9 God will do what he promised. He is not slow though, as some people think he is. But he is waiting a long time for you. He does not want anyone to die, but he wants all people to stop their wrong ways.
1 Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten young women took their lamps and went to meet a man who was being married.
2 Five of them were foolish and five of them were wise.
3 The five foolish women took their lamps but took no oil with them.
4 The wise ones took bottles of oil with their lamps.
5 It was a long time before the man came, so they all went to sleep.
6 At midnight there was a call, "Here comes the man who is to be married! Come out to meet him."
7 Then all the young women woke up. They cleaned their lamps.
8 The foolish ones said to the wise ones, "Give us some of your oil. The light in our lamps is dying."
9 But the wise ones answered, "There may not be enough oil for us all. Go to the market and buy some for yourselves."
10 While they went away to buy oil, the man came. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. Then the door was shut.
11 After that, the other women also came. They called, "Sir, sir, open the door for us."
12 But he said, "I tell you the truth. I do not know you."
13 So watch! You do not know the day or the hour.
3 And not only is that true, but we are very happy in our troubles, because we know that trouble makes us stronger.
4 When we are strong to take trouble, we prove that we believe. When we prove that we believe, we have hope.
22 You have obeyed what is true and that has made your hearts clean. And now you really love your Christian brothers. So with your clean hearts, love each other very much.
23 You have been made Gods children. He did not make you his children by something that dies, but by something that cannot die. That is the word of God.
24 The holy writings say, People may be great. But they are like a flower on the grass. The grass dies and the flower falls off.
25 But the word of the Lord cannot die! And this word is the good news which has been told to you.
11 God blesses those who take their troubles quietly and keep on believing. You have heard about Jobs troubles and how he took them. And you have seen what the Lord did for him at the end. The Lord is very kind and helps people.
11 God has wonderful power. And we ask him to give you all the strength you need to go through all your troubles, to be very patient in them, and to be happy.
7 So brothers, take your troubles quietly and wait until the Lord comes. A farmer waits until the harvest grows from the ground. He waits for it a long time until it has had the first and second rain.
8 You must wait also. Keep your hearts strong, because the Lord will come soon.