Luke 17:20-37 : Easy-to-Read Version
Don't Cause Sin and Be Ready to Forgive
17Jesus said, "Ten men were healed; where are the other nine? 18This man is not even a Jew! Is he the only one that came back to give praise to God?" 19Then Jesus said to the man, "Stand up! You can go. You were healed because you believed."
God's Kingdom Is Inside You
20Some of the Pharisees* asked Jesus, "When will the kingdom of God come?" Jesus answered, "God's kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes. 21People will not say, 'Look, God's kingdom is here!' Or, 'There it is!' No, God's kingdom is inside you." 22Then Jesus said to his followers, "The time will come when you will want very much to see one of the days of the Son of Man,* but you will not be able. 23People will say to you, 'Look, there it is!' or, 'Look, here it is!' Stay where you are; don't go away and search.
When Jesus Comes Again
24"[You will know it] when the Son of Man* comes again. On the day when he comes he will shine like lightning flashes across the sky. 25But first, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be killed by the people of this time. 26It will be the same when the Son of Man comes again as it was when Noah lived. 27In the time of Noah, people were eating, drinking, and getting married even on the day when Noah entered the boat. Then the flood came and killed all the people. 28It will be the same as during the time of Lot when God destroyed Sodom.* Those people were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building houses for themselves. 29The people were doing these things even on the day when Lot left town. Then fire rained down from the sky and killed them all. 30This is exactly how it will be when the Son of Man comes again. 31"On that day, if a man is on his roof, he will not have time to go inside and get his things. If a man is in the field, he cannot go back home. 32Remember what happened to Lot's wife*? 33The person that tries to save his life will lose it. But the person that gives his life away will save it. 34At the time when I come again, there may be two people sleeping in one room. One person will be taken and the other person will be left. 35There may be two women working together. One woman will be taken and the other woman will be left." 36* 37The followers asked Jesus, "Where will this be, Lord?" Jesus answered, "People can always find a dead body by looking for the vultures.*"
Pharisees The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group that claimed to follow carefully all Jewish laws and customs. Son of Man A name Jesus used for himself. In Dan. 7:13-14, this is the name for the Messiah, the one God chose to save his people. Sodom A town where very bad people lived. God punished them by destroying their city. Lot's wife The story about what happened to Lot's wife is found in Gen. 19:15-17, 26. Verse 36 A few Greek copies of Luke add verse 36: "Two men will be in the same field. One man will be taken, but the other man will be left behind." vultures Or, "eagles"--birds that eat dead animals.