Mark 13:8

Plain English Version

There will be a lot more fights. People from some tribes will get up and fight against people from other tribes, and people from some nations will get up and fight against people from other nations. And in lots of different places the ground will shake in earthquakes. And sometimes there will not be any food, and people will be really hungry. These bad things will happen, and after that, more big trouble will come. You know about women, when they have babies. At first a woman has some pain, then later her pain gets really bad. Well, the trouble I just told you about is like the first pain for a mother, and after that, the trouble will get really bad.

Cross References

Mark 13:7

You will hear stories about big fights, and somebody might tell you stories about big fights that will happen later. Don’t let those stories frighten you. Those fights will happen, but the world will not finish up yet.

Mark 13:9

You have to watch out. You see, you follow me, but some people don’t like me, so they will not like you. They will grab you and take you to their leaders, and they will punish you. And people will beat you up in their meeting houses. They will take you to court, so that you will stand up in front of big leaders and big government bosses. Then you can tell everyone about me.

Acts 11:28

One of those men was Agabus. He stood up in a meeting, and the Holy Spirit told him a message to tell everybody. He said, “There is going to be a very hard time for all the people everywhere. There will be no food to eat anywhere.” (And that really happened later, when Claudius was the biggest Roman boss.)

1 Thessalonians 5:3

You know, people will be saying, “We are safe. There’s no trouble here.” But then that big trouble will come really quickly, and they will not be ready for it. God will use that big trouble to punish them. It will be like what happens when a woman has a baby, she suddenly gets pain, and then her baby starts to come, and nobody can stop it. That big trouble will be just like that. It will come to people suddenly, and they will not get away from it.