Matthew 24
The
Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
“JESUS left the temple and was walking
away when HIS disciples came up to HIM to call HIS attention to its buildings.
2 “’Do you see all these things?’ HE asked. ‘Truly
I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be
thrown down.’
3 As JESUS was sitting on the Mount of
Olives, the disciples came to HIM privately. ‘Tell us,”’ they said, “’when
will this happen, and what will be the sign of YOUR coming and of the end
of the age?”
4JESUS
answered: ‘Watch
out that no one deceives you.
5 For many will come in MY name, claiming, ‘I am THE MESSIAH,’ and
will deceive many.
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it
that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 ‘Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and
put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of ME.
10 At that time many will turn away from THE FAITH and will
betray and hate each other,
11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive
many people.
12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most
will grow cold,
13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in
the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15 ‘So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the
abomination that causes desolation,’
spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take
anything out of the house.
18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.
19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant
women and nursing mothers!
20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or
on the Sabbath.
21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from
the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 ‘If those days had not been cut short, no one would
survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is THE MESSIAH!’ or,
‘There HE is!’ do not believe it.
24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and
perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 ‘So if anyone tells you, ‘There HE is, out in the
wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here HE is, in the inner rooms,’ do not
believe it.
27 For as lightning that comes from the east is
visible even in the west, so will be the coming of THE SON OF MAN.
28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will
gather.
29 ‘Immediately after the distress of those days
‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
30 ‘Then will appear the sign of THE SON OF MAN in heaven. And 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.
31 And HE will send 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.
32 ‘Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as
its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.
33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is
near, right at the door.
34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not
pass away until all these things have happened.
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but MY words will
never pass away.
The Day and Hour Unknown
36 ‘But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the
angels in heaven, nor THE
SON, but only THE FATHER.
37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at
the coming of THE SON
OF MAN.
38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating
and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered
the ark;
39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the
flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of THE SON OF MAN.
40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the
other left.
41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will
be taken and the other left.
42 ‘Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what
day YOUR LORD
will come.
43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had
known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch
and would not have let his house be broken into.
44 So you also must be ready, because THE SON OF MAN will
come at an hour when you do not expect HIM.
45 ‘Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom
the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them
their food at the proper time?
46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him
doing so when he returns.
47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his
possessions.
48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself,
‘My master is staying away a long time,’
49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to
eat and drink with drunkards.
50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he
does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.
51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with
the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
