Luke 17

⁷Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

¹³Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.

¹⁹And indeed, there must be differences among you to show which of you are approved.

¹⁷Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.

¹³Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to stumble.

²³But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

⁴²But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.

¹⁴In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

³“Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

⁴Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

¹⁰See that you do not look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.

¹¹So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.

¹²By sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

²⁴The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed. It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

¹⁷You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.

¹⁵If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

¹⁶But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

²¹Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

⁸Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

⁶Then he said to the judges, “Consider carefully what you do, for you are not judging for man, but for the Lord, who is with you when you render judgment.

⁷And now, may the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”

¹⁹My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,

¹²Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

¹³Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

²¹Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²²Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!

²⁰On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

¹⁴For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.

¹²And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

³⁵That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

²⁴Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

¹³I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

⁹But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

³We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing.

¹³When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Do not weep.”

²⁰“Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

²³“If You can?” echoed Jesus. “All things are possible to him who believes!”

²¹“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

³¹He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in his field.

³²Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

¹⁹It is like a mustard seed that a man tossed into his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

³⁷Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.

¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.”

¹⁶Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

¹⁷If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility.

²“Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?

³Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless?

⁵Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

⁶If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand?

³⁵“Who has first given to God, that God should repay him?”

⁵¹As the day of His ascension approached, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

⁵²He sent messengers on ahead, who went into a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him.

³He left Judea and returned to Galilee.

⁴Now He had to pass through Samaria.

⁴⁵A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’

⁴⁶As long as he has the infection, he remains unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.

¹²While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell facedown and begged Him, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

³Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate, and they said to one another, “Why just sit here until we die?

¹³But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’

²⁰When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw his leprous forehead, they rushed him out. Indeed, he himself hurried to get out, because the Lord had afflicted him.

²¹So King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He lived in isolation, leprous and cut off from the house of the Lord, while his son Jotham had charge of the royal palace and governed the people of the land.

²⁷Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.

²⁷As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

²²And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”

³⁰And there were two blind men sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³¹The crowd admonished them to be silent, but they cried out all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³⁸So he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹Those who led the way admonished him to be silent, but he cried out all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

²²“It often throws him into the fire or into the water, trying to kill him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

⁵“Master,” Simon replied, “we have worked hard all night without catching anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.”

¹Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

²“When someone has a swelling or rash or bright spot on his skin that may be an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest.

¹⁴“Do not tell anyone,” Jesus instructed him. “But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

¹⁴So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored and became like that of a little child, and he was clean.

¹⁵“Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him.

¹⁰But if anyone walks at night, he will stumble, because he has no light.”

³Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴Then Jesus instructed him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, as a testimony to them.”

¹¹You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

¹²that my heart may sing Your praises and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks forever.

¹Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name.

²Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds—

¹⁹The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.

²⁰The Lord will save me; we will play songs on stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord.

¹⁸The Lord disciplined me severely, but He has not given me over to death.

¹⁹Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter and give thanks to the Lord.

¹⁷“Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine?

¹⁸Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”

³⁸“Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus.

⁵Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them.

⁶The crowds all paid close attention to Philip’s message and to the signs they saw him perform.

⁵These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go onto the road of the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.

¹⁰So I fell at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who rely on the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

³²So too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side.

³³But a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, and when he saw him, he had compassion.

⁴And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying: “Amen, Hallelujah!”

⁵Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you who serve Him, and those who fear Him, small and great alike!”

⁵²He sent messengers on ahead, who went into a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him.

⁵³But the people there refused to welcome Him, because He was heading for Jerusalem.

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

¹³Yet they soon forgot His works and failed to wait for His counsel.

⁹But the Lord God called out to the man, “Where are you?”

⁷When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”

⁸And again He bent down and wrote on the ground.

²³He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rightly orders his way, I will show the salvation of God.”

²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

²⁵The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

¹³Yet they soon forgot His works and failed to wait for His counsel.

