Translation
{“Behold, I
Go to footnote numberam coming like a thief; blessed is he who is constantly watching and keeping his garments [in proper condition] so that he will not walk about naked, for people would see his shame.”}
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
{“Stay alert, I am coming in an unpredictable way; blessed is he who is constantly alert to spiritual contamination
and is careful to keep his testimony what it should be
so that he will not
live in a shameful manner, for shameful living is obvious to everyone.”}
Footnotes
1
“I” refers to Jesus. He has interrupted the presentation of these bowls of evidence in order to give a warning which sounds in some ways similar to things that He said while He was present here on earth, such as in Mt 24. Because it is an interruption of the flow of this passage, this statement be Jesus is placed in parentheses.
2: This is the voice of Jesus
In chapter 5 Jesus took the scroll with seven seals and since then we have been waiting for His voice to read message on that scroll. It was something that John was desperate to hear. Now at this point we finally hear the voice of Jesus, but it immediately becomes obvious that this is not the message from the scroll, rather, Jesus is interjecting His voice into the vision He is giving to John in order to pronounce a blessing and a warning. We will have to keep waiting for the voice of Jesus to read the message on the scroll.