The Coming of the Kingdom of God. 20^* Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed,ⁱ 21^* and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’^j For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”

The Day of the Son of Man. 22Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ [or] ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.^k 24For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be [in his day].^l 25But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.^m 26As it was in the days of Noah,ⁿ so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; 27they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28^o Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. 30So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31^p On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind.^q 32Remember the wife of Lot. 33Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.^r 34I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35^s And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” 36There will be two men in the field; one will be taken, the other left behind,^* 37They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”^t

11Do not say: “It was God’s doing that I fell away,”

for what he hates he does not do.

12Do not say: “He himself has led me astray,”

for he has no need of the wicked.^c

13Abominable wickedness the LORD hates

and he does not let it happen to those who fear him.

14God in the beginning created human beings

and made them subject to their own free choice.^d

15If you choose, you can keep the commandments;

loyalty is doing the will of God.

16Set before you are fire and water;

to whatever you choose, stretch out your hand.

17Before everyone are life and death,

whichever they choose will be given them.^e

18Immense is the wisdom of the LORD;

mighty in power, he sees all things.

19The eyes of God behold his works,

and he understands every human deed.^f

20He never commands anyone to sin,

nor shows leniency toward deceivers.^*

14And I say:

Build up, build up, prepare the way,

remove every obstacle from my people’s way.^{* d}

15^* For thus says the high and lofty One,

the One who dwells forever, whose name is holy:

I dwell in a high and holy place,

but also with the contrite and lowly of spirit,

To revive the spirit of the lowly,

to revive the heart of the crushed.

16For I will not accuse forever,

nor always be angry;

For without me their spirit fails,

the life breath that I have given.^e

17Because of their wicked avarice I grew angry;

I struck them, hiding myself from them in wrath.

But they turned back, following the way

of their own heart.^f

18I saw their ways,

but I will heal them.

I will lead them and restore full comfort to them

and to those who mourn for them,^g

19creating words of comfort.^*

Peace! Peace to those who are far and near,

says the LORD; and I will heal them.

20But the wicked are like the tossing sea

which cannot be still,

Its waters cast up mire and mud.^h

21There is no peace for the wicked!

says my God.ⁱ

Warning Against Overconfidence. 1^* I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea,^a 2and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.^b 3All ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them,^* and the rock was the Christ.^c 5Yet God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert.^d

6^* These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did.^e 7And do not become idolaters, as some of them did, as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.”^f 8Let us not indulge in immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell within a single day.^g 9Let us not test Christ^* as some of them did, and suffered death by serpents.^h 10Do not grumble as some of them did, and suffered death by the destroyer.ⁱ 11These things happened to them as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come.^* 12Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.^* 13No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.^j