Matthew 24
24
When the Temple Will Be Destroyed and the Signs of the End
1Jesus left the temple. He was walking away when his disciples came up to him. They wanted to call his attention to the temple buildings. 2“Do you see all these things?” Jesus asked. “What I’m about to tell you is true. Not one stone here will be left on top of another. Every stone will be thrown down.”
3Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives. There the disciples came to him in private. “Tell us,” they said. “When will this happen? And what will be the sign of your coming? What will be the sign of the end?”
4Jesus answered, “Keep watch! Be careful that no one fools you. 5Many will come in my name. They will claim, ‘I am the Messiah!’ They will fool many people. 6You will hear about wars. You will also hear people talking about future wars. Don’t be alarmed. Those things must happen. But the end still isn’t here. 7Nation will fight against nation. Kingdom will fight against kingdom. People will go hungry. There will be earthquakes in many places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9“Then people will hand you over to be treated badly and killed. All nations will hate you because of me. 10At that time, many will turn away from their faith. They will hate each other. They will hand each other over to their enemies. 11Many false prophets will appear. They will fool many people. 12Because evil will grow, most people’s love will grow cold. 13But the one who remains strong in the faith will be saved. 14This good news of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world. It will be a witness to all nations. Then the end will come.
15“The prophet Daniel spoke about ‘the hated thing that destroys.’ (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11) Someday you will see it standing in the holy place. The reader should understand this. 16Then those who are in Judea should escape to the mountains. 17No one on the housetop should go down into the house to take anything out. 18No one in the field should go back to get their coat. 19How awful it will be in those days for pregnant women! How awful for nursing mothers! 20Pray that you will not have to escape in winter or on the Sabbath day. 21There will be terrible suffering in those days. It will be worse than any other from the beginning of the world until now. And there will never be anything like it again.
22“If the time had not been cut short, no one would live. But because of God’s chosen people, it will be shortened. 23At that time someone may say to you, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ Or, ‘There he is!’ Do not believe it. 24False messiahs and false prophets will appear. They will do great signs and miracles. They will try to fool God’s chosen people if possible. 25See, I have told you ahead of time.
26“So if anyone tells you, ‘He is a long way out in the desert,’ do not go out there. Or if anyone says, ‘He is deep inside the house,’ do not believe it. 27Lightning that comes from the east can be seen in the west. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. 28The vultures will gather wherever there is a dead body.
29“Right after the terrible suffering of those days,
“ ‘The sun will be darkened.
The moon will not shine.
The stars will fall from the sky.
The heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ (Isaiah 13:10; 34:4)
30“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. At that time, all the peoples of the earth will mourn. They will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. He will come with power and great glory. 31He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call. They will gather his chosen people from all four directions. They will bring them from one end of the heavens to the other.
32“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you know that the end is near. It is right at the door. 34What I’m about to tell you is true. The people living now will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35Heaven and earth will pass away. But my words will never pass away.
The Day and Hour Are Not Known
36“But no one knows about that day or hour. Not even the angels in heaven know. The Son does not know. Only the Father knows. 37Remember how it was in the days of Noah. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. 38In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking. They were getting married. They were giving their daughters to be married. They did all those things right up to the day Noah entered the ark. 39They knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes. 40Two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill. One will be taken and the other left.
42“So keep watch. You do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43You must understand something. Suppose the owner of the house knew what time of night the robber was coming. Then he would have kept watch. He would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at an hour when you don’t expect him.
45“Suppose a master puts one of his slaves in charge of the other slaves in his house. The slave’s job is to give them their food at the right time. The master wants a faithful and wise slave for this. 46It will be good for the slave if the master finds him doing his job when the master returns. 47What I’m about to tell you is true. The master will put that slave in charge of everything he owns. 48But suppose that slave is evil. Suppose he says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time.’ 49Suppose he begins to beat the other slaves. And suppose he eats and drinks with those who drink too much. 50The master of that slave will come back on a day the slave doesn’t expect him. He will return at an hour the slave does not know. 51Then the master will cut him to pieces. He will send him to the place where pretenders go. There people will weep and grind their teeth.
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Matthew 24: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Matthew 24
24
1And Jesus went forth and went away from the temple, and his disciples came to him to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2And he answering said to them, Do ye not see all these things? Verily I say to you, Not a stone shall be left here upon a stone which shall not be thrown down. 3And as he was sitting upon the mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what is the sign of thy coming and the completion of the age?
4And Jesus answering said to them, See that no one mislead you. 5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they shall mislead many. 6But ye will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not disturbed; for all these things must take place, but it is not yet the end. 7For nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. 8But all these are the beginning of throes. 9Then shall they deliver you up to tribulation, and shall kill you; and ye will be hated of all the nations for my name's sake. 10And then will many be offended, and will deliver one another up, and hate one another; 11and many false prophets shall arise and shall mislead many; 12and because lawlessness shall prevail, the love of the most shall grow cold; 13but he that has endured to the end, he shall be saved. 14And these glad tidings of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole habitable earth, for a witness to all the nations, and then shall come the end. 15When therefore ye shall see the abomination of desolation, which is spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in what is a holy place, (he that reads let him understand,) 16then let those who are in Judaea flee to the mountains; 17let not him that is on the house come down to take the things out of his house; 18and let not him that is in the field turn back to take his garment. 19But woe to those that are with child, and those that give suck in those days. 20But pray that your flight may not be in winter time nor on sabbath: 21for then shall there be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be; 22and if those days had not been cut short, no flesh had been saved; but on account of the elect those days shall be cut short. 23Then if any one say to you, Behold, here is the Christ, or here, believe it not. 24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall give great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25Behold, I have told you beforehand. 26If therefore they say to you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, he is in the inner chambers, do not believe it. 27For as the lightning goes forth from the east and shines to the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. 28For wherever the carcase is, there will be gathered the eagles. 29But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. 30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the land lament, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31And he shall send his angels with a great sound of trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the one extremity of the heavens to the other extremity of them.
32But learn the parable from the fig-tree: When already its branch becomes tender and produces leaves, ye know that the summer is near. 33Thus also ye, when ye see all these things, know that it is near, at the doors. 34Verily I say to you, This generation will not have passed away until all these things shall have taken place. 35The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall in no wise pass away. 36But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of the heavens, but my Father alone. 37But as the days of Noe, so also shall be the coming of the Son of man. 38For as they were in the days which were before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day on which Noe entered into the ark, 39and they knew not till the flood came and took all away; thus also shall be the coming of the Son of man. 40Then two shall be in the field, one is taken and one is left; 41two women grinding at the mill, one is taken and one is left. 42Watch therefore, for ye know not in what hour your Lord comes. 43But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and not have suffered his house to be dug through into. 44Wherefore ye also, be ye ready, for in that hour that ye think not the Son of man comes. 45Who then is the faithful and prudent bondman whom his lord has set over his household, to give them food in season? 46Blessed is that bondman whom his lord on coming shall find doing thus. 47Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all his substance. 48But if that evil bondman should say in his heart, My lord delays to come, 49and begin to beat his fellow-bondmen, and eat and drink with the drunken; 50the lord of that bondman shall come in a day when he does not expect it, and in an hour he knows not of, 51and shall cut him in two and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.