And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Parallel translations
- WEB As it was in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man.
- BSB Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
- NKJV And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:
- NASB And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man:
- NLT “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Son of Man's coming will resemble Noah's days, when people lived heedlessly until judgment fell. Ordinary life will mask impending judgment.
Overview
Jesus draws on the flood narrative to warn of sudden judgment overtaking the spiritually unprepared. The point is not that daily activities are evil but that people ignored God and were caught unaware. The analogy presses readers to live ready, watchful for Christ's return.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Matt 24:37–39But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
- Luke 17:24For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
- Gen 7:7–23And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
- Luke 17:22And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
- Heb 11:7By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
- 1 Pet 3:19–20By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
- 2 Pet 2:5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
- Gen 6:5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
- Job 22:15–18Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
- 2 Pet 3:6Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
- Gen 6:7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
- Luke 18:8I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 17:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.