Matthew 24:42-44

24:42 “Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day ¹  your Lord will come. 24:43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief ²  was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into. 24:44 Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. ³ 

Matthew 25:13

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

Mark 13:34-35

13:34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves ⁵  in charge, assigning ⁶  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 –

Luke 12:39-40

12:39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief ⁷  was coming, he would not have let ⁸  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.” ⁹ 

Luke 12:2

12:2 Nothing is hidden ¹⁰  that will not be revealed, ¹¹  and nothing is secret that will not be made known.

Luke 3:10

3:10 So ¹²  the crowds were asking ¹³  him, “What then should we do?”

Revelation 3:3

3:3 Therefore, remember what you received and heard, ¹⁴  and obey it, ¹⁵  and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will never ¹⁶  know at what hour I will come against ¹⁷  you.

Revelation 16:15

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

Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose ¹⁸  his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition ¹⁹  be seen.) ²⁰ 

[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.

[24:43]  ² sn On Jesus pictured as a returning thief, see 1 Thess 5:2, 4; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 3:3; 16:15.

[24:44]  ³ 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]  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.

[13:34]  ⁵ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ⁶ tn Grk “giving.”

[12:39]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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).

[12:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “concealed.”

[12:2]  ¹¹ sn I.e., be revealed by God. The passive voice verbs here (“be revealed,” be made known”) see the revelation as coming from God. The text is both a warning about bad things being revealed and an encouragement that good things will be made known, though the stress with the images of darkness and what is hidden in vv. 2-3 is on the attempt to conceal.

[3:10]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the people’s response.

[3:10]  ¹³ tn Though this verb is imperfect, in this context it does not mean repeated, ongoing questions, but simply a presentation in vivid style as the following verbs in the other examples are aorist.

[3:3]  ¹⁴ tn The expression πῶς εἴληφας καὶ ἤκουσας (pw" eilhfa" kai hkousa") probably refers to the initial instruction in the Christian life they had received and been taught; this included doctrine and ethical teaching.

[3:3]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “keep it,” in the sense of obeying what they had initially been taught.

[3:3]  ¹⁶ tn The negation here is with οὐ μή (ou mh, the strongest possible form of negation in Koine Greek).

[3:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “come on.”

[16:15]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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.