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. ¹ 

Mark 13:33-37

13:33 Watch out! Stay alert! ²  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 ³  in charge, assigning ⁴  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 12:20

12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ⁵  will be demanded back from ⁶  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ⁷ 

Luke 12:38-40

12:38 Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night ⁸  and finds them alert, ⁹  blessed are those slaves! ¹⁰  12:39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief ¹¹  was coming, he would not have let ¹²  his house be broken into. 12:40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” ¹³ 

Luke 12:46

12:46 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, ¹⁴  and assign him a place with the unfaithful. ¹⁵ 

Luke 12:1

Fear God, Not People

12:1 Meanwhile, ¹⁶  when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus ¹⁷  began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against ¹⁸  the yeast of the Pharisees, ¹⁹  which is hypocrisy. ²⁰ 

Luke 5:1-3

The Call of the Disciples

5:1 Now ²¹  Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, ²²  and the crowd was pressing around him ²³  to hear the word of God. 5:2 He ²⁴  saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 5:3 He got into ²⁵  one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then ²⁶  Jesus ²⁷  sat down ²⁸  and taught the crowds from the boat.

Revelation 16:15

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

Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose ²⁹  his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition ³⁰  be seen.) ³¹ 

[24:44]  ¹ 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).

[13:33]  ² 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]  ³ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ⁴ tn Grk “giving.”

[12:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[12:20]  ⁶ tn Or “required back.” This term, ἀπαιτέω (apaitew), has an economic feel to it and is often used of a debt being called in for repayment (BDAG 96 s.v. 1).

[12:20]  ⁷ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:38]  ⁸ sn The second or third watch of the night would be between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. on a Roman schedule and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on a Jewish schedule. Luke uses the four-watch schedule of the Romans in Acts 12:4, so that is more probable here. Regardless of the precise times of the watches, however, it is clear that the late-night watches when a person is least alert are in view here.

[12:38]  ⁹ tn Grk “finds (them) thus”; but this has been clarified in the translation by referring to the status (“alert”) mentioned in v. 37.

[12:38]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “blessed are they”; the referent (the watchful slaves, v. 37) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:39]  ¹¹ sn On Jesus pictured as a returning thief, see 1 Thess 5:2, 4; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 3:3; 16:15.

[12:39]  ¹² tc Most mss (א¹ A B L Q W Θ Ψ 070 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy^p,h sa^ms bo) read “he would have watched and not let” here, but this looks like an assimilation to Matt 24:43. The alliance of two important and early mss along with a few others (Ì⁷⁵ א* [D] e i sy^s,c sa^mss), coupled with much stronger internal evidence, suggests that the shorter reading is authentic.

[12:40]  ¹³ sn Jesus made clear that his coming could not be timed, and suggested it might take some time – so long, in fact, that some would not be looking for him any longer (at an hour when you do not expect him).

[12:46]  ¹⁴ tn The verb διχοτομέω (dicotomew) means to cut an object into two parts (L&N 19.19). This is an extremely severe punishment compared to the other two later punishments. To translate it simply as “punish” is too mild. If taken literally this servant is dismembered, although it is possible to view the stated punishment as hyperbole (L&N 38.12).

[12:46]  ¹⁵ tn Or “unbelieving.” Here the translation employs the slightly more ambiguous “unfaithful,” which creates a link with the point of the parable – faithfulness versus unfaithfulness in servants. The example of this verse must be taken together with the examples of vv. 47-48 as part of a scale of reactions with the most disobedient response coming here. The fact that this servant is placed in a distinct group, unlike the one in vv. 47-48, also suggests ultimate exclusion. This is the hypocrite of Matt 24:51.

[12:1]  ¹⁶ tn The phrase ἐν οἷς (en Jois) can be translated “meanwhile.”

[12:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ¹⁸ tn According to L&N 27.59, “to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to be on your guard against.” This is another Lukan present imperative calling for constant vigilance.

[12:1]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[12:1]  ²⁰ sn The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy, if one is not careful.

[5:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[5:1]  ²² sn The Lake of Gennesaret is another name for the Sea of Galilee. Cf. the parallel in Matt 4:18.

[5:1]  ²³ sn The image of the crowd pressing around him suggests the people leaning forward to catch Jesus’ every word.

[5:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[5:3]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Getting into”; the participle ἐμβάς (embas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[5:3]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:3]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ²⁸ tn Grk “sitting down”; the participle καθίσας (kaqisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:15]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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.