Jerusalem to Be Attacked

12 The pronouncement of the word of the Lord concerning Israel:

The Lord who ^(A)stretches out the heavens, ^(B)lays the foundation of the earth, and ^(C)forms the spirit of a person within him, declares: ² “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a ^(D)cup ^[a]that causes staggering to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against ^(E)Judah. ³ It will come about on that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy ^(F)stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will ^(G)injure themselves severely. And all the ^(H)nations of the earth will be gathered against it. ⁴ On that day,” declares the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with insanity. But I will ^[b]watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. ⁵ Then the ^[c]clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a ^[d]strong support for us through the Lord of armies, their God.’

⁶ “On that day I will make the ^[e]clans of Judah like a ^(I)firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while ^[f]the ^(J)inhabitants of Jerusalem again live on their own sites in Jerusalem. ⁷ The Lord also will ^(K)save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of ^(L)David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be greater than Judah. ⁸ On that day the Lord will ^(M)protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who ^[g](N)is feeble among them on that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like ^(O)God, like the ^(P)angel of the Lord before them. ⁹ And on that day I will ^(Q)seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “And I will ^(R)pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^[h]the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they ^(S)pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one ^(T)mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. ¹¹ On that day the ^(U)mourning in Jerusalem will be great, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the ^[i]plain of ^[j]Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; ¹³ the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; ¹⁴ all the families that are left, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Enemies

14 Behold, a ^(A)day is coming for the Lord when ^(B)the spoils taken from you will be divided among you. ² For I will ^(C)gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be taken, the ^(D)houses plundered, the women raped, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be eliminated from the city. ³ Then the Lord will go forth and ^(E)fight against those nations, as ^[a]when He fights on a day of battle. ⁴ On that day His feet will ^(F)stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be ^(G)split ^[b]in its middle from east to west forming a very large valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half toward the south. ⁵ And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled from the ^(H)earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. ^(I)Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with ^[c]Him!

⁶ On that day there will be ^(J)no light; the ^[d]luminaries will die out. ⁷ For it will be ^(K)a unique day which is ^(L)known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at the ^(M)time of evening there will be light.

⁸ And on that day ^(N)living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

God Will Be King over All

⁹ And the Lord will be ^(O)King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be the only ^(P)one, and His name the only one.

¹⁰ All the land will change into a plain from ^(Q)Geba to ^(R)Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but ^[e]Jerusalem will ^(S)rise and ^(T)remain on its site from ^(U)Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the ^(V)Corner Gate, and from the ^(W)Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. ¹¹ People will live in it, and there will ^(X)no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will ^(Y)live in security.

¹² Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will ^(Z)rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. ¹³ And it will come about on that day that a great panic from the Lord will ^[f]fall on them; and they will ^(AA)seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will ^[g]be raised against the hand of another. ^14 (AB)Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the ^(AC)wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. ¹⁵ And just like this ^(AD)plague, there will be a plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey, and all the cattle that will be in those camps.

¹⁶ Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will ^(AE)go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of armies, and to celebrate the ^(AF)Feast of Booths. ¹⁷ And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the ^(AG)King, the Lord of armies, there will be ^(AH)no rain on them. ¹⁸ And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the ^(AI)plague with which the Lord strikes the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. ¹⁹ This will be the ^[h]punishment of Egypt, and the ^[i]punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

²⁰ On that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “^(AJ)Holy to the Lord.” And the ^(AK)cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. ²¹ Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be ^(AL)holy to the Lord of armies; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a ^[j](AM)Canaanite in the house of the Lord of armies on that day.

Signs of Christ’s Return

24 ^(A)Jesus ^(B)left the temple area and was going on His way ^[a]when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. ² But He responded and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, ^(C)not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³ And as He was sitting on ^(D)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of ^(E)Your coming, and of the ^[b]end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(F)See to it that no one ^[c]misleads you. ⁵ For ^(G)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the ^[d]Christ,’ and they will ^[e]mislead many people. ⁶ And you will be hearing of ^(H)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷ For ^(I)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^(J)famines and earthquakes in various places. ^8 (K)But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “^(L)Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and ^(M)you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ And at that time many will ^[f](N)fall away, and they will ^[g]betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many ^(O)false prophets will rise up and ^[h]mislead many people. ¹² And because lawlessness is increased, ^[i]most people’s love will become cold. ^13 (P)But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. ¹⁴ This ^(Q)gospel of the kingdom ^(R)shall be preached in the whole ^[j](S)world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Perilous Times

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the ^(T)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in ^(U)the holy place—^[k](V)let the ^[l]reader understand— ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^17 [m]Whoever is on ^(W)the ^[n]housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. ¹⁸ And ^[o]whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹ But ^(X)woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ Moreover, pray that ^[p]when you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be a ^(Y)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. ²² And if those days had not been cut short, no ^[q]life would have been saved; but for ^(Z)the sake of the ^[r]elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (AA)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ^[s]Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him. ²⁴ For false christs and ^(AB)false prophets will arise and will provide great ^[t](AC)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even ^(AD)the ^[u]elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you in advance. ²⁶ So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. ^27 (AE)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the ^(AF)coming of the ^(AG)Son of Man ^[v]be. ^28 (AH)Wherever the corpse is, there the ^[w]vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

²⁹ “But immediately after the ^(AI)tribulation of those days ^(AJ)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(AK)the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then ^(AL)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ^(AM)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(AN)He will send forth His angels with ^(AO)a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His ^[x](AP)elect from ^(AQ)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Parable of the Fig Tree

³² “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³ so you too, when you see all these things, ^[y]recognize that ^[z]He is near, right ^(AR)at the ^[aa]door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you, ^(AS)this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ^35 (AT)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶ “But ^(AU)about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For ^[ab]the ^(AV)coming of the Son of Man will be ^(AW)just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(AX)marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that ^(AY)Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not ^[ac]understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the ^(AZ)coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ At that time there will be two men in the field; one ^[ad]will be taken and one ^[ae]will be left. ^41 (BA)Two women will be grinding at the ^[af](BB)mill; one ^[ag]will be taken and one ^[ah]will be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

⁴² “Therefore ^(BC)be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But ^[ai]be sure of this, that ^(BD)if the head of the house had known ^(BE)at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ For this reason ^(BF)you must be ready as well; for ^(BG)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵ “^(BH)Who then is the ^(BI)faithful and ^(BJ)sensible slave whom his ^[aj]master ^(BK)put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave whom his ^[ak]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I say to you that ^(BL)he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My ^[al]master ^[am]is not coming for a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk; ⁵⁰ then the ^[an]master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, ⁵¹ and he will ^[ao]cut him in two and assign ^[ap]him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be ^(BM)weeping and gnashing of teeth.