Matthew 24:42

24:42 “Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day ¹  your Lord will come.

Matthew 25:13

25:13 Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour. ² 

Matthew 26:38

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.”

Matthew 26:40-41

26:40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He ³  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 13:34-35

13:34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves ⁴  in charge, assigning ⁵  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 –

Mark 13:37

13:37 What I say to you I say to everyone: Stay alert!”

Mark 14:38

14:38 Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Luke 12:37

12:37 Blessed are those slaves ⁶  whom their master finds alert ⁷  when he returns! I tell you the truth, ⁸  he will dress himself to serve, ⁹  have them take their place at the table, ¹⁰  and will come ¹¹  and wait on them! ¹² 

Luke 12:39

12:39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief ¹³  was coming, he would not have let ¹⁴  his house be broken into.

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 

Acts 20:31

20:31 Therefore be alert, ¹⁹  remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning ²⁰  each one of you with tears.

Acts 20:1

Paul Travels Through Macedonia and Greece

20:1 After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging ²¹  them and saying farewell, ²²  he left to go to Macedonia. ²³ 

Colossians 1:13

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ²⁴ 

Ephesians 6:18

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ²⁵  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ²⁶  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 ²⁷  with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 4:7

Personal Greetings and Instructions

4:7 Tychicus, a dear brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave ²⁸  in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. ²⁹ 

Revelation 3:2

3:2 Wake up then, and strengthen what remains that was about ³⁰  to die, because I have not found your deeds complete ³¹  in the sight ³²  of my God.

Revelation 16:15

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

Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose ³³  his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition ³⁴  be seen.) ³⁵ 

[24:42]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[26:40]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[13:34]  ⁴ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ⁵ tn Grk “giving.”

[12:37]  ⁶ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[12:37]  ⁷ tn Or “watching”; Grk “awake,” but in context this is not just being awake but alert and looking out.

[12:37]  ⁸ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[12:37]  ⁹ tn See v. 35 (same verb).

[12:37]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “have them recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.

[12:37]  ¹¹ tn The participle παρελθών (parelqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[12:37]  ¹² sn He…will come and wait on them is a reversal of expectation, but shows that what Jesus asks for he is willing to do as well; see John 13:5 and 15:18-27, although those instances merely foreshadow what is in view here.

[12:39]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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.

[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).

[20:31]  ¹⁹ tn Or “be watchful.”

[20:31]  ²⁰ tn Or “admonishing.”

[20:1]  ²¹ tn Or “exhorting.”

[20:1]  ²² tn Or “and taking leave of them.”

[20:1]  ²³ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[1:13]  ²⁴ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

[6:18]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and toward it.”

[4:5]  ²⁷ 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).

[4:7]  ²⁸ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:7]  ²⁹ tn Grk “all things according to me.”

[3:2]  ³⁰ tn The verb ἔμελλον (emellon) is in the imperfect tense.

[3:2]  ³¹ tn The perfect passive participle has been translated as an intensive (resultative) perfect here.

[3:2]  ³² tn Or “in the judgment.” BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 3 states, “in the opinion/judgment of…As a rule…of θεός or κύριος; so after…πεπληρωμένος Rv 3:2.”

[16:15]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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.