³³ At that time those slain^(A) by the Lord will be everywhere—from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered^(B) up or buried,^(C) but will be like dung lying on the ground.

⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.^(A) There will be famines^(B) and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.

³¹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God^(A) is near.

³² “Truly I tell you, this generation^(B) will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.^(C)

³⁴ “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life,^(D) and that day will close on you suddenly^(E) like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Be always on the watch, and pray^(F) that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

²⁶ “Just as it was in the days of Noah,^(A) so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.

The Day and Hour Unknown^(A)(B)

³⁶ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[a] but only the Father.^{(C) 37} As it was in the days of Noah,^(D) so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,^(E) up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.^(F)

¹⁹ After being made alive,^[a] he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits^(A)— ²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently^(B) in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.^(C) In it only a few people, eight in all,^(D) were saved^(E) through water,

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned,^(A) but sent them to hell,^[a] putting them in chains of darkness^[b] to be held for judgment;^{(B) 5} if he did not spare the ancient world^(C) when he brought the flood on its ungodly people,^(D) but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;^{(E) 6} if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes,^(F) and made them an example^(G) of what is going to happen to the ungodly;^{(H) 7} and if he rescued Lot,^(I) a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless^{(J) 8} (for that righteous man,^(K) living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials^(L) and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.^{(M) 10} This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire^(N) of the flesh^[c] and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;^{(O) 11} yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from^[d] the Lord.^{(P) 12} But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.^(Q)

¹³ They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.^(R) They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.^{[e](S) 14} With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce^(T) the unstable;^(U) they are experts in greed^(V)—an accursed brood!^{(W) 15} They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam^(X) son of Bezer,^[f] who loved the wages of wickedness.

²⁸ “It was the same in the days of Lot.^(A) 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.^(B)

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.^(A) The heavens will disappear with a roar;^(B) the elements will be destroyed by fire,^(C) and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.^[a](D)