Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
Parallel translations
- WEB Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.
- KJV Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
- BSB Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- NKJV Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
- NLT Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
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
Heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus' words will never fail.
Overview
Jesus places His own words on the level of God's eternal, unbreakable truth. The most permanent-seeming realities will perish, yet His teaching stands forever. This is a striking claim to divine authority and a sure anchor for faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 40:8The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”
- Mark 13:31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
- Matt 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
- Isa 51:6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment; and its inhabitants will die in the same way: but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be abolished.
- Ps 102:26They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed.
- Matt 5:18For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.
- 1 Pet 1:25but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.
- 2 Pet 3:7–14But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- Rev 20:11I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 21:33 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.