Luke 21:34-36

Be Ready!

21:34 “But be on your guard ¹  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. ²  21:35 For ³  it will overtake ⁴  all who live on the face of the whole earth. ⁵  21:36 But stay alert at all times, ⁶  praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that must ⁷  happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Matthew 24:42

24:42 “Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day ⁸  your Lord will come.

Matthew 24:44

24:44 Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. ⁹ 

Matthew 25:13

25:13 Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour. ¹⁰ 

Mark 13:33-36

13:33 Watch out! Stay alert! ¹¹  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 ¹²  in charge, assigning ¹³  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.

Romans 13:11

Motivation to Godly Conduct

13:11 And do this ¹⁴  because we know ¹⁵  the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers.

Romans 13:14

13:14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires. ¹⁶ 

Romans 13:1

Submission to Civil Government

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, ¹⁷  and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

Romans 5:6

5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 5:2

5:2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice ¹⁸  in the hope of God’s glory.

Romans 3:12-14

3:12 All have turned away,

together they have become worthless;

there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” ¹⁹ 

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ²⁰ 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ²¹ 

3:14 “Their mouths are ²²  full of cursing and bitterness.” ²³ 

Revelation 19:7

19:7 Let us rejoice ²⁴  and exult

and give him glory,

because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has made herself ready.

[21:34]  ¹ tn Grk “watch out for yourselves.”

[21:34]  ² 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.

[21:35]  ³ tn There is debate in the textual tradition about the position of γάρ (gar) and whether v. 35 looks back to v. 34 or is independent. The textual evidence does slightly favor placing γάρ after the verb and thus linking it back to v. 34. The other reading looks like Isa 24:17. However, the construction is harsh and the translation prefers for stylistic reasons to start a new English sentence here.

[21:35]  ⁴ tn Or “come upon.”

[21:35]  ⁵ sn This judgment involves everyone: all who live on the face of the whole earth. No one will escape this evaluation.

[21:36]  ⁶ sn The call to be alert at all times is a call to remain faithful in looking for the Lord’s return.

[21:36]  ⁷ tn For the translation of μέλλω (mellw) as “must,” see L&N 71.36.

[24:42]  ⁸ 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.

[24:44]  ⁹ sn Jesus made clear that his coming could not be timed, and suggested it would take some time – so long, in fact, that some will not be looking for him any longer (at an hour when you do not expect him).

[25:13]  ¹⁰ 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.

[13:33]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ¹³ tn Grk “giving.”

[13:11]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and this,” probably referring to the command to love (13:8-10); hence, “do” is implied from the previous verses.

[13:11]  ¹⁵ tn The participle εἰδότες (eidotes) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[13:14]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “make no provision for the flesh unto desires.”

[13:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “by God.”

[5:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “exult, boast.”

[3:12]  ¹⁹ sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.

[3:13]  ²⁰ tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.

[3:14]  ²² tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:14]  ²³ sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.

[19:7]  ²⁴ tn This verb and the next two verbs are hortatory subjunctives (giving exhortations).