Watch out, then, because you do not know what day your Lord will come.

So then, you also must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.

How happy that servant is if his master finds him doing this when he comes home!

But if he is a bad servant, he will tell himself that his master will not come back for a long time,

Then that servant's master will come back one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know.

"Be careful not to let yourselves become occupied with too much feasting and drinking and with the worries of this life, or that Day may suddenly catch you

Be on watch and pray always that you will have the strength to go safely through all those things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man."

"Turn away from your sins," he said, "because the Kingdom of heaven is near!"

Jesus told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field.

Jesus told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field.

the field is the world; the good seed is the people who belong to the Kingdom; the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One;

"The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man happens to find a treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.

"Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man is looking for fine pearls,

"Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Some fishermen throw their net out in the lake and catch all kinds of fish.

"The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a man who went out early in the morning to hire some men to work in his vineyard.

"The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son.

At the time of those rulers the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires and then last forever.

In her colorful gown she is led to the king, followed by her bridesmaids, and they also are brought to him.

There is a fragrance about you; the sound of your name recalls it. No woman could keep from loving you.

Promise me, women of Jerusalem, that if you find my lover, you will tell him I am weak from passion.

His mouth is sweet to kiss; everything about him enchants me. This is what my lover is like, women of Jerusalem.

Most beautiful of women, where has your lover gone? Tell us which way your lover went, so that we can help you find him.

Let the king have sixty queens, eighty concubines, young women without number!

But I love only one, and she is as lovely as a dove. She is her mother's only daughter, her mother's favorite child. All women look at her and praise her; queens and concubines sing her praises.

I praise you because you always remember me and follow the teachings that I have handed on to you.

They are the men who have kept themselves pure by not having sexual relations with women; they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from the rest of the human race and are the first ones to be offered to God and to the Lamb.

In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.

"Be ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit,

like servants who are waiting for their master to come back from a wedding feast. When he comes and knocks, they will open the door for him at once.

so that you may be innocent and pure as God's perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky,

as you offer them the message of life. If you do so, I shall have reason to be proud of you on the Day of Christ, because it will show that all my effort and work have not been wasted.

And now there is waiting for me the victory prize of being put right with God, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day---and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear.

as we wait for the blessed Day we hope for, when the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ will appear.

I think it only right for me to stir up your memory of these matters as long as I am still alive.

I will do my best, then, to provide a way for you to remember these matters at all times after my death.

as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon---the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat.

But we wait for what God has promised: new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will be at home.

Jesus answered, "Do you expect the guests at a wedding party to be sad as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not! But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

"The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son.

Among the women of your court are daughters of kings, and at the right of your throne stands the queen, wearing ornaments of finest gold.

Your beauty will make the king desire you; he is your master, so you must obey him.

Your Creator will be like a husband to you--- the LORD Almighty is his name. The holy God of Israel will save you--- he is the ruler of all the world.

No longer will you be called "Forsaken," Or your land be called "The Deserted Wife." Your new name will be "God Is Pleased with Her." Your land will be called "Happily Married," Because the LORD is pleased with you And will be like a husband to your land.

Like a young man taking a virgin as his bride, He who formed you will marry you. As a groom is delighted with his bride, So your God will delight in you.

Jesus answered, "Do you expect the guests at a wedding party to go without food? Of course not! As long as the bridegroom is with them, they will not do that.

But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Jesus answered, "Do you think you can make the guests at a wedding party go without food as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not!

But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast."

The bridegroom is the one to whom the bride belongs; but the bridegroom's friend, who stands by and listens, is glad when he hears the bridegroom's voice. This is how my own happiness is made complete.

I am jealous for you, just as God is; you are like a pure virgin whom I have promised in marriage to one man only, Christ himself.

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it.

in order to present the church to himself in all its beauty---pure and faultless, without spot or wrinkle or any other imperfection.

(None of us ever hate our own bodies. Instead, we feed them, and take care of them, just as Christ does the church;

As the scripture says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one."

But it also applies to you: every husband must love his wife as himself, and every wife must respect her husband.

Let us rejoice and be glad; let us praise his greatness! For the time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself for it.

And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband.

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came to me and said, "Come, and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb."