Mark 13

¹And as he was going out from the temple, one of his disciples says to him, "Teacher, look! What remarkable stones! What remarkable buildings!" ²And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down."

³And as he sat on the Mount of Olives facing the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴"Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be completed?"

⁵And Jesus began to say to them, "Watch out that no one leads you astray. ⁶Many will come in my name saying, 'I am,' and they will lead many astray. ⁷And when you hear of wars and reports of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁸For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. These things are the beginning of the birth pains.

⁹"But watch out for yourselves. They will hand you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them. ¹⁰And first the good news must be proclaimed to all the nations. ¹¹And when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you will say. Instead, whatever is given to you in that hour, speak that—for it is not you who are speaking but the Holy Spirit. ¹²And brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. And children will rise up against parents and put them to death. ¹³And you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end—this one will be saved.

¹⁴"But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be—let the reader understand—then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. ¹⁵The one on the rooftop must not come down or go inside to take anything from his house. ¹⁶And the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁷But how terrible it will be for those who are pregnant and for those who are nursing in those days! ¹⁸Pray that it may not happen in winter. ¹⁹For those days will be a time of affliction such as has not occurred from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will again. ²⁰And if the Lord had not cut short those days, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones whom he chose, he cut short the days.

²¹"And then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or 'Look, there!' do not believe it. ²²For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will produce signs and wonders in order to lead astray, if possible, the chosen ones. ²³But you—be on guard. I have told you everything beforehand.

²⁴"But in those days, after that affliction, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, ²⁵and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷And then he will send the angels and gather his chosen ones from the four winds, from the farthest reach of earth to the farthest reach of heaven.

²⁸"Now learn the lesson from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹So also you, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the very doors. ³⁰Truly I say to you that this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.

³²"But concerning that day or the hour, no one knows—not the angels in heaven, not even the Son—except the Father. ³³Be on guard, stay awake, for you do not know when the appointed time is. ³⁴It is like a man going on a journey who left his house and gave his servants authority, to each one his own task, and commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch. ³⁵Keep watch, then, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—whether late in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn— ³⁶lest he come suddenly and find you sleeping. ³⁷And what I say to you, I say to all: Keep watch."