And 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.
- KJV And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
- NKJV And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
- NASB Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed.
- NLT This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
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
Understand the time: it is the hour to wake from sleep, for salvation is nearer than when you first believed.
Overview
Paul adds urgency to his moral exhortations by pointing to the times. The night of this present age is passing, and the day of completed salvation, Christ's return, draws ever nearer. This eschatological awareness should rouse believers from spiritual slumber to wakeful, holy living.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 1 Th 5:5–8For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
- 1 Pet 4:7The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.
- Eph 5:14So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
- Mark 13:35–37Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the master of the house will return—whether in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning.
- 1 Cor 15:34Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame.
- Matt 24:42–44Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
- 1 Th 5:1–3Now about the times and seasons, brothers, we do not need to write to you.
- 2 Pet 3:13–15But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
- Rev 22:20He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
- Luke 21:28When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
- Rev 22:12“Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done.
- Matt 25:5–7When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
- Matt 26:40–41Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter.
- 1 Cor 7:29–31What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;
- 1 Cor 10:11Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
- Eccl 9:10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
- Jonah 1:6The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
- Isa 21:11–12This is the burden against Dumah: One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?”
- Matt 16:3and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times.
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
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 13:11 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.