Matthew 24

¹And Jesus, going out from the temple, was departing, and his disciples came to him to point out to him the buildings of the temple. ²But he responded and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down."

³And as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your arrival and of the completion of the age?"

⁴And Jesus answered them, "Watch out that no one leads you astray. ⁵For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah,' and will lead many astray. ⁶And you will hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this 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. ⁸But all these things are the beginning of labor pains.

⁹"Then they will hand you over to affliction and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my name. ¹⁰And then many will fall away, and will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹And many 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.

¹⁵"So when you see the abomination of desolation—spoken of through Daniel the prophet—standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), ¹⁶then let those in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷The one on the rooftop must not go down to retrieve things from his house, ¹⁸and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing in those days. ²⁰And pray that your flight may not happen in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹For then there will be great affliction, such as has not occurred from the beginning of the world until now, and never will occur again. ²²And if those days had not been cut short, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be cut short.

²³"Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or 'Here he is!'—do not believe it. ²⁴For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will produce great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones. ²⁵Look—I have told you beforehand. ²⁶So if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. 'Look, he is in the inner rooms'—do not believe it. ²⁷For just as lightning comes forth from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the arrival of the Son of Man. ²⁸Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹"Immediately after the affliction of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and 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 great trumpet blast, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³²"Now learn the lesson from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and it puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³So also you—when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the very doors. ³⁴Truly I tell you that this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³⁶"But concerning that day and hour, no one knows—not the angels of the heavens, nor the Son—except the Father alone. ³⁷For just as the days of Noah were, so will be the arrival of the Son of Man. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away—so will be the arrival 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 mill: one is taken and one is left.

⁴²"Keep watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³But know this: if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵"Who then is the faithful and prudent servant whom the master has put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, finds doing so. ⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸But if that wicked servant says in his heart, 'My master is delayed,' ⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰the master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know, ⁵¹and will cut him in two and assign his portion with the performers. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."