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“As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
Luke 21:6 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “As for these things which you see, the days will come, in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down.”
  • KJV As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
  • NKJV “These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.”
  • NASB “As for these things which you are observing, the days will come when there will not be left one stone upon another, which will not be torn down.”
  • NLT “The time is coming when all these things will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”

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

Jesus foretells that the temple will be utterly destroyed, with not one stone left upon another.

Overview

This prophecy was fulfilled in AD 70 when the Romans demolished Jerusalem and its temple. The destruction marked the end of the old sacrificial system, now fulfilled and superseded in Christ. The true temple is the risen Lord, in whom God dwells with His people.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Mark 13:2“Do you see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
  • Matt 24:2“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
  • Lam 5:18because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
  • Zech 14:2For I will gather all the nations for battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.
  • 1 Kgs 9:7–9then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.
  • Acts 6:13–14where they presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.
  • Isa 64:10–11Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.
  • Zech 11:1Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedars!
  • Jer 26:6then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’”
  • Luke 19:44–48They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
  • Jer 26:9How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted!” And all the people assembled against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
  • Lam 2:6–8He has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In His fierce anger He has despised both king and priest.
  • 2 Chr 7:20–22then I will uproot Israel from the soil I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.
  • Jer 26:18“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.’
  • Dan 9:26–27Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
  • Lam 4:1How the gold has become tarnished, the pure gold has become dull! The gems of the temple lie scattered on every street corner.
  • Mic 3:12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
  • Jer 7:11–14Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.
  • Ezek 7:20–22His beautiful ornaments they transformed into pride and used them to fashion their vile images and detestable idols. Therefore I will make these into something unclean for them.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 21:6YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 21:6 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.