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One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”
Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. 1
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You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you. 2 ”
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Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, 3 but you won’t see it.
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People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them.
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For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes.
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But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly 4 and be rejected by this generation.
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“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.
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In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.
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“And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business - eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building -
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until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
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Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
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On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home.
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Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!
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If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.
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That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left.
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Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. 5 ”
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“Where will this happen, Lord?” 6 the disciples asked.
Jesus replied, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.” 7