Mark 13:23
in Mark 13So be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But take ye heed: behold, I have told you all things beforehand.
KJV
But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.
⋯
This verse in Mark 13
Commentary
10 notes on this verseYet let not the excessive and headlong faithlessness of many move or disturb us, but rather strengthen our faith in the truthfulness which has foretold the matter. As some have become such, because these things were predicted beforehand, so let other brethren beware of matters of a like kind, because these also were predicted beforehand, even as the Lord instructs us, and says, "But take ye heed: behold, I have told you all things."
This site's exposition
Look, here is the Christ
on Mark 13:21-23
The opening warning returns: if anyone says to you that here is the Christ, do not believe it. Jesus warns that false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect. He closes, I have told you everything in advance.
This site's exposition
told you everything in advance
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown join this to the verse before. The elect will not be deceived in the end, yet the danger is near enough that they must be on guard. Augustine says the troubles were told in advance so believers would wait for the end with more confidence.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
Victorinus of PettauCommentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John · Written before 304.
proposed
"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God" He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the restoration and establishment of the churches from the great and intolerable persecution. We read that these things are predicted in the opening of the Old and New Testament; for He says by Malachi: "Lo, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, according to the time of calling, to recall the Jews to the faith of the people that succeed them." And to that end He shows, as we have said, that the number of those that shall believe, of the Jews and of the nations, is a great multitude which no man was able to number. Moreover, we read in the Gospel that the prayers of the Church are sent from heaven by an angel, and that they are received against wrath, and that the kingdom of Antichrist is cast out and extinguished by holy angels; for He says: "Pray that ye enter not into temptation: for there shall be a great affliction, such as has not been from the beginning of the world; and except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved." Therefore He shall send these seven great archangels to smite the kingdom of Antichrist; for He Himself also thus said: "Then the Son of man shall send His messengers; and they shall gather together His elect from the four corners of the wind, from the one end of heaven even to the other end thereof." For, moreover, He previously says by the prophet: "Then shall there be peace for our land, when there shall arise in it seven shepherds and eight attacks of men; and they shall encircle Assur," that is, Antichrist, "in the trench of Nimrod," that is, in the nation of the devil, by the spirit of the Church. Similarly when the keepers of the house shall be moved. […]
(Epist. 78) For He did not only foretel to His disciples the good things which He would give to His saints and faithful ones, but also the woes in which this world was to abound, that we might look for our reward at the end of the world with more confidence, from feeling the woes in like manner announced as about to precede the end of the world.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
3 ), which was built upon a mistake, as if the temple must needs stand as long as the world stands; this mistake Christ rectifies, and shows that the end of the world in those days, those other days you enquire about, the day of Christ's coming, and the day of judgment, shall be after that tribulation, and not coincident with it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
But take ye heed,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
We are taught in these verses the lawfulness of using means to provide for our own personal safety . The language of our Lord Jesus Christ on the subject is clear and unmistakable — "Let those who be in Judea FLEE to the mountains — let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house — let him that is in the field not turn back again — pray you that your flight be not in the winter."
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But take ye heed; behold, I have foretold you all things--He had just told them that the seduction of the elect would prove impossible; but since this would be all but accomplished, He bids them be on their guard, as the proper means of averting that catastrophe.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
We are taught in these verses the lawfulness of using means to provide for our own personal safety . The language of our Lord Jesus Christ on the subject is clear and unmistakable — "Let those who be in Judea FLEE to the mountains — let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house — let him that is in the field not turn back again — pray you that your flight be not in the winter." Not a word is said to make us suppose that flight from danger, in certain circumstances, is unworthy of a Christian. As to the time prophesied of in the passage before us, men may differ widely. But as to the lawfulness of taking measures to avoid peril, the teaching of the passage is plain. The lesson is one of wide application, and of much usefulness. A Christian is not to neglect the use of means, because he is a Christian, in the things of this life, any more than in the things of the life to come. A believer is not to suppose that God will take care of him, and provide for his needs, if he does not make use of means and the common sense which God has given him, as well as other people. Beyond doubt he may expect the special help of his Father in heaven, in every time of need. But he must expect it in the diligent use of lawful means. To profess to trust God, while we idly sit still and do nothing, is nothing better than fanaticism, and brings religion into contempt. The word of God contains several instructive examples on this subject, to which we shall do well to take heed. The conduct of Jacob, when he went to meet his brother Esau, is a striking case in point. He first prays a most touching prayer, and then sends his brother a carefully arranged present. (Gen. 32:9-13.) The conduct of Hezekiah, when Sennacherib came against Jerusalem, is another case. "With us," he tells the people, "is the Lord our God, to fight our battles."
The words behind it
6 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὑμεῖς | humeis | You yourselves | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| δὲ | de | however | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| βλέπετε· | blepete | do take heed; | G991 → | 132 times |
| προείρηκα | proeireka | I have foretold | G4280 → | |
| ὑμῖν | humin | to you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| πάντα.¶ | panta | all things. | G3956 → | 1235 times |
ὑμεῖςYou yourselves
humeisG4771 →2973 times
δὲhowever
deG1161 →2765 times
βλέπετε·do take heed;
blepeteG991 →132 times
προείρηκαI have foretold
proeirekaG4280 →
ὑμῖνto you
huminG4771 →2973 times
πάντα.¶all things.
pantaG3956 →1235 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Peter 3:17Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing.
it leads to
- Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 3:14
We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.
- 2 Corinthians 11:13–15
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
- Colossians 2:8
Through
Luke 21:8Jesus answered, “See to it that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:6
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3
Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
- Mark 13:5–6
Jesus began by telling them, “See to it that no one deceives you.
- Ephesians 5:6
Through
John 14:29And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.
it leads to
- John 13:19
I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He.
- John 13:19
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Cyprian, Treatise I On the Unity of the Church; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John.