Matthew 24

The temple’s fate

¹Now Jesus left the temple and was going away. His disciples came to point out to him the temple buildings.²He responded, “Do you see all these things? I assure that no stone will be left on another. Everything will be demolished.”

Beginning of troubles

³Now while Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?”

⁴Jesus replied, “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I’m the Christ.’ They will deceive many people. ⁶You will hear about wars and reports of wars. Don’t be alarmed. These things must happen, but this isn’t the end yet. ⁷Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in all sorts of places. ⁸But all these things are just the beginning of the sufferings associated with the end. ⁹They will arrest you, abuse you, and they will kill you. All nations will hate you on account of my name. ¹⁰At that time many will fall away. They will betray each other and hate each other. ¹¹Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹²Because disobedience will expand, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³But the one who endures to the end will be delivered. ¹⁴This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all the nations. Then the end will come.

The great suffering

¹⁵“When you see the disgusting and destructive thing that Daniel talked about standing in the holy place (the reader should understand this), ¹⁶then those in Judea must escape to the mountains. ¹⁷Those on the roof shouldn’t come down to grab things from their houses. ¹⁸Those in the field shouldn’t come back to grab their clothes. ¹⁹How terrible it will be at that time for women who are pregnant and for women who are nursing their children. ²⁰Pray that it doesn’t happen in winter or on the Sabbath day. ²¹There will be great suffering such as the world has never before seen and will never again see. ²²If that time weren’t shortened, nobody would be rescued. But for the sake of the ones whom God chose, that time will be cut short.

²³“Then if somebody says to you, ‘Look, here’s the Christ,’ or ‘He’s over here,’ don’t believe it. ²⁴False christs and false prophets will appear, and they will offer great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even those whom God has chosen. ²⁵Look, I’ve told you ahead of time. ²⁶So if they say to you, ‘Look, he’s in the desert,’ don’t go out. And if they say, ‘Look, he’s in the rooms deep inside the house,’ don’t believe it. ²⁷Just as the lightning flashes from the east to the west, so it will be with the coming of the Human One.²⁸The vultures gather wherever there’s a dead body.

Coming of the Human One

²⁹“Now immediately after the suffering of that time the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken. ³⁰Then the sign of the Human One will appear in the sky. At that time all the tribes of the earth will be full of sadness, and they will see the Human One coming in the heavenly clouds with power and great splendor. ³¹He will send his angels with the sound of a great trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from the four corners of the earth, from one end of the sky to the other.

A lesson from the fig tree

³²“Learn this parable from the fig tree. After its branch becomes tender and it sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³In the same way, when you see all these things, you know that the Human One is near, at the door. ³⁴I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.

Day and hour

³⁶“But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the heavenly angels and not the Son. Only the Father knows. ³⁷As it was in the time of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Human One.³⁸In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. ³⁹They didn’t know what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. The coming of the Human One will be like that. ⁴⁰At that time there will be two men 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, stay alert! You don’t know what day the Lord is coming. ⁴³But you understand that if the head of the house knew at what time the thief would come, he would keep alert and wouldn’t allow the thief to break into his house. ⁴⁴Therefore, you also should be prepared, because the Human One will come at a time you don’t know.

Faithful and unfaithful servants

⁴⁵“Who then are the faithful and wise servants whom their master puts in charge of giving food at the right time to those who live in his house? ⁴⁶Happy are those servants whom the master finds fulfilling their responsibilities when he comes. ⁴⁷I assure you that he will put them in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸But suppose those bad servants should say to themselves, My master won’t come until later. ⁴⁹And suppose they began to beat their fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunks? ⁵⁰The master of those servants will come on a day when they are not expecting him, at a time they couldn’t predict. ⁵¹He will cut them in pieces and put them in a place with the hypocrites. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.