Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.
Parallel translations
- KJV Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
- BSB For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.
- NKJV Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
- NASB For this reason you must be ready as well; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
- NLT You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
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 be ready, for the Son of Man comes at an unexpected hour. Readiness, not prediction, is what Christ requires.
Overview
This sums up the thief parable: live in a state of preparedness because the timing is hidden. Readiness is a posture of faith and obedience maintained continually. Since the hour is deliberately concealed, every hour must find the disciple faithful. The verse turns expectation of Christ into present-tense holiness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Matt 25:10While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
- Matt 24:42Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes.
- Matt 25:13Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
- Luke 12:40Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don’t expect him.”
- Phil 4:5Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
- Matt 24:27For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
- Rev 19:7Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give the glory to him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.”
- Jas 5:9Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door.
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 24:44 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.