2 And he said to them, ^h“When you pray, say:

20 But if it is by ^fthe finger of God that I cast out demons, then ^gthe kingdom of God has come upon you.

16 ^z“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then ^athe good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and ^beveryone forces his way into it.¹

The Coming of the Kingdom

20 Being asked by the Pharisees ^uwhen the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^vis not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor ^wwill they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”¹

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought ^ralways to pray and not ^slose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who ^tneither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ^u‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And ^vwill not God give justice to ^whis elect, ^xwho cry to him day and night? ^yzWill he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them ^aspeedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, ^bwill he find faith on earth?”

27 And then they will see ^xthe Son of Man coming in a cloud ^ywith power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and ^zraise your heads, because ^ayour redemption is drawing near.”

Watch Yourselves

34 “But watch yourselves ^flest ^gyour hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and ^hcares of this life, and ⁱthat day come upon you suddenly ^jlike a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But ^kstay awake at all times, ^lpraying that you may ^mhave strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and ⁿto stand before the Son of Man.”