²³ By the time Lot reached Zoar,^(A) the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur^(B) on Sodom and Gomorrah^(C)—from the Lord out of the heavens.^{(D) 25} Thus he overthrew those cities^(E) and the entire plain,^(F) destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.^{(G) 26} But Lot’s wife looked back,^(H) and she became a pillar of salt.^(I)

³² Remember Lot’s wife!^{(A) 33} Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.^(B)

²³ Jesus replied, “The hour^(A) has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.^{(B) 24} Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,^(C) it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it^(D) for eternal life.^{(E) 26} Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.^(F) My Father will honor the one who serves me.

The Cost of Following Jesus^(A)

⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road,^(B) a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁸ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man^(C) has no place to lay his head.”

⁵⁹ He said to another man, “Follow me.”^(D)

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”^(E)

⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”^(F)

⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

The Coming of the Kingdom of God^(A)

²⁰ Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,^(B) Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, ²¹ nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’^(C) because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”^[a]

²² Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man,^(D) but you will not see it.^{(E) 23} People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them.^{(F) 24} For the Son of Man in his day^[b] will be like the lightning,^(G) which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. ²⁵ But first he must suffer many things^(H) and be rejected^(I) by this generation.^(J)

²⁶ “Just as it was in the days of Noah,^(K) so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ²⁷ People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸ “It was the same in the days of Lot.^(L) People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹ But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

³⁰ “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.^{(M) 31} On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.^{(N) 32} Remember Lot’s wife!^{(O) 33} Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.^{(P) 34} I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”^{(Q) [36] [c]}

³⁷ “Where, Lord?” they asked.

He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”^(R)