No One Knows That Day and Hour

36 ^q“But concerning that day and hour ^rno one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,¹ but the Father only. 37 For as were the ^sdays of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, ^tuntil the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, ^ustay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that ^vif the master of the house had known in what part of the night the ^wthief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

45 ^x“Who then is the faithful and wise servant,² whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants³ and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be ^yweeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Coming of the Kingdom

20 ^lBeing asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The ^mkingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ⁿ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”¹

22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the ^olightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.² 25 But first he must ^psuffer many things and be ^qrejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the ^rdays of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, ^suntil the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, ^tfire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is ^urevealed. 31 On that day, ^vlet the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise ^wlet the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 ^xRemember Lot’s wife. 33 ^yWhoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”³ 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, ^z“Where the corpse⁴ is, there the vultures⁵ will gather.”

Watch Yourselves

34 ^c“But watch yourselves ^dlest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and ^ecares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But ^fstay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”