Luke 21:23

21:23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! For there will be great distress ¹  on the earth and wrath against this people.

Luke 14:18

14:18 But one after another they all ²  began to make excuses. ³  The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, ⁴  and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ ⁵ 

¹ sn Great distress means that this is a period of great judgment.

² tn Or “all unanimously” (BDAG 107 s.v. ἀπό 6). "One after another" is suggested by L&N 61.2.

³ sn To make excuses and cancel at this point was an insult in the culture of the time. Regardless of customs concerning responses to invitations, refusal at this point was rude.

⁴ sn I have bought a field. An examination of newly bought land was a common practice. It was this person’s priority.

⁵ sn The expression Please excuse me is probably a polite way of refusing, given the dynamics of the situation, although it is important to note that an initial acceptance had probably been indicated and it was now a bit late for a refusal. The semantic equivalent of the phrase may well be “please accept my apologies.”