For nations will wage war against one another, and kingdoms will attack one another. And earthquakes will happen at various places [in the world], and there will be famines. These things are [only] the beginning of terrible times.
But before all these things happen, the authorities will grab hold of you, and persecute you, and turn you over to the synagogues and prisons [i.e., for punishment and confinement]. They will take you in front of kings and governors for being loyal to me.
[For] when people are saying, “Peace,” and “Safety,” then [is when] destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not be able to escape it.