Matthew 25:6

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

Then at midnight someone shouted, ‘Look, the [bride and] groom are here. Come on, let us go out and meet them.’

Cross References

Matthew 24:31

And He will send out His angels [i.e., as messengers] with the sound of a great trumpet [See I Thess. 4:16] to gather His elect [i.e., God’s people] from all directions, [even] from throughout the whole world. [Note: See Mark 13:27, which suggests this thought by its use of ‘earth’ and ‘sky’]

Matthew 24:44

Therefore, you also should be ready, for the Son of man will come at a time when you least expect Him.

Matthew 25:1

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be similar to ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the [bride and] groom. [Note: The picture here is that of a newly married couple returning from a festive reception to the groom’s home where they continued celebrating and were welcomed by a late evening wedding party]

Matthew 25:31

“But when the Son of man comes [back] in [all] His splendor, accompanied by all the angels, then He will sit on His throne of splendor.

Matthew 25:5

Now when the [bride and] groom were late [in arriving], the bridesmaids all got drowsy and fell asleep.

Matthew 25:7

Then all the bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps [i.e., removed the burnt wicks and replenished their lamps with oil].

Luke 12:20

But God said to him, ‘You fool! Tonight your life will be taken away from you. And [then] who will get the things you have stored up [for yourself]?’

Luke 12:46

that slave’s master will return on a day that he least expects, and at an hour unknown [to him]. And [that master] will whip him to shreds and will turn him over to suffer the same fate as unfaithful servants receive.

1 Thessalonians 4:16

For the Lord Himself [i.e., Jesus] will come down from heaven with a commanding shout [Note: This probably refers to Jesus’ voice. See John 5:25, 28], [and] with the archangel’s voice [i.e., Michael. See Jude 9] and with the sound of God’s trumpet; [at this] the dead in [fellowship with] Christ will rise [from the dead] first.

2 Peter 3:10

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief [i.e., unexpectedly]. At that time the heavens will pass away with a loud noise and the elements [Note: This refers either to the heavenly bodies or to the material components of the universe], will be dissolved with intense heat. And the earth and its works [i.e., its activities] will be burned up. [Note: Some translations render this phrase as it is in some ancient manuscripts, “will be disclosed,” or “will be laid bare”].

Revelation 16:15

[Note: At this point the Lord’s voice breaks into John’s vision]. (“Look, I am coming like a thief. That person is happy who stays alert and is dressed [properly], so he does not appear naked and have to be shamefully exposed”).