Watch and Be Ready (Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 21:5-38)

Lyrics · Matthew

Watch and Be Ready

Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 21:5-38

LISTEN HERE

Lyrics

Now playing

Watch and Be Ready

Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 21:5-38

Lyrics and song details

0:000:00

Volume

Playing next

About this song

This song belongs to the Matthew collection. 8 recordings are available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book: Matthew
Collection: Matthew
Musical styles: Acoustic, Pop, World Music, Alternative Pop, Worship & Gospel, Cinematic Rock

[Verse 1] The disciples praised the temple stones; The answer spoke of walls laid low. Wars and rumors would unsettle, False christs rise and hatred grow. Earthquakes, famine, persecution, Witness carried nationwide; Yet the end would not be hurried By each terror men supplied. [Refrain] Watch and be ready. No man knows the day. Watch and be ready. Do not let the lamp decay. Heaven and earth shall pass, But the word shall never sway. Watch and be ready For the Master's sudden day. [Verse 2] Fig leaves tell when summer nears; Signs call wisdom, not a date. As in Noah's generation, Daily life may mask the gate. One servant feeds the household; One grows cruel in delay. Five wise virgins guard their oil; Five discover lamps cannot stay. [Chorus] Watch and be ready, Talent buried gains no praise. Use the trust the Master gives Through all the unannounced days. When the Son of Man comes glorious, Nations gather at the throne; Mercy shown to least and lowly Will reveal the hearts made known. [Final Refrain] Watch and be ready. Lift the head when fear is high. Redemption draws near Though powers shake across the sky.

Named in this songNoah

About the passage

Matthew 24: The temple will fall; the hour remains unknown

The disciples admire the temple buildings, but Jesus answers with a prediction of destruction that strips visible grandeur of any claim to permanence. Their private questions then join the temple’s fall, the coming of the Son of man, and the end, and the long answer refuses to reduce those matters to a simple timetable. Jesus warns first about deception. Wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution, and false prophets are real, yet some of these are explicitly called the beginning rather than the end. The warning about Judaea includes urgent, local instructions for flight, while the coming of the Son of man is compared with lightning rather than a secret report from a hidden place. Cosmic language, the fig tree, and the difficult phrase “this generation” keep the interpretive pressure visible. Then the chapter states what calculation cannot solve: the day and hour are unknown. Readiness is therefore pictured not as date setting, but as a servant faithfully feeding the household while the master is away.

Study Matthew 24 in depth

Matthew 25: What the waiting reveals

Three scenes complete the teaching on readiness by asking what delay reveals. Ten attendants all grow sleepy while the bridegroom tarries, so the dividing line is not physical wakefulness but preparation made before the midnight announcement. The next comparison gives servants unequal amounts of their master’s money according to ability. The first two produce different totals yet receive the same welcome, while the third buries what was entrusted and defends inaction by accusing the master of harshness. The final scene leaves domestic imagery behind for the Son of man seated in glory before gathered nations. Food, drink, welcome, clothing, visitation, and presence with prisoners become matters of judgment because the king identifies himself with “the least of these.” Both groups are surprised by that identification, but their conduct is not the same. The Book of Matthew ends the discourse with eternal life and everlasting punishment set side by side. Unknown timing never means empty time; what people do during the delay becomes visible at the return.

Study Matthew 25 in depth