And the demons kept begging Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss.
Parallel translations
- WEB They begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss.
- KJV And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.
- NKJV And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.
- NASB And they were begging Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.
- NLT The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit.
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 demons beg Jesus not to send them into the abyss. They acknowledge His power to consign them to final judgment.
Overview
The demons plead against being cast into the abyss, the place of restraint and judgment for evil spirits. Their request reveals their fear and their knowledge of coming doom. It confirms that Jesus holds authority over their eternal fate.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Matt 25:41Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
- Rev 20:14–15Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.
- Rev 17:8The beast that you saw—it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be.
- Luke 8:28When the man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, shouting in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You not to torture me!”
- Rev 19:20But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
- Rev 11:7When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them.
- Job 1:11But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
- Phil 2:10–11that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
- Rev 9:1–2Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss.
- Job 2:5But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
- Rev 20:1–3Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.
- Rev 9:11They were ruled by a king, the angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek it is Apollyon.
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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 8:31 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.