Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.
Parallel translations
- WEB Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all these things are accomplished.
- KJV Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
- NKJV Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
- NASB Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
- NLT I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place.
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 solemnly says this generation will not pass until all these things happen. The fulfillment is certain and near.
Overview
This verse is among the most discussed in the Olivet Discourse. Many take 'this generation' to mean those alive would see Jerusalem destroyed; others read it as the generation that witnesses the final signs, or the Jewish people preserved to the end. All agree Jesus guarantees his words will surely come to pass. Whatever the precise reference, his prophetic authority and reliability are upheld.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Mark 13:30–31Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.
- Luke 21:32–33Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.
- Matt 16:28Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
- Matt 23:36Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
- Luke 11:50As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,
- Matt 12:45Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation.”
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 24:34 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.