American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
and be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he shall return from the marriage feast; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may straightway open unto him.
Blessed are those {Greek: bondservants.}servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them.
And if he shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their {Or, torches}lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
For the foolish, when they took their {Or, torches}lamps, took no oil with them:
but the wise took oil in their vessels with their {Or, torches}lamps.
Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their {Or, torches}lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our {Or, torches}lamps are going out.
But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast: and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour.
Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.
{Or, But this ye know}But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be {Greek: digged through.}broken through.
Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Who then is the faithful and wise {Greek: bondservant.}servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season?
Blessed is that {Greek: bondservant.}servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath.
But if that evil {Greek: bondservant.}servant shall say in his heart, My lord tarrieth;
and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken;
the lord of that {Greek: bondservant.}servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not,
and shall {Or, severely scourge him}cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come.
For our {Or, commonwealth}citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep {Greek: through. Or, will God through Jesus}in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the {Or, presence}coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore {Or, exhort chapter 5:11.}comfort one another with these words.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears {See verse 9.}, let him hear.
and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire,
rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the {Greek: good tidings: and so elsewhere. See marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel of our Lord Jesus:
let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of {Many ancient authorities read lawlessness.}sin be revealed, the son of perdition,
he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or {Greek: an object of worship. Acts 17:23.}that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the {Or, sanctuary}temple of God, setting himself forth as God.
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season.
For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: {Or, only until he that now restraineth be taken &c.}only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord {Some ancient authorities omit Jesus.}Jesus shall {Some ancient authorities read consume.}slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his {Greek: presence.}coming;
even he, whose {Greek: presence.}coming is according to the working of Satan with all {Greek: power and signs and wonders of falsehood.}power and signs and lying wonders,
and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that {Or, are perishing}perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
ye also, as living stones, are built up a {Or, a spiritual house for a holy priesthood}spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the {Greek: presence.}coming of the Son of man.
and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the {Greek: presence.}coming of the Son of man.
Likewise even as it came to pass in the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all:
after the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed.
In that day, he that shall be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away: and let him that is in the field likewise not return back.
For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us:
in whom the god of this {Or, age}world hath blinded the {Greek: thoughts. Chapter 4:4, 11:3}minds of the unbelieving, {Or, that they should not see the light…image of God}that the {Greek: illumination.}light of the {See marginal note on chapter 2:12.}gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.
But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
And they asked him, saying, Teacher, when therefore shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are about to come to pass?