Be ye also ready

Dr. Gideon Case died May 15th, 1822 in the 44th year of his age.
Be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

It’s hard to provide an exact citation for Dr. Case’s epitaph. Versions of the phrase appear in translations of the Biblical Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and those words then spun off into hymns, sermons, and religious tracts. Whatever the route by which epitaph came to Dr. Case’s tombstone, it is a reminder to the passerby that it is important to attend to the care of his soul today, since there may not be a later time to do so.