Revelation 16:15

“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Christ speaks directly to the reader, inserted between the demonic summons to Armageddon (16:14) and the kings' assembly there (16:16). The moment is the height of eschatological conflict, not a calm teaching context.

The words — γρηγορῶν (grēgorōn, G1127) is a present participle: "watching" as a sustained, ongoing state, not a single act of alertness. The blessing is conditional on maintaining that posture over time.

The thread — The thief-image recurs in 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Matthew 24:42, and 2 Peter 3:10, all tying sudden arrival to the demand for watchfulness. Revelation 3:3 uses the same formula within a letter to a church, showing the pattern is not unique to this passage.

Why it lands — The verse asks for continuous readiness rather than a single decision, and names the cost of failing: public exposure of what was already shameful. It removes the comfort of assuming a second chance at the moment of arrival.

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

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Cross-references

1 Thessalonians 5:2 For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
Matthew 24:42 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
2 Peter 3:10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.
Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
Revelation 3:3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.
Luke 12:37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.
Matthew 25:13 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Mark 13:33 Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come.
2 Corinthians 5:3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
Mark 14:38 Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”