Luke 17:28-37

Contemporary English Version

²⁸^(A) When Lot^[a] lived, people were also eating and drinking. They were buying, selling, planting, and building. ²⁹But on the very day Lot left Sodom, fiery flames poured down from the sky and killed everyone. ³⁰The same will happen on the day when the Son of Man appears.

³¹^(B) At that time no one on a rooftop^[b] should go down into the house to get anything. No one in a field should go back to the house for anything. ³²^(C) Remember what happened to Lot's wife.^[c]

³³^(D) People who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives will save them. ³⁴On that night two people will be sleeping in the same bed, but only one will be taken. The other will be left. ^35-36Two women will be together grinding wheat, but only one will be taken. The other will be left.^[d]

³⁷Then Jesus' disciples spoke up, “But where will this happen, Lord?”

Jesus said, “Where there is a corpse, there will always be vultures.”^[e]

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Footnotes

17.27,28 Noah … Lot: When God destroyed the earth by a flood, he saved Noah and his family. And when God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the evil people who lived there, he rescued Lot and his family (see Genesis 19.1-29).
17.31 rooftop: See the note at 5.19.
17.32 what happened to Lot's wife: She turned into a block of salt when she disobeyed God (see Genesis 19.26).
17.35,36 will be left: Some manuscripts add, “Two men will be in the same field, but only one will be taken. The other will be left.”
17.37 Where there is a corpse, there will always be vultures: This saying may mean that when anything important happens, people soon know about it. Or the saying may mean that whenever something bad happens, curious people gather around and stare. But the word translated “vulture” also means “eagle” and may refer to the Roman army, which had an eagle as its symbol.