Luke 21

Jesus looked up and saw rich men putting their gifts into the temple collection box.

1And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.

NoteThe King James "treasury" was the temple's offering area, in the court where both men and women could go. Along its wall stood a row of chests with trumpet-shaped metal mouths, into which worshipers dropped their coins in the open where others could see.

2He also saw a poor widow, whose husband had died, put in two small copper coins.

2And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.

NoteThe King James "two mites" translates a Greek word for the lepton, the smallest coin then in circulation, worth roughly a few minutes of a laborer's wages. Two of them together made up the smallest Roman coin, and a person could not give any smaller sum.

3He said, "I tell you the truth: this poor widow has put in more than all the rest of them."

3And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:

4"All these people gave to God out of what they had left over. But she, out of how little she had, put in everything she had to live on."

4For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

Note"Penury" in 1611 meant extreme poverty, not merely having little. "All the living that she had" means her whole livelihood, the money she needed to buy food that day.

5Some people were talking about the temple, saying how it was decorated with fine stones and with gifts people had given to God. Jesus said,

5And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,

NoteThe "gifts" were objects dedicated to God and put on display in the temple: golden vines, plate, crowns and trophies given by wealthy donors and foreign rulers. The building itself was Herod the Great's reconstruction, still unfinished at this point after nearly fifty years of work, and its foundation stones were famously enormous, some of them many times the length of a man.

6"As for these things you are looking at, the days are coming when not one stone here will be left sitting on another. Every one of them will be thrown down."

6As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

NoteTo leave "not one stone upon another" was a standard way of describing a building demolished down to the ground rather than merely damaged. Roman armies destroyed the temple about forty years after this, in the year 70.

7They asked him, "Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will show us that these things are about to take place?"

7And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?

NoteThe King James "Master" here does not mean owner. It translates a word for teacher, the ordinary way students addressed the rabbi they were learning from.

8He said, "Be careful that no one fools you. Many will come using my name and say, 'I am the Christ,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them."

8And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

Note"Christ" is the Greek word for Messiah, meaning "anointed one," the king God had promised to Israel. In the oldest manuscripts the impostors say only "I am he," and the King James supplies the title to make the claim explicit.

9"When you hear about wars and uprisings, do not be terrified. These things have to happen first, but the end will not come right away."

9But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

Note"Commotions" means armed revolts and uprisings, not just unrest. "The end is not by and by" reads backwards to a modern eye: in 1611 "by and by" meant at once, immediately. The sense is that the end does not follow straight away.

10Then he said to them, "Nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom."

10Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

11"There will be great earthquakes in many places, and famines, and deadly diseases. There will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven."

11And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Note"Divers places" is an older form of diverse, meaning various or scattered places. "Pestilences" means outbreaks of epidemic disease.

12"But before all of this, people will grab you and mistreat you. They will hand you over to the synagogues, the Jewish meeting places, and put you in prison. You will be brought before kings and rulers because you belong to me."

12But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.

NoteA synagogue was not only a place of worship but the local Jewish court, with authority to try, fine and flog members of the community. "For my name's sake" means because of your attachment to me, since a person's name stood for the person.

13"That will turn out to be your chance to speak as witnesses."

13And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

Note"Testimony" is a legal word. The point is that the trial itself becomes the witness stand, the occasion for saying publicly what they have seen.

14"So settle it in your minds ahead of time not to prepare your defense ahead of time."

14Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:

15"For I will give you the words to say, and wisdom that none of your enemies will be able to contradict or stand up against."

15For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

Note"Gainsay" means to speak against or contradict, from an old word for "against" plus "say."

16"You will be handed over even by your parents, your brothers, your relatives, and your friends. Some of you they will have put to death."

16And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

Note"Kinsfolks" means relatives outside the immediate family, the wider circle of cousins and in-laws who in that culture would normally be a person's strongest protection.

17"Everyone will hate you because you belong to me."

17And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.

18"But not one hair of your head will be lost."

18But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

Note"Not a hair of your head shall perish" was a standing expression for coming through something completely untouched. It sits deliberately beside the statement two verses earlier that some of them will be killed, and the text does not smooth over the tension.

19"By your patient endurance you will gain your souls."

19In your patience possess ye your souls.

NoteThe word behind "patience" means endurance, staying under a weight without breaking, rather than waiting calmly. The verb translated "possess" can mean either gain or hold on to, and the manuscripts differ over which form was written, so the line can be read either as "you will win your lives" or "keep hold of yourselves."

