The Day of the Lord

5 But concerning ^(A)the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. ² For you yourselves know perfectly that ^(B)the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. ³ For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then ^(C)sudden destruction comes upon them, ^(D)as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. ^4 (E)But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. ⁵ You are all ^(F)sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. ^6 (G)Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but ^(H)let us watch and be ^[a]sober. ⁷ For ^(I)those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk ^(J)are drunk at night. ⁸ But let us who are of the day be sober, ^(K)putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. ⁹ For ^(L)God did not appoint us to wrath, ^(M)but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ^10 (N)who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

¹¹ Therefore ^[b]comfort each other and ^[c]edify one another, just as you also are doing.

The Coming of the Kingdom^(A)

²⁰ Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; ^21 (B)nor will they say, ^[a]‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, ^(C)the kingdom of God is ^[b]within you.”

²² Then He said to the disciples, ^(D)“The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ^23 (E)And they will say to you, ^[c]‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. ^24 (F)For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. ^25 (G)But first He must suffer many things and be ^(H)rejected by this generation. ^26 (I)And as it ^(J)was in the ^(K)days of ^(L)Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the ^(M)day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and ^(N)destroyed them all. ^28 (O)Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;

⁴⁹ Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, ^(A)fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

Sodom’s Depravity

19 Now ^(A)the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and ^(B)Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. ² And he said, “Here now, my lords, please ^(C)turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and ^(D)wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.”

And they said, ^(E)“No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”

³ But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. ^(F)Then he made them a feast, and baked ^(G)unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴ Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. ^5 (H)And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? ^(I)Bring them out to us that we ^(J)may know them carnally.”

⁶ So ^(K)Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! ^8 (L)See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, ^(M)since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

⁹ And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one ^(N)came in to ^[a]stay here, ^(O)and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. ¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ And they ^(P)struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed^(Q)

¹² Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—^(R)take them out of this place! ¹³ For we will destroy this place, because the ^(S)outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and ^(T)the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, ^(U)who had married his daughters, and said, ^(V)“Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” ^(W)But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

¹⁵ When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, ^(X)“Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ And while he lingered, the men ^(Y)took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the ^(Z)Lord being merciful to him, ^(AA)and they brought him out and set him outside the city. ¹⁷ So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that ^[b]he said, ^(AB)“Escape for your life! ^(AC)Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape ^(AD)to the mountains, lest you be ^[c]destroyed.”

¹⁸ Then Lot said to them, “Please, ^(AE)no, my lords! ¹⁹ Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. ²⁰ See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”

²¹ And he said to him, “See, ^(AF)I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there. For ^(AG)I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”

Therefore ^(AH)the name of the city was called ^[d]Zoar.

²³ The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained ^(AI)brimstone and ^(AJ)fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. ²⁵ So He ^[e]overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and ^(AK)what grew on the ground.

²⁶ But his wife looked back behind him, and she became ^(AL)a pillar of salt.

⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and turning the cities of ^(A)Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; ⁷ and ^(B)delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, ^(C)tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— ⁹ then ^(D)the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,

The Heavenly Hope

¹³ These all died in faith, ^(A)not having received the ^(B)promises, but ^(C)having seen them afar off ^[a]were assured of them, embraced them and ^(D)confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things ^(E)declare plainly that they seek a homeland. ¹⁵ And truly if they had called to mind ^(F)that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed ^(G)to be called their God, for He has ^(H)prepared a city for them.

The Faith of the Patriarchs^(I)

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, ^(J)when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ^18 [b]of whom it was said, ^(K)“In Isaac your seed shall be called,”

³⁰ Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man ^(A)is revealed.

³¹ “In that day, he ^(B)who is on the housetop, and his ^[a]goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. ^32 (C)Remember Lot’s wife. ^33 (D)Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. ^34 (E)I tell you, in that night there will be two ^[b]men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. ^35 (F)Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. ^36 [c]Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”

³⁷ And they answered and said to Him, ^(G)“Where, Lord?”

So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”