Matthew 24
24
The Signs of the End
1Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him. They wanted him to admire the temple buildings. 2“Do you see all this?” Jesus asked. “Truly I tell you, there won’t be one stone left here on top of another. Every building will be torn down, to the last stone.”
3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and asked, “Tell us, when will this happen? And what will be the sign of your coming? What will be the sign of the end of the age?”
4Jesus answered, “Don’t let anyone trick you! 5Many people will come claiming to be me and saying, ‘I’m the Messiah!’ They’ll get many people to follow them. 6You’ll hear about wars, and you’ll hear people saying there are going to be wars. Don’t be afraid. Those things will happen, but that won’t be the end. 7Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom will fight against kingdom. People won’t have enough food, and there will be earthquakes in many places. 8But all of this will be only the beginning of the birth pains.
9“Then people will hand you over to be oppressed and killed, and all nations will hate you because of me. 10At that time, many will turn away from the faith. They will hate one another and hand each other over to their enemies. 11Many false prophets will appear, and they will trick many people. 12Wickedness will increase and many people’s love will grow cold. 13But anyone who remains strong in the faith will be saved. 14This good news of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.
15“The prophet Daniel spoke about ‘the detestable thing that brings desolation.’ One day you’ll see it standing in the holy place.” (Let the one who reads this be sure to understand.) 16“When that happens, those who are in Judea should escape to the mountains. 17No one who’s on a housetop should go down into the house to take anything out. 18No one who’s out in the field should go back home to get their coat. 19How awful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20Pray that you won’t have to run away in the winter or on a Sabbath day. 21There will be terrible suffering in those days, worse than any other time from the beginning of the world until now, and there will never be anything like it again.
22“If that time were not cut short, no one would survive. But because of God’s chosen people, it will be shortened. 23At that time someone may say to you, ‘Look! Here’s the Messiah!’ Or, ‘He’s over there!’ Don’t believe it. 24False messiahs and false prophets will appear, and they’ll do great signs and miracles. They’ll even try to trick God’s chosen people if they can. 25See, I’ve told you ahead of time.
26“So if anyone tells you, ‘He’s out in the desert,’ don’t go out there. And if anyone says, ‘He’s deep inside the house,’ don’t 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. 28You know where a dead body is when you see vultures circling in the sky.
29“Right after the terrible suffering of those days,
“ ‘The sun will go dark,
the moon won’t shine,
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the planets will be shaken.’
30“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. Then all the peoples of the earth will mourn, when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his chosen people from the north, south, east, and west—from one end of the sky 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’ll know that the end is near, right at the door. 34Truly I tell you, this generation will 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 Time Are Not Known
36“But no one knows what day or time this will happen. The angels in heaven don’t even know, and the Son doesn’t know either—only the Father knows. 37When the Son of Man comes, it will be the same as it was in the days of Noah. 38In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, getting married and arranging marriages, right up to the day when Noah entered the ark. 39They didn’t know anything about what was going to happen until the flood came and took them all away. That’s how it will be when the Son of Man comes. 40Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken and the other will be spared. 41Two women will be grinding together with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other will be left.
42“So keep watch, because you don’t know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the robber was coming, he would have kept watch. He wouldn’t have let his house be broken into. 44So you must also be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time when you aren’t expecting him.
45“Suppose a master puts one of his slaves in charge of the other slaves and tells him to give them their food at the right time. The master would want to choose a faithful and wise slave to do that. 46It will be good for this slave if the master finds him doing his job when he returns. 47Truly I tell you, the master will put that slave in charge of everything he owns. 48But suppose the slave is a bad person and he says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time. I can do whatever I want.’ 49Suppose he then starts to beat the other slaves and to eat and drink with people who drink too much. 50The master of that slave will come back on a day when he isn’t expecting him and at a time when he isn’t watching. 51Then the master will cut him to pieces and send him to the same place where hypocrites go, where people will weep and grind their teeth.
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Matthew 24
24
1And having gone forth, Jesus departed from the temple, and his disciples came near to show him the buildings of the temple,
2and Jesus said to them, ‘Do ye not see all these? verily I say to you, There may not be left here a stone upon a stone, that shall not be thrown down.’
3And when he is sitting on the mount of the Olives, the disciples came near to him by himself, saying, ‘Tell us, when shall these be? and what [is] the sign of thy presence, and of the full end of the age?’
4And Jesus answering said to them, ‘Take heed that no one may lead you astray,
5for many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they shall lead many astray,
6and ye shall begin to hear of wars, and reports of wars; see, be not troubled, for it behoveth all [these] to come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7‘For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places;
8and all these [are] the beginning of sorrows;
9then they shall deliver you up to tribulation, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated by all the nations because of my name;
10and then shall many be stumbled, and they shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another.
11‘And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray;
12and because of the abounding of the lawlessness, the love of the many shall become cold;
13but he who did endure to the end, he shall be saved;
14and this good news of the reign shall be proclaimed in all the world, for a testimony to all the nations; and then shall the end arrive.
15‘Whenever, therefore, ye may see the abomination of the desolation, that was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever is reading let him observe)
16then those in Judea — let them flee to the mounts;
17he on the house-top — let him not come down to take up any thing out of his house;
18and he in the field — let him not turn back to take his garments.
19‘And woe to those with child, and to those giving suck in those days;
20and pray ye that your flight may not be in winter, nor on a sabbath;
21for there shall be then great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world till now, no, nor may be.
22And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but because of the chosen, shall those days be shortened.
23‘Then if any one may say to you, Lo, here [is] the Christ! or here! ye may not believe;
24for there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and they shall give great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, also the chosen.
25Lo, I did tell you beforehand.
26‘If therefore they may say to you, Lo, in the wilderness he is, ye may not go forth; lo, in the inner chambers, ye may not believe;
27for as the lightning doth come forth from the east, and doth appear unto the west, so shall be also the presence of the Son of Man;
28for wherever the carcase may be, there shall the eagles be gathered together.
29‘And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken;
30and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in the heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth smite the breast, and they shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of the heaven, with power and much glory;
31and he shall send his messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens unto the ends thereof.
32‘And from the fig-tree learn ye the simile: When already its branch may have become tender, and the leaves it may put forth, ye know that summer [is] nigh,
33so also ye, when ye may see all these, ye know that it is nigh — at the doors.
34Verily I say to you, this generation may not pass away till all these may come to pass.
35The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36‘And concerning that day and the hour no one hath known — not even the messengers of the heavens — except my Father only;
37and as the days of Noah — so shall be also the presence of the Son of Man;
38for as they were, in the days before the flood, eating, and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, till the day Noah entered into the ark,
39and they did not know till the flood came and took all away; so shall be also the presence of the Son of Man.
40Then two men shall be in the field, the one is received, and the one is left;
41two women shall be grinding in the mill, one is received, and one is left.
42‘Watch ye therefore, because ye have not known in what hour your Lord doth come;
43and this know, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief doth come, he had watched, and not suffered his house to be broken through;
44because of this also ye, become ye ready, because in what hour ye do not think, the Son of Man doth come.
45‘Who, then, is the servant, faithful and wise, whom his lord did set over his household, to give them the nourishment in season?
46Happy that servant, whom his lord, having come, shall find doing so;
47verily I say to you, that over all his substance he will set him.
48‘And, if that evil servant may say in his heart, My Lord doth delay to come,
49and may begin to beat the fellow-servants, and to eat and to drink with the drunken,
50the lord of that servant will arrive in a day when he doth not expect, and in an hour of which he doth not know,
51and will cut him off, and his portion with the hypocrites will appoint; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.
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