Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house.
- KJV Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
- BSB Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house.
- NASB Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house.
- NLT A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack.
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 one on the housetop must not go down to grab possessions. It stresses the extreme urgency of flight.
Overview
Flight must be so immediate that there is no time even to retrieve belongings from the house. The picture conveys the suddenness and severity of the coming danger. It teaches that when judgment comes, earthly possessions must not delay obedience to Christ's warning.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Luke 17:31–33In that day, he who will be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away. Let him who is in the field likewise not turn back.
- Mark 13:15–16and let him who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house.
- Matt 10:27What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.
- Acts 10:9Now on the next day as they were on their journey, and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon.
- Luke 12:3Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
- Luke 5:19Not finding a way to bring him in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop, and let him down through the tiles with his cot into the middle before Jesus.
- Deut 22:8When you build a new house, then you shall make a railing around your roof, so that you don’t bring blood on your house if anyone falls from there.
- 1 Sam 9:25When they had come down from the high place into the city, he talked with Saul on the housetop.
- Matt 6:25Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
- Prov 6:4–5Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.
- Job 2:4Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 24:17 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.