When Will Jesus Come Again?^(A)

³⁶ “No one knows when that day or ·time [hour] will be, not the angels in heaven, not even the Son.^[a] Only the Father knows. ³⁷ When the Son of Man comes [Dan. 7:13–14], it will be like what happened during Noah’s time. ³⁸ [^LFor] In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving their children to be married, until the day Noah entered the boat. ³⁹ They ·knew [understood] nothing about what was happening until the flood came and ·destroyed them [^Ltook/swept them all away]. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding grain with a ·mill [handmill; ^Ctwo large, round, flat rocks used for grinding grain to make flour]. One will be taken, and the other will be left.

⁴² “So ·always be ready [stay alert; keep watching], because you don’t know the day your Lord will come. ⁴³ ·Remember [Know] this: If the owner of the house knew what time of night a thief was coming, the owner would ·watch [have stayed alert; kept watching] and not let ·the thief break in [^Lhis house be broken into]. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a ·time [hour] you don’t expect him.

The Story of the Two Servants^(B)

⁴⁵ “Who is the ·loyal [faithful; trusted] and ·wise [sensible] ·servant [slave] that the master ·trusts [^Lputs in charge of his household] to give ·the other servants [^Lthem] their food at the right time? ⁴⁶ That servant will be ·blessed [happy; or rewarded] when the master comes and finds him doing his work.

God’s Kingdom Is Within You

²⁰ Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?”

Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom ·is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes [^Lis not coming with observable/visible signs; ^Cperhaps the heavenly signs described in Jewish apocalyptic literature]. ²¹ People will not say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ because God’s kingdom is ·within you [or among you; in your midst].”

When Jesus, the Son of Man, Comes Again^(A)

²² Then Jesus said to ·his followers [the disciples], “The time will come when you will ·want very much [long] to see one of the days of the Son of Man [^Cthe full revelation of the kingdom at Jesus’ return]. But you will not see it. ²³ People will say to you, ‘Look, ·there he is [or over there]!’ or, ‘Look, ·here he is [or over here]!’ ·Stay where you are [^LDon’t leave/go out]; don’t go away and ·search [pursue; chase after].

²⁴ “For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so ·it will be when the Son of Man comes again [^Lwill be the Son of Man in his day].^{[a] 25} But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by ·the people of this time [^Lthis generation]. ²⁶ Just as it was ·when Noah lived [^Lin the days of Noah; Gen. 6—9], so it will be ·when the Son of Man comes again [^Lin the days of the Son of Man]. ²⁷ People were eating, drinking, marrying, and ·giving their children to be married [or being given in marriage] until the day Noah entered the boat. Then the flood came and ·killed [destroyed] them all. ²⁸ It will be the same as ·during the time [^Lin the days] of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building. ²⁹ But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and ·sulfur [^Tbrimstone] rained down from ·the sky [heaven] and ·killed [destroyed] them all [Gen. 19]. ³⁰ This is how it will be ·when [^Lthe day] the Son of Man ·comes again [^Lis revealed].

³¹ “On that day, a person who is on the roof [^Croofs were typically flat and used as extra rooms] and whose belongings are in the house should not ·go inside [^Lcome down] to get them. A person who is in the field should not ·go back home [^Lturn back]. ³² Remember Lot’s wife [^Cwho was judged for longingly looking back at Sodom; Gen. 19:15–17, 26]. ³³ Those who try to ·keep [preserve; keep secure] their lives will lose them. But those who ·give up [lose; let go of] their lives will save them. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night two people will be sleeping in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵ There will be two women grinding grain together; one will be taken, and the other will be left. |³⁶ Two people will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left.|”^[b]

³⁷ ·The followers [^LThey] asked Jesus, “·Where will this be [^LWhere], Lord?”

Jesus answered, “Where there is a ·dead body [corpse], there the vultures will gather [^Cthe carnage will make the place of judgment obvious to all].”

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost [^Ca harvest festival fifty days after Passover, celebrating the firstfruits of the crops (while on this day the firstfruits of the Spirit); Ex. 34:22; Deut. 16:10, 16] ·came [arrived], they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a ·noise [roar] like a ·strong [violent], ·blowing [rushing] wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw something like ·flames [^Ltongues] of fire ·that were separated [that were divided; or that spread out] and ·stood [came to rest] over each person there. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak ·different [other; or foreign] ·languages [^Ltongues] by the power the Holy Spirit was giving them [^Creversing the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel; Gen. 11:1–9].

