Luke 17:17-37
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
17 Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? 18 Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” 19 Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”(A)
The Coming of the Kingdom of God. 20 [a]Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed,(B) 21 [b]and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’(C) For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”
The Day of the Son of Man. 22 Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ [or] ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.(D) 24 For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be [in his day].(E) 25 But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.(F) 26 As it was in the days of Noah,(G) so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; 27 they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 (H)Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29 on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. 30 So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 (I)On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind.(J) 32 Remember the wife of Lot. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.(K) 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35 (L)And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” [36 ][c] 37 They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”(M)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 17:20–37 To the question of the Pharisees about the time of the coming of God’s kingdom, Jesus replies that the kingdom is among you (Lk 17:20–21). The emphasis has thus been shifted from an imminent observable coming of the kingdom to something that is already present in Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry. Luke has also appended further traditional sayings of Jesus about the unpredictable suddenness of the day of the Son of Man, and assures his readers that in spite of the delay of that day (Lk 12:45), it will bring judgment unexpectedly on those who do not continue to be vigilant.
- 17:21 Among you: the Greek preposition translated as among can also be translated as “within.” In the light of other statements in Luke’s gospel about the presence of the kingdom (see Lk 10:9, 11; 11:20) “among” is to be preferred.
- 17:36 The inclusion of Lk 17:36, “There will be two men in the field; one will be taken, the other left behind,” in some Western manuscripts appears to be a scribal assimilation to Mt 24:40.
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