Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Parallel translations
- WEB Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
- BSB Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
- NKJV “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
- NASB Be on the alert then, because you do not know the day nor the hour.
- NLT “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.
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 know neither the day nor the hour. The parable's lesson is constant readiness for Christ's coming.
Overview
Jesus states the parable's point plainly: since the timing is unknown, be continually prepared. Watching here means cultivating genuine faith and faithful living now, not last-minute scrambling. The unknown hour is meant to keep disciples spiritually awake in every season. It ties the wedding parable directly to the theme of the whole discourse.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Matt 24:42–44Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
- Rev 16:15Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
- 1 Th 5:6Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
- Luke 21:36Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
- 1 Cor 16:13Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
- Mark 13:33–37Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
- 1 Pet 5:8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
- Matt 24:50The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
- 2 Tim 4:5But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
- 1 Pet 4:7But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
- Acts 20:31Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 25:13 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.