⁵ There were some ·religious [devout; God-fearing] Jews ·staying [living] in Jerusalem who were from every ·country [nation] ·in the world [^Lunder heaven]. ⁶ When they heard this noise, a crowd came together. They were all ·surprised [or confused; bewildered], because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷ They were ·completely [^Lastounded and] amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these people that we hear speaking ·from Galilee [^LGalileans]? ⁸ Then how is it possible that we each hear them in our own [native] languages? We are: ⁹ Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia [^Ca Roman province, in present-day Turkey], ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the areas of Libya near Cyrene, [visitors from] Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and ·those who had become Jews [proselytes]), Crete, and Arabia. But we hear them telling in our own ·languages [tongues] about the ·great things [mighty acts] God has done!” ¹² They were all amazed and confused, asking each other, “What does this mean?”

¹³ But others ·were making fun of them [sneered], saying, “They have had too much [sweet; new] wine [^Cthey accuse them of being intoxicated and speaking nonsense].”

Peter Speaks to the People

¹⁴ But Peter stood up with the eleven apostles, and in a loud voice he ·spoke to [addressed] the crowd: “·My fellow Jews [or Judeans], and all of you who ·are [are living/staying] in Jerusalem, ·listen to me [^Llet this be known to you]. Pay attention to what I have to say. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as you think; it is only ·nine o’clock in the morning [^Lthe third hour of the day]! ¹⁶ But Joel the prophet wrote about what is happening here today:

What Is Faith?

11 Faith means ·being sure [the assurance; or the tangible reality; or the sure foundation] of the things we hope for and ·knowing that something is real even if we do not see it [the conviction/assurance/evidence about things not seen]. ² Faith is the reason ·we remember [or God commended/approved] ·great people who lived in the past [the people of old; the ancients; our spiritual ancestors].

³ It is by faith we understand that the ·whole world [universe; cosmos; ages] was made by God’s ·command [word; Gen. 1] so what we see was ·made by something that cannot be seen [^Lnot made from/by visible things].

⁴ It was by faith that Abel offered God a ·better [more acceptable] sacrifice than Cain [Gen. 4:4–8]. God ·said he was pleased with [commended him for; bore testimony to] the gifts Abel offered and ·called Abel [commended him as; testified that he was] a ·good [righteous] man because of his faith. Abel died, but through his faith he is still speaking [12:24].

⁵ It was by faith that Enoch was taken to heaven so he would not ·die [experience/^Lsee death]. He could not be found, because God had taken him away [Gen. 5:22–24]. Before he was taken, ·the Scripture says that he was [^Lhe was commended as] a man who truly pleased God. ⁶ [^LAnd] Without faith no one can please God. [^LFor; Because] Anyone who comes to God must believe that he ·is real [exists] and that he rewards those who ·truly want to find [earnestly/sincerely seek] him.

⁷ It was by faith that Noah heard God’s warnings about things he could not yet see [Gen. 6:13–22]. He ·obeyed God [responded with reverent fear] and built a ·large boat [^Tark] to save his ·family [household]. By his faith, Noah ·showed that the world was wrong [^Lcondemned/pronounced judgment against the world], and he became ·one of those who are made right with God [^Lan heir of the righteousness that comes] through faith.

¹⁸ Christ himself suffered for sins ·once [or once for all; ^Conly his suffering has the power to redeem others]. ·He was not guilty, but he suffered for those who are guilty [^L…the righteous for the unrighteous] to bring you to God. ·His body was killed [^LHe was put to death in the flesh/body], but he was made alive in the ·spirit [or Spirit; ^Cat his resurrection in a glorified body]. ¹⁹ And in the ·spirit [or Spirit] he went and preached to the spirits in prison [^Cprobably either fallen angels, imprisoned by God (see Gen. 6:1–4; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6) or the spirits of the people who rejected Noah’s preaching; see v. 20] ²⁰ who refused to obey God long ago in the time of Noah [Gen. 6:1—8:22], when ·God was waiting patiently [^Lthe patience of God waited] while Noah was building the ·boat [ark]. [In this ark; ^LIn it] Only a few people—eight in all—were saved ·by [or through] water. ²¹ And that water ·is like [anticipates; foreshadows; symbolizes; prefigures] baptism that now saves you—not the ·washing [removal] of dirt from the body, but the ·promise [pledge; appeal; or response] made to God from a ·good [clear] conscience. And this is ·because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead [or through the resurrection of Jesus Christ]. ²² Now Jesus has gone into heaven and is at God’s right side [^Cthe place of honor] ·ruling over angels, authorities, and powers [^Lwith angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him].

⁵ And God ·punished the world long ago [^Ldid not spare the ancient world] when he brought a flood to the world that was full of ·people who were against him [the ungodly]. But God ·saved [protected; kept] Noah, ·who preached about being right with God [a preacher of righteousness; ^CJewish tradition described Noah preaching repentance], and seven other people with him [^Chis wife plus his three sons and their wives; Gen. 6—9].