The Sign of Jonah

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”^{(A) 39} But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.^{(B) 40} For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.^(C)

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.^(A)

The Necessity for Watchfulness

³⁶ “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son,^[a] but only the Father. ³⁷ For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.^{(B) 38} For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Then two will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.^{(C) 41} Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken, and one will be left. ⁴² Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day^[b] your Lord is coming.^(D)

The Coming of the Lord

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died,^[a] so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.^{[b](A) 15} For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.^{[c] 16} For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.^{(B) 17} Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever.^{(C) 18} Therefore encourage one another with these words.

5 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you.^{(D) 2} For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.^{(E) 3} When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!^{(F) 4} But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief;^{(G) 5} for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. ⁶ So, then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober,^{(H) 7} for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.^{(I) 8} But since we belong to the day, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.^{(J) 9} For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,^{(K) 10} who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.^{(L) 11} Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.