Matthew 13:25

13:25 But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weeds ¹  among the wheat and went away.

Mark 13:34-37

13:34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves ²  in charge, assigning ³  to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. 13:35 Stay alert, then, because you do not know when the owner of the house will return – whether during evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or at dawn – 13:36 or else he might find you asleep when he returns suddenly. 13:37 What I say to you I say to everyone: Stay alert!”

Luke 21:36

21:36 But stay alert at all times, ⁴  praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that must ⁵  happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Luke 21:2

21:2 He also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. ⁶ 

Luke 4:5

4:5 Then ⁷  the devil ⁸  led him up ⁹  to a high place ¹⁰  and showed him in a flash all the kingdoms of the world.

Hebrews 13:17

13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. ¹¹  Let them do this ¹²  with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

Revelation 16:15

16:15 (Look! I will come like a thief!

Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose ¹³  his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition ¹⁴  be seen.) ¹⁵ 

¹ tn Grk “sowed darnel.” The Greek term ζιζάνιον (zizanion) refers to an especially undesirable weed that looks like wheat but has poisonous seeds (L&N 3.30).

² tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

³ tn Grk “giving.”

⁴ sn The call to be alert at all times is a call to remain faithful in looking for the Lord’s return.

⁵ tn For the translation of μέλλω (mellw) as “must,” see L&N 71.36.

⁶ sn These two small copper coins were lepta (sing. “lepton”), the smallest and least valuable coins in circulation in Palestine, worth one-half of a quadrans or 1/128 of a denarius, or about six minutes of an average daily wage. This was next to nothing in value.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁸ tn Grk “he.”

⁹ tc Most mss (א¹ A [D W] Θ Ψ 0102 Ë^1,[13] 33 700 2542 Ï it) refer to Jesus being taken up “to a high mountain” (with many of these also explicitly adding “the devil”) here in parallel with Matt 4:8, but both scribal harmonization to that text and the pedigree of the witnesses for the shorter reading (א* B L 1241 pc) is the reason it should be omitted from Luke.

¹⁰ tn “A high place” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied for clarity.

¹¹ tn Or “as ones who will give an account”; Grk “as giving an account.”

¹² tn Grk “that they may do this.”

¹³ tn Grk “and keeps.” BDAG 1002 s.v. τηρέω 2.c states “of holding on to someth. so as not to give it up or lose it…τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ Rv 16:15 (or else he will have to go naked).”

¹⁴ tn On the translation of ἀσχημοσύνη (aschmosunh) as “shameful condition” see L&N 25.202. The indefinite third person plural (“and they see”) has been translated as a passive here.

¹⁵ sn These lines are parenthetical, forming an aside to the narrative. The speaker here is the Lord Jesus Christ himself rather than the narrator. Many interpreters have seen this verse as so abrupt that it could not be an original part of the work, but the author has used such asides before (1:7; 14:13) and the suddenness here (on the eve of Armageddon) is completely parallel to Jesus’ warning in Mark 13:15-16 and parallels.