But suppose that slave is evil. Suppose he says to himself,‘ My master is staying away a long time.’

倘若那恶仆心里说：‘我的主人必来得迟’，

如果那恶仆心里说：‘我的主人会来得迟’，

如果那恶仆心里说：‘我的主人会来得迟’，

但如果奴仆邪恶，以为主人不会那么快回来，

如果他是个坏的仆人，心里说‘我的主人不会那么快回来’，

但如果这恶奴心里说‘我的主人会迟延回来’，

倘若那惡僕心裏說：『我的主人必來得遲』，

如果那惡僕心裏說：『我的主人會來得遲』，

如果那惡僕心裏說：『我的主人會來得遲』，

但如果奴僕邪惡，以為主人不會那麼快回來，

如果他是個壞的僕人，心裡說‘我的主人不會那麼快回來’，

但那惡奴僕若自己心裏說：「我主人一定會遲延」，

但如果這惡奴心裡說『我的主人會遲延回來』，

倘彼惡僕意謂、我主稽遲、

倘有惡僕、意主將遲遲而至、

倘惡僕心內云、我主之至必遲、

倘有不肖之僕、私揣其主稽遲、

But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself,‘ My master is staying away a long time,’

But if that wicked servant says to himself,‘ My master is delayed,’

But what if the servant is evil and thinks,‘ My master won’t be back for a while,’

But if that wicked servant says in his heart,‘ My master is delayed,’

But if that evil slave says in his heart,‘ My master is not coming for a long time,’

But if that evil servant says in his heart,‘ My master is delaying his coming,’

But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord tarrieth;

But if that wicked slave says in his heart,‘ My master is delayed,’

But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

But if that evil slave should say to himself,‘ My master is staying away a long time,’

But if that evil servant should say in his heart,‘ My lord is delaying his coming,’

“ Then the master called the first servant in.‘ You evil servant,’ he said.‘ I forgave all that you owed me because you begged me to.

But suppose the servant says to himself,‘ My master is taking a long time to come back.’ Suppose that servant begins to beat the other servants, both men and women. Suppose he feeds himself. And suppose he drinks until he gets drunk.

Foolish people say foolish things. Their minds are set on doing evil things. They don’t do what is right. They tell lies about the Lord. They don’t give hungry people any food. They don’t let thirsty people have any water.

Most of all, here is what you must understand. In the last days people will make fun of the truth. They will laugh at it. They will follow their own evil desires.They will say,“ Where is this‘ return’ he promised? Everything goes on in the same way it has since our people of long ago died. In fact, it has continued this way since God first created everything.”Long ago, God’s word brought the heavens into being. His word separated the earth from the waters. And the waters surrounded it. But these people forget things like that on purpose.

Evil thoughts come from the inside, from a person’s heart. So do sexual sins, stealing and murder.

They were having their evening meal. The devil had already tempted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. He had urged Judas to hand Jesus over to his enemies.

“ Son of man, you have a proverb in the land of Israel. It says,‘ The days go by, and not even one vision comes true.’

“ Son of man, the Israelites are saying,‘ The vision Ezekiel sees won’t come true for many years. He is prophesying about a time that is a long way off.’

Be careful not to have an evil thought in your mind. Don’t say to yourself,“ The seventh year will soon be here. It’s the year for forgiving people what they owe.” If you think like that, you might treat the needy people among you badly. You might not give them anything. Then they might make their appeal to the Lord against you. And he will find you guilty of sin.

“ His master replied,‘ You evil, lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I have not planted? You knew that I gather crops where I have not scattered seed?

But Elisha said to him,“ Didn’t my spirit go with you? I know that the man got down from his chariot to greet you. Is this the time for you to accept money or clothes? Is it the time to take olive groves, vineyards, flocks or herds? Is it the time to accept male and female slaves?

“ His master replied,‘ I will judge you by your own words, you evil slave! So you knew that I am a hard man? You knew that I take out what I did not put in? You knew that I harvest what I did not plant?

The Lord your God will drive them out to make room for you. When he does, don’t say to yourself,“ The Lord has done it because I am godly. That’s why he brought me here to take over this land.” That isn’t true. The Lord is going to drive out those nations to make room for you because they are very evil.

Turn away from this evil sin of yours. Pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.

Then Peter said,“ Ananias, why did you let Satan fill your heart? He made you lie to the Holy Spirit. You have kept some of the money you received for the land.

Sometimes the sentence for a crime isn’t carried out quickly. So people make plans to commit even more crimes.