God Destroys Sodom

²³ The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then ^(A)the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. ²⁵ And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶ But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became ^(B)a pillar of salt.

^32 (A)Remember Lot's wife. ^33 (B)Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ^(C)keep it.

²³ And Jesus answered them, ^(A)“The hour has come ^(B)for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(C)unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ^25 (D)Whoever loves his life loses it, and ^(E)whoever ^(F)hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must ^(G)follow me; and ^(H)where I am, there will my servant be also. ^(I)If anyone serves me, ^(J)the Father will honor him.

The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were going ^(A)along the road, ^(B)someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ And Jesus^[a] said to him, “Leave ^(C)the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and ^(D)proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, ^(E)but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶² Jesus said to him, ^(F)“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰ Being asked by the Pharisees ^(A)when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^(B)is not coming in ways that can be observed, ²¹ nor ^(C)will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”^[a]

²² And he said to the disciples, ^(D)“The days are coming when you will desire ^(E)to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ^23 (F)And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. ^24 (G)For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be ^(H)in his day.^{[b] 25} But first ^(I)he must suffer many things and ^(J)be rejected by this generation. ^26 (K)Just as it was in the days of ^(L)Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ^27 (M)They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, just as it was in the days of ^(N)Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, ^29 (O)but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— ³⁰ so will it be ^(P)on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, ^(Q)let the one who is on ^(R)the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. ^32 (S)Remember Lot's wife. ^33 (T)Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ^(U)keep it. ³⁴ I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. ^35 (V)There will be two women ^(W)grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”^{[c] 37} And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, ^(X)“Where the corpse^[d] is, there the vultures^[e] will gather.”