# if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do

This can be stated as an indirect quotation. AT: "if someone tells you that the Christ is in the wilderness, do" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-quotations]])

# Or, 'See, he is in the inner rooms,'

This can be stated as an indirect quotation. AT: "Or, if someone tells you that the Christ is in the inner room," (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-quotations]])

# in the inner rooms

"in a secret room" or "in secret places"

# as the lightning shines ... so will be the coming

This means that the Son of Man will come very quickly and will be easy to see. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-simile]])

# the Son of Man

Jesus is speaking about himself in the third person. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-123person]])

# Wherever a dead animal is, there the vultures will gather

This is probably a proverb that the people of Jesus' time understood. Possible meanings are 1) when the Son of Man comes, everyone will see him and know that he has come, or 2) wherever spiritually dead people are, false prophets will be there to tell them lies. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/writing-proverbs]])

# vultures

birds that eat the bodies of dead or dying creatures

# translationWords

* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/christ]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/desert]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sonofman]]