, you immediately say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. ⁵⁵ And whenever you feel a ^[j]south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ^(P)hot day,’ and it turns out that way. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(Q)You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you do not know how to analyze this present time?

⁵⁷ “And ^(R)why do you not even judge by yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ For ^(S)when you are going with your accuser to appear before the magistrate, on the way, make an effort to ^[k]settle with him, so that he does not drag you before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not get out of there until you have paid up ^[l]the very last ^[m](T)lepton.”