Luke 21

New American Standard Bible 1995

The Widow’s Gift

21 ^(A)And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. ² And He saw a poor widow putting ^[a]in ^(B)two ^[b]small copper coins. ³ And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; ⁴ for they all out of their ^[c]surplus put into the ^[d]offering; but she out of her poverty put in all ^[e]that she had ^(C)to live on.”

^5 (D)And while some were talking about the temple, that it was adorned with beautiful stones and votive gifts, He said, ⁶ “As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which ^(E)there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.”

⁷ They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the ^[f]sign when these things are about to take place?” ⁸ And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘^(F)I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ ^(G)Do not go after them. ⁹ 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.”

Things to Come

¹⁰ Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, ¹¹ and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great ^[g]signs from heaven.

¹² “But before all these things, ^(H)they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, ^[h]bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. ^13 (I)It will lead to ^[i]an opportunity for your testimony. ^14 (J)So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; ¹⁵ for ^(K)I will give you ^[j]utterance 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, ¹⁷ and you will be hated by all because of My name. ¹⁸ Yet ^(L)not a hair of your head will perish. ^19 (M)By your endurance you will gain your ^[k]lives.

²⁰ “But when you see Jerusalem ^(N)surrounded by armies, then ^[l]recognize that her desolation is near. ²¹ Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of ^[m]the city must leave, and ^(O)those who are in the country must not enter ^[n]the city; ²² because these are ^(P)days 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 ^(Q)there will be great distress upon the ^[o]land and wrath to this people; ²⁴ and they will fall by ^(R)the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and ^(S)Jerusalem will be ^(T)trampled under foot by the Gentiles until ^(U)the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Return of Christ

²⁵ “There will be ^[p]signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the ^[q]world; for the powers of ^[r]the heavens will be shaken. ^27 (V)Then they will see ^(W)the 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 ^(X)your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹ Then He told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees; ³⁰ as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and ^(Y)know for yourselves that summer is now near. ³¹ So you also, when you see these things happening, ^[s]recognize that ^(Z)the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly I say to you, this ^[t]generation will not pass away until all things take place. ^33 (AA)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁴ “^(AB)Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; ³⁵ for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. ³⁶ But ^(AC)keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to ^(AD)stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷ Now ^[u]during the day He was ^(AE)teaching in the temple, but ^[v](AF)at evening He would go out and spend the night on ^[w](AG)the mount that is called ^[x]Olivet. ³⁸ And all the people would get up ^(AH)early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.