Chapter 24

A¹s Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings. ²“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” ³While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you. ⁵For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.

T⁹hen they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another, ¹¹and many false prophets will arise and deceive many. ¹²Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

¹³But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

S¹⁵o when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), ¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house. ¹⁸And let no one in the field return for his cloak. ¹⁹How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! ²⁰Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath.

²¹For at that time there will be great tribulation, unseen from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. ²²If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. ²³At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. ²⁵See, I have told you in advance.

S²⁶o if they tell you, ‘There He is, in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Here He is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ³⁰At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

N³²ow learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³So also, when you see all these things, you will know that He 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.

N³⁶o one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. ³⁹And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴²Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come. ⁴³But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’ ⁴⁹And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. ⁵¹Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.[’’]