Bible Strands
1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Peter addresses dispersed believers navigating persecution, framing this command between the proclamation to the dead and the mandate to love deeply. He issues the exhortation as a direct response to the imminent culmination of history.
The words — τέλος (telos) denotes "end" or "culmination," and σωφρονήσατε (sōphronēsate) means "be clear-minded" or "exercise sound judgment." The text explicitly states that the culmination of all things has drawn near, requiring mental and spiritual alertness.
The thread — The nearness of the end paired with a call to alertness appears in James 5:8, 1 Peter 1:13, and Luke 21:34, which warn against worldly distraction and urge readiness for the Lord’s coming. These passages collectively anchor ethical vigilance to eschatological expectation.
Why it lands — The text demands that readers maintain disciplined focus and sober prayer rather than succumbing to anxiety or distraction. It requires immediate practical readiness because the conclusion of the current age is already at hand.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
Cross-references
- James 5:8 You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
- 1 Peter 1:13 Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- Luke 21:34 But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- 2 Timothy 4:5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
- 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- Hebrews 10:25 Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
- Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,
- 1 Thessalonians 5:6 So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.
- Titus 2:12 It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
- Ezekiel 7:6 The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. Behold, it has come!