1 And as he went out of the Temple, one of his disciples said vnto him, Master, see what maner stones, and what maner buildings are here. 2 Then Iesus answered and saide vnto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone vpon a stone, that shall not be throwen downe. 3 And as he sate on the mount of Oliues, ouer against the Temple, Peter, and Iames, and Iohn, and Andrew asked him secretly, 4 Tell vs, when shall these things be? and what shalbe the signe when all these things shalbe fulfilled? 5 And Iesus answered them, and began to say, Take heede lest any man deceiue you. 6 For many shall come in my Name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceiue many. 7 Furthermore when ye shall heare, of warres, and rumours of warres, be ye not troubled: for such things must needes be: but the end shall not be yet. 8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdome against kingdome, and there shalbe earthquakes in diuers quarters, and there shalbe famine and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorowes. 9 But take ye heede to your selues: for they shall deliuer you vp to the Councils, and to the Synagogues: ye shalbe beaten, and brought before rulers and Kings for my sake, for a testimoniall vnto them. 10 And the Gospel must first be published among all nations. 11 But when they leade you, and deliuer you vp, be not carefull before hand, neither studie what ye shall say: but what is giuen you at the same time, that speake: for it is not ye that speake, but the holy Ghost. 12 Yea, and the brother shall deliuer the brother to death, and the father the sonne, and the children shall rise against their parents, and shall cause them to die. 13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my Names sake: but whosoeuer shall endure vnto the end, he shalbe saued. 14 Moreouer, when ye shall see the abomination of desolation (spoken of by Daniel the Prophet) set where it ought not, (let him that readeth, consider it) then let them that be in Iudea, flee into the mountaines, 15 And let him that is vpon the house, not come downe into the house, neither enter therein, to fetch any thing out of his house. 16 And let him that is in the fielde, not turne backe againe to take his garment. 17 Then wo shalbe to the that are with child, and to them that giue sucke in those dayes. 18 Pray therefore that your flight be not in the winter. 19 For those dayes shalbe such tribulation, as was not from the beginning of ye creation which God created vnto this time, neither shalbe. 20 And except that the Lord had shortened those dayes, no flesh shoulde be saued: but for the elects sake, which he hath chosen, he hath shortened those dayes. 21 Then if any man say to you, Loe, here is Christ, or, lo, he is there, beleeue it not. 22 For false Christes shall rise, and false prophets, and shall shewe signes and wonders, to deceiue if it were possible the very elect. 23 But take ye heede: beholde, I haue shewed you all things before. 24 Moreouer in those dayes, after that tribulation, the sunne shall waxe darke, and ye moone shall not giue her light, 25 And the starres of heauen shall fall: and the powers which are in heauen, shall shake. 26 And then shall they see the Sonne of man comming in ye cloudes, with great power and glory. 27 And he shall then send his Angels, and shall gather together his elect from the foure windes, and from the vtmost part of the earth to the vtmost part of heauen. 28 Nowe learne a parable of the figge tree. When her bough is yet tender, and it bringeth foorth leaues, ye knowe that sommer is neere. 29 So in like maner, when ye see these things come to passe, knowe that the kingdom of God is neere, euen at the doores. 30 Verely I say vnto you, that this generation shall not passe, till all these things be done. 31 Heauen and earth shall passe away, but my woordes shall not passe away. 32 But of that day and houre knoweth no man, no, not the Angels which are in heauen, neither the Sonne himselfe, but the Father. 33 Take heede: watch, and praie: for yee knowe not when the time is. 34 For the Sonne of man is as a man going into a strange countrey, and leaueth his house, and giueth authoritie to his seruaunts, and to euery man his woorke, and commandeth the porter to watch. 35 Watch ye therefore, (for ye know not whe ye master of the house will come, at eue, or at midnight, at the cocke crowing, or in the dawning,) 36 Least if he come suddenly, he should finde you sleeping. 37 And those things that I say vnto you, I say vnto all men, Watch.
Jesus Speaks of the Destruction of the Temple
(Matthew 24.1Matthew 2Luke 21.5Luke 6)1 As Jesus was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said, “Look, Teacher! What wonderful stones and buildings!”
2 Jesus answered, “You see these great buildings? Not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down.”
Troubles and Persecutions
(Matthew 24.3-14Luke 21.7-19)3 Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, across from the Temple, when Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him in private. 4 “Tell us when this will be,” they said, “and tell us what will happen to show that the time has come for all these things to take place.”
5 Jesus said to them, “Watch out, and don't let anyone fool you. 6 Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will fool many people. 7 And don't be troubled when you hear the noise of battles close by and news of battles far away. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come. 8 Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be earthquakes everywhere, and there will be famines. These things are like the first pains of childbirth.
9 “You yourselves must watch out. You will be arrested and taken to court. You will be beaten in the synagogues; you will stand before rulers and kings for my sake to tell them the Good News. 10 But before the end comes, the gospel must be preached to all peoples. 11 And when you are arrested and taken to court, do not worry ahead of time about what you are going to say; when the time comes, say whatever is then given to you. For the words you speak will not be yours; they will come from the Holy Spirit. 12 Men will hand over their own brothers to be put to death, and fathers will do the same to their children. Children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. 13 Everyone will hate you because of me. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved.
The Awful Horror
(Matthew 24.15-28Luke 21.20-24)14 “You will see ‘The Awful Horror’ standing in the place where he should not be.” (Note to the reader: understand what this means!) “Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills. 15 Someone who is on the roof of a house must not lose time by going down into the house to get anything to take along. 16 Someone who is in the field must not go back to the house for a cloak. 17 How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies! 18 Pray to God that these things will not happen in the winter! 19 For the trouble of those days will be far worse than any the world has ever known from the very beginning when God created the world until the present time. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. 20 But the Lord has reduced the number of those days; if he had not, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, he has reduced those days.
21 “Then, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’—do not believe it. 22 For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear. They will perform miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible. 23 Be on your guard! I have told you everything ahead of time.
The Coming of the Son of Man
(Matthew 24.29-31Luke 21.25-28)24 “In the days after that time of trouble the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, 25 the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 26 Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 He will send the angels out to the four corners of the earth to gather God's chosen people from one end of the world to the other.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
(Matthew 24.32-35Luke 21.29-33)28 “Let the fig tree teach you a lesson. When its branches become green and tender and it starts putting out leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that the time is near, ready to begin. 30 Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
No One Knows the Day or Hour
(Matthew 24.36-44)32 “No one knows, however, when that day or hour will come—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; only the Father knows. 33 Be on watch, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come. 34 It will be like a man who goes away from home on a trip and leaves his servants in charge, after giving to each one his own work to do and after telling the doorkeeper to keep watch. 35 Watch, then, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming—it might be in the evening or at midnight or before dawn or at sunrise. 36 If he comes suddenly, he must not find you asleep. 37 What I say to you, then, I say to all: Watch!”