I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left.
Parallel translations
- WEB I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed. The one will be taken, and the other will be left.
- KJV I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
- BSB I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed: One will be taken and the other left.
- NASB I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.
- NLT That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left.
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
On that night two will be in one bed; one taken, one left. Judgment divides people who outwardly look alike.
Overview
Jesus pictures a sudden separation cutting through the closest human settings. Whether "taken" means gathered to the Lord or removed in judgment is debated among faithful interpreters, but the main thrust is clear: the day brings a decisive, individual division. No external closeness substitutes for personal readiness before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Matt 24:40–41Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left;
- 2 Pet 2:9the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;
- Mal 3:16–18Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name.
- 1 Th 4:16–17For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first,
- Luke 13:24“Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able.
- Mark 13:23But you watch. “Behold, I have told you all things beforehand.
- Ps 26:9Don’t gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men;
- Luke 13:3I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.
- Jer 45:5Do you seek great things for yourself? Don’t seek them; for, behold, I will bring evil on all flesh,’ says Yahweh; ‘but your life will I give to you for a prey in all places where you go.’”
- Luke 13:5I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”
- Ps 28:3Don’t draw me away with the wicked, with the workers of iniquity who speak peace with their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.
- Isa 42:9Behold, the former things have happened, and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up.”
- Ezek 9:4–6Yahweh said to him, “Go through the middle of the city, through the middle of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
- Matt 24:25“Behold, I have told you beforehand.
- Rom 11:4–7But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
- Mark 14:29But Peter said to him, “Although all will be offended, yet I will not.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 17:34 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.