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"1Do not be afraid, 2littleflock, for 3your Father has chosengladly to give you the kingdom.
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"4Sell your possessions and give to charity; makeyourselvesmoneybelts which do not wear out, 5an unfailingtreasure in heaven, wherenothiefcomesnearnormothdestroys.
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"For 6where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Be in Readiness
35"7Be dressed in 8readiness, and keep your lampslit.
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"Be likemen who are waiting for their masterwhen he returns from the weddingfeast, so that they may immediatelyopen the door to him when he comes and knocks.
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"Blessed are thoseslaveswhom the master will find9on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that 10he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.
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"11Whether he comes in the secondwatch, oreven in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
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"12But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at whathour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be 13broken into.
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"14You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect."
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Petersaid, "Lord, are You addressingthisparable to us, or15to everyone else as well?"
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And 16the Lordsaid, "17Whothen is the faithful and sensible18steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the propertime?
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"Blessed is that 19slavewhom his masterfindssodoing when he comes.
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"Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
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"But if that slavesays in his heart, 'My master will be a longtime in coming,' and begins to beat the slaves*, both men and women, and to eat and drink and getdrunk;
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the master of that slave will come on a daywhen he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
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"And that slave who knew his master'swill and did not getreadyoract in accord with his will, will20receivemanylashes,
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but the one who did not 21know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. 22From everyonewho has been givenmuch, much will be required; and to whom they entrustedmuch, of him they will askall the more.
Christ Divides Men
49"I have come to castfire upon the earth; and how I wish it were alreadykindled!
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"But I have a 23baptism to undergo, and howdistressed I am until it is accomplished!
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"24Do you suppose that I came to grantpeace on earth? I tell you, no, but ratherdivision;
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for from now on five members in onehousehold will be divided, threeagainsttwo and twoagainstthree.
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"They will be divided, 25fatheragainstson and sonagainstfather, motheragainstdaughter and daughteragainstmother, mother-in-lawagainstdaughter-in-law and daughter-in-lawagainstmother-in-law."
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And He was alsosaying to the crowds, "26When you see a cloudrising in the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming,' and so it turns out.
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"And when you see a southwindblowing, you say, 'It will be a 27hot day,' and it turns out that way.
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"You hypocrites! 28You knowhow to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyzethis present time?
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"And 29why do you not even on your owninitiativejudgewhat is right?
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"For 30while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judgeturn you over to the officer, and the officerthrow you into prison.
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"I say to you, you will not get out of thereuntil you have paid the verylast31cent."