“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Parallel translations
- WEB But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
- KJV But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
- BSB No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
- NASB But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
- NLT “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
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
No one knows the day or hour — not the angels, nor even the Son, but only the Father. The timing of the end is hidden from all but God.
Overview
Jesus rules out date-setting absolutely; even he, in his earthly mission, did not disclose the exact time, submitting to the Father's plan. This reflects the mystery of the incarnation, in which the eternal Son took a true human nature with its limitations. The practical lesson is plain: since the time is unknown, the only fitting response is constant watchfulness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 24:36–42But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
- Acts 1:7He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.
- Matt 25:13Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
- Rev 3:3Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If therefore you won’t watch, I will come as a thief, and you won’t know what hour I will come upon you.
- 1 Th 5:1–2But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you.
- Mark 13:26–27Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
- Matt 25:6But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’
- 2 Pet 3:10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
- Matt 25:19“Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reconciled accounts with them.
- Rev 1:1This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 13:32 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
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