Luke 21:8

21:8 He ¹  said, “Watch out ²  that you are not misled. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ ³  and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them!

Luke 21:19

21:19 By your endurance ⁴  you will gain ⁵  your lives. ⁶ 

Luke 21:34

Be Ready!

21:34 “But be on your guard ⁷  so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day close down upon you suddenly like a trap. ⁸ 

[21:8]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:8]  ² tn Or “Be on guard.”

[21:8]  ³ tn That is, “I am the Messiah.”

[21:19]  ⁴ sn By your endurance is a call to remain faithful, because trusting in Jesus is the means to life.

[21:19]  ⁵ tc Some important Greek witnesses plus the majority of mss (א D L W Ψ Ë¹ Ï) read the aorist imperative κτήσασθε (kthsasqe) here, though some mss (A B Θ Ë¹³ 33 pc lat sa) read the future indicative κτήσεσθε (kthsesqe). A decision is difficult because the evidence is so evenly balanced, but the aorist imperative is the harder reading and better explains the rise of the other. J. A. Fitzmyer assesses the translation options this way: “In English one has to use something similar [i.e., a future indicative], even if one follows the [aorist imperative]” (Luke [AB], 2:1341); in the same vein, although this translation follows the aorist imperative, because of English requirements it has been translated as though it were a future indicative.

[21:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “your souls,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. In light of v. 16 that does not seem to be the case here. The entire phrase could be taken as an idiom meaning “you will save yourselves” (L&N 21.20), or (as in v. 18) this could refer to living ultimately in the presence of God.

[21:34]  ⁷ tn Grk “watch out for yourselves.”

[21:34]  ⁸ sn Or like a thief, see Luke 12:39-40. The metaphor of a trap is a vivid one. Most modern English translations traditionally place the words “like a trap” at the end of v. 34, completing the metaphor. In the Greek text (and in the NRSV and REB) the words “like a trap” are placed at the beginning of v. 35. This does not affect the meaning.