Luke 21:8

Jesus 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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus answers the disciples' question about the timing and sign of the temple's destruction (Luke 21:7) by issuing a warning against false claimants before addressing their actual question.

The words — πλανηθῆτε (planēthēte, "you may be led astray") carries the sense of wandering off-course, the same root behind "planet" (wandering star) and "plague" (straying); it frames deception not as a single error but as a drift.

The thread — Mark 13:5 records the identical warning in the parallel account; 1 John 4:1 and Ephesians 5:6 extend the same caution into the post-apostolic community.

Why it lands — It demands that a reader hold a claimant to a standard before following, rather than defaulting to enthusiasm when someone announces the time is near.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

Cross-references

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.
Mark 13:5 Jesus began by telling them, “See to it that no one deceives you.
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.
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.
Matthew 24:4 Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you.
Matthew 24:11 and many false prophets will arise and deceive many.
Mark 13:21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.
Jeremiah 29:8 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them.
2 Timothy 3:13 while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Matthew 24:23 At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.