Otherwise, he may arrive without notice and find you sleeping.
Parallel translations
- WEB lest coming suddenly he might find you sleeping.
- KJV Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
- NKJV lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.
- NASB so that he does not come suddenly and find you asleep.
- NLT Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The warning is lest the master return suddenly and find his servants asleep. Spiritual sleep leaves us unprepared for Christ's coming.
Overview
To be found 'sleeping' pictures spiritual complacency and unreadiness. Jesus warns against drifting into carelessness during his absence. The danger is not active rebellion only but passive slumber. The call is to remain spiritually awake and engaged, living in expectation of the Lord who may come at the least-expected hour.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Th 5:6–7So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.
- Rom 13:11–14And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
- Mark 14:40And again Jesus returned and found them sleeping—for their eyes were heavy. And they did not know what to answer Him.
- Matt 24:48–51But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’
- Luke 21:34But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Matt 25:5When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
- Isa 56:10Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
- Prov 6:9–11How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
- Prov 24:33–34A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
- Mark 14:37Then Jesus returned and found them sleeping. “Simon, are you asleep?” He asked. “Were you not able to keep watch for one hour?
- Eph 5:14So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
- Song 5:2I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”
- Song 3:1On my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him.
- Luke 22:45When Jesus rose from prayer and returned to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 13:36 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.