Luke 12:35-48

You Must Be Ready

35 ¹"Stay dressed for action^[a] and ²keep your lamps burning,

36 and be like men who are ³waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and ⁴knocks.

37 ⁵Blessed are those servants^[b] whom the master finds ⁶awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, ⁷he will dress himself for service and ⁸have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!

39 ⁹But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour ¹⁰the thief was coming, he^[c] would not have left his house to be broken into.

40 You also must be ¹¹ready, for ¹²the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

41 Peter said, "Lord, ¹³are you telling this parable for us or for all?"

42 And the Lord said, "Who then is ¹⁴the faithful and ¹⁵wise ¹⁶manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?

43 ¹⁷Blessed is that servant^[d] whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

44 Truly, I say to you, ¹⁸he will set him over all his possessions.

45 But if that servant says to himself, 'My master ¹⁹is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and ²⁰get drunk,

46 the master of that servant will come ²¹on a day when he does not expect him and ²²at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.

47 ²³And that servant who ²⁴knew his master's will but ²⁵did not get ready ²⁶or act according to his will, will receive a ²⁷severe beating.

48 ²⁸But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, ²⁹will receive a light beating. ³⁰Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Cross References

• 1. Ephesians 6:14; 1 Peter 1:13
• 2. [Matthew 25:7]
• 3. See 2 Peter 3:12
• 4. Revelation 3:20
• 5. See Matthew 24:42, 46
• 6. See Matthew 24:42, 46
• 7. John 13:4; [ver. 35; Luke 17:8]
• 8. [Luke 22:27]
• 9. For ver. 39-46, [Matthew 24:43-51]
• 10. [1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3]
• 11. ver. 47; Matthew 25:10
• 12. Luke 21:27
• 13. [Mark 13:37]
• 14. See Matthew 24:45
• 15. See Matthew 24:45
• 16. Luke 16:1
• 17. John 13:17; Revelation 16:15
• 18. Matthew 25:21, 23
• 19. Matthew 25:5; [Hebrews 10:37; 2 Peter 3:4, 9]
• 20. 1 Thessalonians 5:7
• 21. 2 Peter 3:12; [ver. 40]
• 22. 2 Peter 3:12; [ver. 40]
• 23. [Matthew 11:24; John 15:22, 24]
• 24. [James 4:17; 2 Peter 2:21]
• 25. ver. 40
• 26. [James 4:17; 2 Peter 2:21]
• 27. [Deuteronomy 25:2, 3]
• 28. Leviticus 5:17; [Numbers 15:29, 30]
• 29. Romans 1:19, 20; Romans 2:14, 15; [1 Timothy 1:13]
• 30. [Matthew 25:29]; See Matthew 13:12

Footnotes

• [a]. Greek Let your loins stay girded; compare Exodus 12:11
• [b]. Greek bondservants
• [c]. Some manuscripts add would have stayed awake and
• [d]. Greek bondservant; also verses 45, 46, 47