Luke 21:10-38

New American Standard Bible

Things to Come

¹⁰ Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, ¹¹ and there will be ^[a]massive earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrible sights and great ^[b]signs from heaven.

¹² “But before all these things, ^(A)they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, turning you over to the synagogues and prisons, ^[c]bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name. ^13 (B)It will lead to ^[d]an opportunity for your testimony. ^14 (C)So ^[e]make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; ¹⁵ for ^(D)I will provide you ^[f]eloquence and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to oppose or refute. ¹⁶ But you will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, other relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death, ¹⁷ and you will be hated by all people because of My name. ¹⁸ And yet ^(E)not a hair of your head will perish. ^19 (F)By your endurance you will gain your ^[g]lives.

²⁰ “But when you see Jerusalem ^(G)surrounded by armies, then ^[h]recognize that her desolation is near. ²¹ Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are inside ^[i]the city must leave, and ^(H)those who are in the country must not enter ^[j]the city; ²² because these are ^(I)days of punishment, so that all things which have been written will be fulfilled. ²³ Woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for ^(J)there will be great distress upon the ^[k]land, and wrath to this people; ²⁴ and they will fall by ^(K)the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and ^(L)Jerusalem will be ^(M)trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until ^(N)the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Return of Christ

²⁵ “There will be ^[l]signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ people fainting from fear and the expectation of the things that are coming upon the ^[m]world; for the powers of ^[n]the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ And ^(O)then they will see ^(P)the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because ^(Q)your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹ And He told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees: ³⁰ as soon as they put forth leaves, you see for yourselves and ^(R)know that summer is now near. ³¹ So you too, when you see these things happening, ^[o]recognize that ^(S)the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. ^33 (T)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁴ “But ^(U)be on your guard, so that your hearts will not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that ^[p]this day will not come on you suddenly, like a trap; ³⁵ for it will come upon all those who live on the face of all the earth. ³⁶ But ^(V)stay alert at all times, praying that you will have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to ^(W)stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷ Now ^[q]during the day He was ^(X)teaching in the temple, but ^[r](Y)at evening He would go out and spend the night on ^(Z)the ^[s]mountain that is called ^[t]Olivet. ³⁸ And all the people would get up ^(AA)very early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.