Luke 17:20-35

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied to them by saying, The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display, Nor will people say, Look! Here [it is]! or, See, [it is] there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you]. And He said to the disciples, The time is coming when you will long to see [even] one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see [it]. And they will say to you, Look! [He is] there! or, Look! [He is] here! But do not go out or follow [them]. For like the lightning, that flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will the Son of Man be in His [own] day. But first He must suffer many things and be disapproved and repudiated and rejected by this age and generation. And [just] as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the time of the Son of Man. [People] ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, right up to the day when Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. [Gen. 6:5-8; 7:6-24.] So also [it was the same] as it was in the days of Lot. [People] ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; But on the [very] day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed [them] all. That is the way it will be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. [Gen. 18:20-33; 19:24, 25.] On that day let him who is on the housetop, with his belongings in the house, not come down [and go inside] to carry them away; and likewise let him who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife! [Gen. 19:26.] Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve and quicken it. I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other will be left.