⁷ He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

³⁶ “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.^[a] Only the Father knows.

5 Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters,^[a] we don’t really need to write you. ² For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.

³² “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.

⁴⁰ But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”

²⁹ “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.

¹⁰ And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.

²⁴ They will be killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world. And Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the period of the Gentiles comes to an end.

The Dangers of the Last Days

3 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.