Luke 21:6
What does Luke 21:6 mean?
A plain-English look at Luke 21:6 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Luke 21:6 means
Jesus responds to the comments about the temple's grandeur by prophesying its complete destruction. He declares that a time is coming when not a single stone will be left stacked upon another, indicating total desolation. This was a shocking and unsettling pronouncement to His audience, who revered the temple as the dwelling place of God and the heart of their religious life. This prophecy, fulfilled in 70 AD, underscores the temporary nature of even the most sacred physical structures.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
KJV
King James Version · 1611As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949As for these things which you see, the days will come when not one stone will be resting on another, but all will be broken down.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862`These things that ye behold--days will come, in which there shall not be left a stone upon a stone, that shall not be thrown down.'
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752These things which you see, the days will come in which there shall not be left a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890[As to] these things which ye are beholding, days are coming in which there shall not be left stone upon stone which shall not be thrown down.
Context
This verse contains Jesus' startling prophecy regarding the temple, directly responding to the disciples' admiration of its grandeur in verse 5. This dramatic declaration fundamentally shifts the tone from a teaching on personal piety to one of imminent judgment and future events. This prophecy immediately prompts the disciples' urgent questions in verse 7, which then usher in the extensive Olivet Discourse.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Zechariah 14:2
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
- Jeremiah 26:18
Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
- Acts 6:13
and set up false witnesses, who said, This man ceaseth not to speak words against this holy place, and the law:
- Matthew 24:2
But he answered and said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
- Lamentations 2:6
And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden; he hath destroyed his place of assembly: Jehovah hath caused solemn assembly and sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, And hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.
- 1 Kings 9:7
then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
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