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42 [a](A)Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. 43 (B)Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. 44 So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

The Faithful or the Unfaithful Servant.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 24:42–44 Cf. Lk 12:39–40. The theme of vigilance and readiness is continued with the bold comparison of the Son of Man to a thief who comes to break into a house.
  2. 24:45–51 The second part of the discourse (see note on Mt 24:1–25:46) begins with this parable of the faithful or unfaithful servant; cf. Lk 12:41–46. It is addressed to the leaders of Matthew’s church; the servant has been put in charge of his master’s household (Mt 24:45) even though that household is composed of those who are his fellow servants (Mt 24:49).

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.(A) 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming,(B) he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready,(C) because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

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