Matthew 24

¹As Jesus was leaving the Temple and walking away, his disciples came up to him to point out the Temple’s buildings. ²But he answered them, “Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; every single one will be torn down.”

³Later, as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your Parousia and of the completion of the age?”

⁴Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one leads you astray. ⁵For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ⁶You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed. For these things must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁷For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these things are but the beginning of birth pangs.

⁹Then they will hand you over to be oppressed and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my name. ¹⁰And then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. ¹²And because lawlessness will be multiplied, the love of most will grow cold. ¹³But the one who endures to the end—this one will be saved. ¹⁴And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole inhabited world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵So when you see ‘the desolating abomination’—the one spoken of through the prophet Daniel—standing in a holy place (let the reader understand), ¹⁶then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. ¹⁷The one on the housetop must not go down to grab things from his house, ¹⁸and the one in the field must not turn back to grab his cloak. ¹⁹How terrible it will be for those who are pregnant and those nursing infants in those days! ²⁰Pray that your flight does not happen in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹For at that time there will be great pressure, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, and never will happen again. ²²And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the chosen, 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 arise and will perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen. ²⁵See, I have told you in advance. ²⁶So if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or ‘Look, he is in the private 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 Parousia of the Son of Man. ²⁸Wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹Immediately after the pressure of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its radiance, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the forces of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the tribes of the earth will beat their breasts in mourning, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send out his angels with a great trumpet blast, and they will gather his chosen from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³²Now learn this parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³In the same way, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the doors. ³⁴Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things happen. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³⁶But concerning that day and hour, no one knows—not even the angels of the heavens, nor the Son—except the Father alone. ³⁷For just as the days of Noah were, so will be the Parousia of the Son of Man. ³⁸For as they were in those days before the deluge, eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they did not understand until the deluge came and swept them all away, so will be the Parousia of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the hand-mill; one is taken and one is left.

⁴²Therefore, stay awake, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³But understand this: if the master of the house had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed his house to be dug through. ⁴⁴Because of this, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵Who then is the faithful and sensible slave, whom the master put in charge of his household staff to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶Favored is that slave whom his master finds doing so when he arrives. ⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸But if that wicked slave says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time,’ ⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with the drunkards, ⁵⁰the master of that slave will arrive on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. ⁵¹He will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the performers; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”