Luke 21:12-24

International Standard Version

Future Persecutions^(A)

¹² “But before all these things, people^[a] will arrest you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake, ¹³ in order to give you an opportunity to testify. ¹⁴ So purpose in your hearts not to prepare your defense ahead of time, ¹⁵ because I will give you the ability to speak, along with wisdom, that none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. ¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷ You will be hated continuously by everyone on account of my name. ¹⁸ And yet not a hair on your head will be lost. ¹⁹ But the person who endures to the end will be saved.”

Signs of the End^(B)

²⁰ “So when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then understand that its devastation is approaching. ²¹ Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, those inside the city must leave it, and those in the countryside must not go into it, ²² because these are the days of vengeance when all that is written will be fulfilled.

²³ “How terrible it will be for those women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days!—because there will be great distress in the land^[b] and wrath against this people. ²⁴ They will fall by the edge of the sword and be carried off as captives among all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by unbelievers^[c] until the times of the unbelievers^[d] are fulfilled.”