Luke 21

CHAPTER 21

The Widow’s Offering

^1aAnd He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury.

²And He saw a poor widow putting ¹in ^atwo ²lepta.

³And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them.

⁴“For they all put in their gifts out of their abundance; but she, out of what she lacked, put in all ¹that she had ^afor living.”

^5aAnd while some were talking about the temple, that it had been adorned with beautiful stones and dedicated gifts, He said,

⁶“As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which ^athere will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.”

⁷So they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the ¹sign when these things are about to take place?”

⁸And He said, “See to it that you are not deceived; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘^aI am He,’ and, ‘The time is at hand.’ ^bDo not go after them.

⁹“And when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.”

Signs of Christ’s Return

¹⁰Then He continued saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom,

¹¹and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be terrors and great ¹signs from heaven.

¹²“But before all these things, ^athey will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, ¹bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.

¹³“^aIt will result in ¹an opportunity for your testimony.

¹⁴“^aSo set in your hearts not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves;

¹⁵for ^aI will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

¹⁶“But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death,

¹⁷and you will be hated by all because of My name.

¹⁸“Yet ^anot a hair of your head will perish.

¹⁹“^aBy your perseverance you will gain your ¹lives.

²⁰“But when you see Jerusalem ^asurrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand.

²¹“Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of ¹the city must leave, and ^athose who are in the countryside must not enter ²the city;

²²because these are ^adays of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.

²³“Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for ^athere will be great distress upon the ¹land and wrath against this people,

²⁴and they will fall by ^athe edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations, and ^bJerusalem will be ^ctrampled under foot by the Gentiles until ^dthe times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

When Christ Returns

²⁵“And there will be ¹signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,

²⁶men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the ¹world; for the powers of ²the heavens will be shaken.

²⁷“^aAnd then they will see ^bthe 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 ^ayour redemption is drawing near.”

The Parable of the Fig Tree

²⁹Then He told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees;

³⁰as soon as they put forth leaves and you see it for yourselves, ^aknow that summer is now near.

³¹“So you also, when you see these things happening, know that ^athe kingdom of God is near.

³²“Truly I say to you, this ¹generation will not pass away until all things take place.

³³“^aHeaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

³⁴“^aBut be on guard, so that your hearts will not be overcome with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap;

³⁵for it will come upon all those who inhabit the face of all the earth.

³⁶“But ^akeep on the alert at all times, praying earnestly that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to ^bstand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷Now ¹during the day He was ^ateaching in the temple, but ^2bduring the night He would go out and spend it on ^3cthe mount called “of ⁴Olives.”

³⁸And all the people would get up ^aearly in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.