Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
Parallel translations
- WEB Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes.
- KJV Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
- NKJV Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
- NASB “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
- NLT “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.
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
Therefore watch, because you do not know when your Lord comes. Constant readiness is the proper response to an unknown hour.
Overview
Jesus draws the practical conclusion from his warnings: stay spiritually awake. Ignorance of the time is not cause for anxiety but for steady watchfulness and faithful living. 'Your Lord' personalizes the command, framing it as devotion to a master who will return. Watching means ongoing obedience and trust, not idle date-gazing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Luke 21:36So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”
- 1 Th 5:6So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.
- Matt 25:13Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
- Rev 16:15“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
- 1 Cor 16:13Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.
- Matt 24:36No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
- Luke 12:35–40Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.
- Matt 24:44For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.
- Rom 13:11And 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.
- Matt 26:38–41Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”
- 1 Pet 5:8Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- Rev 3:2–3Wake up and strengthen what remains, which was about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God.
- Mark 13:33–37Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come.
- 1 Pet 4:7The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 24:42 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.