Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Luke 21:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 21:13 turns custody into an occasion for testimony without glorifying persecution.
Read It With
- Luke 21:10–21:19
Read Luke 21:13 with 21:10–21:19. In isolation, this contribution—turns custody into an occasion for testimony without glorifying persecution—can be detached from its speaker, audience, scene or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: Jesus describes conflict, disasters, portents, arrest, betrayal, and hatred; disciples are not to script defenses because wisdom will be given, and endurance guards life.
Follow the Context
- Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 21:10–21:19.
- Jesus describes conflict, disasters, portents, arrest, betrayal, and hatred; disciples are not to script defenses because wisdom will be given, and endurance guards life.
- Hold this material interpretive limit in view: The speech prepares vulnerable witnesses but does not promise bodily immunity, since some are killed. Spirit-given speech does not eliminate preparation in every setting.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—turns custody into an occasion for testimony without glorifying persecution—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: The discourse does not glorify persecution, discourage emergency planning, forbid legal counsel, blame people who fear, or turn disasters into a timetable.
What Remains True
Luke 21:13 turns custody into an occasion for testimony without glorifying persecution. Read inside Luke 21:10–21:19, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: Jesus describes conflict, disasters, portents, arrest, betrayal, and hatred; disciples are not to script defenses because wisdom will be given, and endurance guards life. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
How It Can Shape Life
- Luke 21:13 turns custody into an occasion for testimony without glorifying persecution. Its faithful response is proportionate to that role: Under public pressure, prepare truthful testimony, mutual support, and endurance without rehearsing panic, demonizing opponents, or promising immunity from persecution or disaster.
Teach It Back
Explain Luke 21:13's specific contribution to Luke 21:10–21:19: turns custody into an occasion for testimony without glorifying persecution. Include the preceding and following movement, one source-controlled uncertainty, one affected person or group, and what the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Luke 21:10–21:19 — Pressure Becomes Occasion for Testimony and EnduranceSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The speech prepares vulnerable witnesses but does not promise bodily immunity, since some are killed. Spirit-given speech does not eliminate preparation in every setting.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Luke 21:10–21:19, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 21:10–21:19
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 21:10–21:19
Open source ↗