Luke 12:39

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief ¹  was coming, he would not have let ²  his house be broken into.

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

"But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

"Know this: A homeowner who knew exactly when a burglar was coming would not permit the house to be broken into.

"You know that if the house owner had known what night the burglar was coming, he wouldn't have stayed out late and left the place unlocked.

But be certain of this, that if the master of the house had had knowledge of the time when the thief was coming, he would have been watching, and would not have let his house be broken into.

"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

"But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief ¹  was coming, he would not have let ²  his house be broken into.

¹ sn On Jesus pictured as a returning thief, see 1 Thess 5:2, 4; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 3:3; 16:15.

² tc Most mss (א¹ A B L Q W Θ Ψ 070 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy^p,h sa^ms bo) read “he would have watched and not let” here, but this looks like an assimilation to Matt 24:43. The alliance of two important and early mss along with a few others (Ì⁷⁵ א* [D] e i sy^s,c sa^mss), coupled with much stronger internal evidence, suggests that the shorter reading is authentic.