1 Peter 3:7

3:7 Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners ¹  and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers. ² 

Matthew 24:42

24:42 “Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day ³  your Lord will come.

Matthew 25:13

25:13 Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour. ⁴ 

Matthew 26:38-41

26:38 Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” 26:39 Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, ⁵  “My Father, if possible, ⁶  let this cup ⁷  pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 26:40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He ⁸  said to Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with me for one hour? 26:41 Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Mark 13:33-37

13:33 Watch out! Stay alert! ⁹  For you do not know when the time will come. 13:34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves ¹⁰  in charge, assigning ¹¹  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!”

Mark 14:37-38

14:37 Then ¹²  he came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake for one hour? 14:38 Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Luke 21:34

Be Ready!

21:34 “But be on your guard ¹³  so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day close down upon you suddenly like a trap. ¹⁴ 

Luke 21:36

21:36 But stay alert at all times, ¹⁵  praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that must ¹⁶  happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Luke 22:46

22:46 So ¹⁷  he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you will not fall into temptation!” ¹⁸ 

Romans 12:12

12:12 Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer.

Ephesians 6:18

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ¹⁹  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ²⁰  be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:5

4:5 Conduct yourselves ²¹  with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.

Revelation 16:15

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

Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose ²²  his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition ²³  be seen.) ²⁴ 

[3:7]  ¹ tn Grk “living together according to knowledge, as to the weaker, female vessel.” The primary verbs of vs. 7 are participles (“living together…showing honor”) but they continue the sense of command from the previous paragraphs.

[3:7]  ² tn Grk “so that your prayers may not be hindered.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek, this clause was translated as a separate sentence.

[24:42]  ³ tc Most later mss (L 0281 Ï lat) have here ὥρᾳ ({wra, “hour”) instead of ἡμέρα (Jemera, “day”). Although the merits of this reading could be argued either way, in light of the overwhelming and diverse early support for ἡμέρᾳ ({א B C D W Δ Θ Ë¹³ 33 892 1424, as well as several versions and fathers}), the more general term is surely correct.

[25:13]  ⁴ tc Most later mss (C³ ˹³ 1424^c Ï) also read here “in which the Son of Man is coming” (ἐν ᾗ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔρχεται, en |h Jo Juio" tou anqrwpou ercetai), reproducing almost verbatim the last line of Matt 24:44. The longer reading thus appears to be an explanatory expansion and should not be considered authentic. The earlier and better witnesses ({̳⁵ א A B C* D L W Δ Θ Ë¹ 33 565 892 1424* lat co}) lack this phrase.

[26:39]  ⁵ tn Grk “ground, praying and saying.” Here the participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[26:39]  ⁶ tn Grk “if it is possible.”

[26:39]  ⁷ sn This cup alludes to the wrath of God that Jesus would experience (in the form of suffering and death) for us. See Ps 11:6; 75:8-9; Isa 51:17, 19, 22 for this figure.

[26:40]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[13:33]  ⁹ tc The vast majority of witnesses (א A C L W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy co) have καὶ προσεύχεσθε after ἀγρυπνεῖτε (agrupneite kai proseucesqe, “stay alert and pray”). This may be a motivated reading, influenced by the similar command in Mark 14:38 where προσεύχεσθε is solidly attested, and more generally from the parallel in Luke 21:36 (though δέομαι [deomai, “ask”] is used there). As B. M. Metzger notes, it is a predictable variant that scribes would have been likely to produce independently of each other (TCGNT 95). The words are not found in B D 2427 a c {d} k. Although the external evidence for the shorter reading is slender, it probably better accounts for the longer reading than vice versa.

[13:34]  ¹⁰ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ¹¹ tn Grk “giving.”

[14:37]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[21:34]  ¹³ tn Grk “watch out for yourselves.”

[21:34]  ¹⁴ sn Or like a thief, see Luke 12:39-40. The metaphor of a trap is a vivid one. Most modern English translations traditionally place the words “like a trap” at the end of v. 34, completing the metaphor. In the Greek text (and in the NRSV and REB) the words “like a trap” are placed at the beginning of v. 35. This does not affect the meaning.

[21:36]  ¹⁵ sn The call to be alert at all times is a call to remain faithful in looking for the Lord’s return.

[21:36]  ¹⁶ tn For the translation of μέλλω (mellw) as “must,” see L&N 71.36.

[22:46]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus finding them asleep.

[22:46]  ¹⁸ sn Jesus calls the disciples again to prayerful watchfulness with the words “Get up and pray” (see 22:40). The time is full of danger (22:53).

[6:18]  ¹⁹ tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.

[6:18]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and toward it.”

[4:5]  ²¹ tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).

[16:15]  ²² 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).”

[16:15]  ²³ 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.

[16:15]  ²⁴ 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.