Be Ready for His Coming

42 “Therefore abe on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

43 “But 1be sure of this, that aif the head of the house had known bat what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be 2broken into.

44 “For this reason ayou also must be ready; for bthe Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

45 “aWho then is the bfaithful and csensible slave whom his 1master dput in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?

46 “Blessed is that slave whom his 1master finds so doing when he comes.

47 “Truly I say to you that ahe will put him in charge of all his possessions.

48 “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My 1master 2is not coming for a long time,’

49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards;

50 the 1master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,

51 and will 1cut him in pieces and 2assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be aweeping and gnashing of teeth.

Chapter 25

Parable of Ten Virgins

1 “Then athe kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their blamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

2 “Five of them were foolish, and five were aprudent.

3 “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,

4 but the aprudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.

5 “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.

6 “But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’

7 “Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.

8 “The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

9 “But the aprudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’

10 “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were aready went in with him to bthe wedding feast; and cthe door was shut.

11 “Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘aLord, lord, open up for us.’

12 “But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’