Luke 21:1-38
21 And he looked up and saw the rich men who were dropping their gifts into the treasury.
2 And he saw a certain poverty-stricken widow drop two mites there,
3 and said “I tell you truly this poor widow dropped in more than any:
4 for all these dropped into the gifts part of what they had to spare, but she out of her want dropped in all she had to live on.”
5 * And when some were saying of the temple-precinct that it was adorned with blocks of beautiful stone and works of art,
6 he said “As to this that you see, days will come in which there will not be one stone left on another that will not be torn down.”
7 And they put the question to him “Then, teacher, when will this be and what will be the sign when this is to take place?”
8 * And he said “Look out that you be not misled; for many will come under my name, saying ‘I am he’ and ‘The time is at hand’; do not go after them.
9 And when you hear of wars and disorders, do not be terrified; for these things have to go first, but the end does not come at once.”
10 Then he said to them “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom;
11 and there will be great earthquakes, and in one place and another pestilences and famines; and there will be sights of terror, and out of the sky great portents.
12 But before all this they will lay hands on you and persecute you, arresting you and taking you to synagogues and prisons, haling you before kings and governors because of my name.
13 It will turn out an attestation for you.
14 So fix it in your minds not to study a defense beforehand;
15 for I will give you eloquence and wisdom which all your opponents cannot confront or controvert.
16 And you will be arrested at the instigation of parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will have some of you put to death,
17 and you will be hated by all because of my name;
18 and not a hair of your heads shall be lost.
19 In your endurance you shall get your souls.
20 “But when you see Jerusalem encircled by camps, then know that her desolation has drawn near.
21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of her pass out and those who are in the country not go into her;
22 because those are days of vengeance, for all that is written to be fulfilled.
23 * Woe to those who are pregnant and nursing in those days! for there will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people,
24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be carried off to all the nations as captives, and Jerusalem will be trodden underfoot by the nations, until the times of the nations have run their full course.
25 “And there will be tokens in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth excitement of nations bewildered with the noise and swell of the sea,
26 while men faint for fear and expectation of the things that are coming upon the world of men; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27 And then will they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and glory.
28 But when these things begin to take place straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29 And he told them a parable: “See the fig-tree, and all the trees;
30 when they are leaving out you know for yourselves by seeing it that summer is now near;
31 so you too, when you see these things taking place, are to know that the Reign of God is near.
32 I tell you verily that this generation shall not pass away till all has taken place.
33 The heavens and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not.
34 * But beware, for fear your hearts should be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the anxieties of living, and that day should be upon you suddenly,
35 like a trap; for it shall come upon all that dwell on the face of all the earth.
36 But keep on the alert at every time, praying that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are to come to pass, and in presenting yourselves before the Son of Man.”
37 And through the days he was in the temple-precinct teaching, but for the nights he went out and found quarters on what is known as the Mount of Olives;
38 * and all the people came early to the temple-precinct to listen to him.
Footnotes
^ 21:5 Lit. with beautiful stones and dedicated things, of which objects of art would be the most notable
^ 21:8 Or ‘I am he and the time is at hand’
^ 21:23 Or distress on the earth
^ 21:34 Lit. with katzenjammer and drunkenness
^ 21:38 Lit. came early to him in the temple-precinct to listen to him
