³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah,^(A) so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,^(B) up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.^{(C) 40} Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.^{(D) 41} Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.^(E)

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

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³ Now listen,^(A) you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”^{(B) 14} Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.^{(C) 15} Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,^(D) we will live and do this or that.”