20"When you see armies surrounding Jerusalem, then you will know that the city is about to be laid waste."

20And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

Note"Compassed with armies" means surrounded by a besieging force, which in ancient warfare meant the city was cut off and starved rather than stormed. "Desolation" means being emptied out and left in ruins.

21"Then the people in Judea should run to the mountains. The people inside the city should get out of it. And the people out in the countryside should not go into the city."

21Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

NoteJudaea is the region around Jerusalem. The instruction reverses normal wartime instinct: a walled city was where country people fled for safety, and here they are told the city is the one place not to go.

22"For these are the days of punishment, so that everything that has been written will come true."

22For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

Note"Vengeance" in the King James means judicial punishment handed down, not personal revenge. "All things which are written" refers to the Hebrew scriptures, especially the prophets who described a siege and ruin of Jerusalem.

23"How hard it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers nursing babies! There will be great suffering in the land, and anger against this people."

23But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

Note"Woe" is an exclamation of grief rather than a curse, closer to "how terrible for" than to "damn." "Them that give suck" means women breastfeeding. Both groups are named because neither can travel fast in a sudden flight. "The land" can mean the earth generally or the land of Judea in particular, and the Greek leaves it open.

24"They will be killed by the sword and taken away as prisoners into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, who are people who are not Jewish, until the times of the Gentiles are finished."

24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Note"Led away captive" means sold or deported as slaves, the standard fate of a conquered population. "The times of the Gentiles" is a phrase found nowhere else, and it is left undefined here: it could mean the period during which foreign nations dominate Jerusalem, or a period allotted to them for some other purpose. The text does not say which.

25"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars. On the earth, nations will be in distress and at a loss, as the sea and its waves roar."

25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

26"People will faint from fear as they wait for what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken."

26Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Note"Men's hearts failing them" describes fainting or collapsing, not losing courage in a moral sense. "The powers of heaven" can mean the sun, moon and stars themselves, or the unseen forces thought to stand behind them, and the Greek carries both.

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

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

Note"Son of man" is the phrase Jesus most often uses of himself in the Gospels. In ordinary Hebrew and Aramaic it simply means a human being, but the picture here of a figure coming on a cloud with power comes from the book of Daniel, chapter seven, where one "like the Son of man" is brought before God and given a kingdom. Both senses are present at once.

28"When these things begin to happen, stand up straight and lift up your heads, because the time when you will be set free is coming close."

28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Note"Redemption" was a commercial word before it was a religious one: the price paid to buy a slave out of slavery or to ransom a prisoner of war. The rendering's "set free" catches the result; the word itself carries the idea of a price being paid.

29Then he told them a short story to make the point: "Look at the fig tree, and all the other trees."

29And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;

NoteA parable is a short comparison drawn from ordinary life to make a single point, not an allegory in which every detail stands for something. The fig tree is chosen because, unlike most trees in that climate, it drops its leaves in winter, so its budding is an unmistakable signal that the seasons have turned.

30"When they start to sprout leaves, you can see it for yourselves and know that summer is near."

30When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.

31"In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near."

31So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

Note"The kingdom of God" in this period meant God's active reign or rule breaking into the world, an event rather than a territory.

32"I tell you the truth: the people living now will not all die before all of this happens."

32Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

NoteThe word translated "generation" can mean the people alive at one time, roughly forty years' worth, or it can mean a kind or breed of people. Which sense is meant here has been argued over since the earliest centuries, and the Greek does not settle it.

33"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

33Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

34"Watch yourselves. Do not let your hearts grow heavy with too much eating and drinking, with drunkenness, and with the worries of daily life, so that that day catches you off guard."

34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

Note"Overcharged" means overloaded or weighed down, as a cart is overcharged with freight. "Surfeiting" translates a word for the thick-headed aftermath of heavy drinking, the hangover, paired here with the drinking itself.

35"For it will spring like a trap on everyone living on the face of the whole earth."

35For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

NoteThe "snare" is a bird trap with a trigger, which lies flat and invisible until the moment it springs shut. The image is of something sudden rather than something cruel.

36"So stay awake at all times, and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that are going to happen, and to stand before the Son of man."

36Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

37During the day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and at night he went out and stayed on the hill called the Mount of Olives.

37And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.

38And all the people came to him early in the morning at the temple to hear him.

38And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.