Luke 21

¹ Looking up, he saw rich people putting their offerings into the treasury;

² and he noticed a poverty-stricken widow putting in two smal coins,

³ and he said, 'I tell you truly, this poor widow has put in more than any of them;

⁴ for these have al put in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in al she had to liveon.'

⁵ When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework andvotive offerings, he said,

⁶ 'Al these things you are staring at now -- the time will come when not a single stone will be left onanother; everything will be destroyed.'

⁷ And they put to him this question, 'Master,' they said, 'when wil this happen, then, and what sign wilthere be that it is about to take place?'

⁸ But he said, 'Take care not to be deceived, because many wil come using my name and saying, "I amthe one" and "The time is near at hand." Refuse to join them.

⁹ And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for this is something that must happenfirst, but the end wil not come at once.'

¹⁰ Then he said to them, 'Nation wil fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

¹¹ There wil be great earthquakes and plagues and famines in various places; there wil be terrifyingevents and great signs from heaven.

¹² 'But before all this happens, you will be seized and persecuted; you will be handed over to thesynagogues and to imprisonment, and brought before kings and governors for the sake of my name

¹³ -and that wil be your opportunity to bear witness.

¹⁴ Make up your minds not to prepare your defence,

¹⁵ because I myself shal give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents wil be ableto resist or contradict.

¹⁶ You wil be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you wil be putto death.

¹⁷ You wil be hated universal y on account of my name,

¹⁸ but not a hair of your head wil be lost.

¹⁹ Your perseverance wil win you your lives.

²⁰ 'When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you must realise that it wil soon be laiddesolate.

²¹ Then those in Judaea must escape to the mountains, those inside the city must leave it, and those incountry districts must not take refuge in it.

²² For this is the time of retribution when al that scripture says must be fulfil ed.

²³ Alas for those with child, or with babies at the breast, when those days come!

²⁴ 'For great misery wil descend on the land and retribution on this people. They will fal by the edge ofthe sword and be led captive to every gentile country; and Jerusalem wil be trampled down by the gentiles untiltheir time is complete.

²⁵ 'There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by theturmoil of the ocean and its waves;

²⁶ men fainting away with terror and fear at what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven wil beshaken.

²⁷ And then they wil see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation isnear at hand.'

²⁹ And he told them a parable, 'Look at the fig tree and indeed every tree.

³⁰ As soon as you see them bud, you can see for yourselves that summer is now near.

³¹ So with you when you see these things happening: know that the kingdom of God is near.

³² In truth I tell you, before this generation has passed away al wil have taken place.

³³ Sky and earth wil pass away, but my words wil never pass away.

³⁴ 'Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened by debauchery and drunkenness and the caresof life, and that day wil come upon you unexpectedly,

³⁵ like a trap. For it wil come down on all those living on the face of the earth.

³⁶ Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to holdyour ground before the Son of man.'

³⁷ All day long he would be in the Temple teaching, but would spend the night in the open on the hilcal ed the Mount of Olives.

³⁸ And from early morning the people thronged to him in the Temple to listen to him.