"Listen! I am coming like a thief ! Happy is he who stays awake and guards his clothes, so that he will not walk around naked and be ashamed in public!"

He says, "All the leaders, who are supposed to warn my people, are blind! They know nothing. They are like watch dogs that don't bark---they only lie around and dream. How they love to sleep!

On your walls, Jerusalem, I have placed sentries; They must never be silent day or night. They must remind the LORD of his promises And never let him forget them.

They must give him no rest until he restores Jerusalem And makes it a city the whole world praises.

As surely as I am the living God, you had better listen to me. My sheep have been attacked by wild animals that killed and ate them because there was no shepherd. My shepherds did not try to find the sheep. They were taking care of themselves and not the sheep.

I, the Sovereign LORD, declare that I am your enemy. I will take my sheep away from you and never again let you be their shepherds; never again will I let you take care only of yourselves. I will rescue my sheep from you and not let you eat them.

I have put a shepherd in charge of my flock, but he does not help the sheep that are threatened by destruction; nor does he look for the lost, or heal those that are hurt, or feed the healthy. Instead, he eats the meat of the fattest sheep and tears off their hoofs.

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.

And Jesus concluded, "Watch out, then, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Be on watch, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come.

Watch, then, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming---it might be in the evening or at midnight or before dawn or at sunrise.

What I say to you, then, I say to all: Watch!"

So keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock which the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he made his own through the blood of his Son.

The time will come when some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and because he is coming to rule as King, I solemnly urge you

The time will come when people will not listen to sound doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear.

The end of all things is near. You must be self-controlled and alert, to be able to pray.

Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

But this is what I have against you: you do not love me now as you did at first.

Give Joshua his instructions. Strengthen his determination, because he will lead the people across to occupy the land that you see.'

When someone stumbled, weak and tired, your words encouraged him to stand.

I could strengthen you with advice and keep talking to comfort you.

Give strength to hands that are tired and to knees that tremble with weakness.

"Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has received permission to test all of you, to separate the good from the bad, as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff.

But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you turn back to me, you must strengthen your brothers."

After spending some time there, he left and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the believers.

and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.

He committed the same sins as his father and was not completely loyal to the LORD his God, as his great-grandfather David had been.

He did what was pleasing to the LORD, but did it reluctantly.

You think that what you do is right, but I will expose your conduct, and your idols will not be able to help you.

weight, you have been weighed on the scales and found to be too light;

"So when you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets. They do it so that people will praise them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.

Then it will be a private matter. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

They do everything so that people will see them. Look at the straps with scripture verses on them which they wear on their foreheads and arms, and notice how large they are! Notice also how long are the tassels on their cloaks!

In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins.

and you claim that if you had lived during the time of your ancestors, you would not have done what they did and killed the prophets.

Go on, then, and finish up what your ancestors started!

And so I tell you that I will send you prophets and wise men and teachers; you will kill some of them, crucify others, and whip others in the synagogues and chase them from town to town.

I tell you indeed: the punishment for all these murders will fall on the people of this day!

And so your Temple will be abandoned and empty.