¹²But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹²Let them give glory to the Lord and declare His praise in the islands.

¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

³⁴“Daughter,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be free of your affliction.”

²²Jesus turned and saw her. “Take courage, daughter,” He said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that very hour.

⁵²“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

⁵⁰And Jesus told the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

⁴⁸“Daughter,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

⁴²“Receive your sight!” Jesus replied. “Your faith has healed you.”

³⁶Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.”

¹¹While the people were listening to this, Jesus proceeded to tell them a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom of God would appear imminently.

¹⁶The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

⁴⁴In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.

⁶So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.

¹¹‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’

²⁸But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

²¹At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.

⁹Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’

¹⁰But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare,

²⁷To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²³At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.

²⁴For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible.

³⁵But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”

¹⁵Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

³³Little children, I am with you only a little while longer. You will look for Me, and as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

²¹Again He said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”

²²So the Jews began to ask, “Will He kill Himself, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”

²⁰But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

⁵Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’

⁶Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these things.

⁸Jesus answered, “See to it that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.

²³At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.

²⁴For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible.

²¹Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

²¹At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.

²²For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible.

²⁷For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

¹“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

²“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

³⁰At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

¹⁴Then the Lord will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord God will sound the ram’s horn and advance in the whirlwinds of the south.

¹“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts.

²But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.

⁸You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.

²¹From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

²²“The Son of Man must suffer many things,” He said. “He must be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

³¹Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again.

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

²⁵Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

²⁶Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”

¹¹He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.

²⁴For just as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will be the Son of Man in His day.

⁷And Noah and his wife, with his sons and their wives, entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.

⁸The clean and unclean animals, the birds, and everything that crawls along the ground

²²Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.

¹⁹in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison

²⁰who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.

⁵if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;

¹⁹Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

²⁰But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

¹Now about the times and seasons, brothers, we do not need to write to you.

²For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

¹⁹Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

²⁰And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores

¹²On that day the Lord God of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.

¹³But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

⁹Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.

¹⁰Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.

⁴My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight I desired has turned to horror.

⁴⁹Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.

⁵⁰Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen.

²⁰Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,

²¹I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”

¹Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.

²Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes.

¹³But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the Lord.

¹Now the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, bowed facedown,

²and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”

⁸Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city—figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where their Lord was also crucified.

⁹Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”

⁴⁰As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighbors,” declares the Lord, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.

⁷In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.

⁶if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;

²³All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His fierce anger.

²⁴So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’

⁷and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels

⁷Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.

⁷so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

³⁴But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.

³⁵For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth.

²⁷For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

⁵But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking! For I will bring disaster on every living creature, declares the Lord, but wherever you go, I will grant your life as a spoil of war.”

²⁶What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

²¹Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country stay out of the city.

¹⁴So when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

¹⁵Let no one on the housetop go back inside to retrieve anything from his house.

⁷But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.

⁸More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

¹⁷Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house.

¹⁸And let no one in the field return for his cloak.

³⁸But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”

³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

²⁶But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

¹⁸With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

¹⁹They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

⁶These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.

⁷Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”

¹⁷As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”

³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.

³⁶What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

³⁹Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

²⁵Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

²⁴For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

²⁵What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?

²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

⁴⁰Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.

⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

⁹if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

¹⁶At that time those who feared the Lord spoke with one another, and the Lord listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the Lord and honored His name.

¹⁷“They will be Mine,” says the Lord of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.

¹⁶For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise.

¹⁷After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

³Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.

²³So be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance.

⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

⁵and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well as the firstborn of all the cattle.

²¹Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.

²⁸Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹From there he spies out food; his eyes see it from afar.

³⁰His young ones feast on blood; and where the slain are, there he is.”

⁸And in all the land, declares the Lord, two-thirds will be cut off and perish, but a third will be left in it.

⁹This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

¹⁷Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,

¹⁸so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.”

¹I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.

²Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down.

²For I will gather all the nations for battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.