Then he added, “Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
- KJV Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
- BSB Then He told them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
- NKJV Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
- NASB Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,
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
Nations and kingdoms will rise against one another in conflict.
Overview
Jesus describes the ongoing pattern of war and political upheaval that will mark history until the end. These are birth pains of a fallen world, not yet the final hour. His words steady believers to expect tribulation without losing hope in God's sovereign plan.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Mark 13:8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines and troubles. These things are the beginning of birth pains.
- Acts 2:19–20I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
- Zech 14:2–3For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
- Zech 14:13It will happen in that day, that a great panic from Yahweh will be among them; and they will lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor.
- Heb 12:27This phrase, “Yet once more”, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.
- 2 Chr 15:5–6In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands.
- Isa 19:2I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
- Hag 2:21–22“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ‘I will shake the heavens and the earth.
- Rev 6:2–12And behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
- Acts 11:28One of them named Agabus stood up, and indicated by the Spirit that there should be a great famine all over the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 21:10 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.