The Destruction of Jerusalem and the End of the World

24 As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the temple buildings. ² Then he replied to them, “Do you see all of these things? Amen I tell you: Not one stone here will be left on another that will not be thrown down.”

³ While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?”

⁴ Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ Because many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive many people. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because all these things must happen; but that is not yet the end. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ But all these things are only the beginning of birth pains. ⁹ Then they will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will put you to death. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. ¹⁰ Then many will fall away from faith. They will betray each other and hate each other. ¹¹ Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But whoever endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the abomination that causes desolation, that was spoken of through the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place—let the reader understand— ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea should flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ The one on the housetop should not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸ The one who is in the field should not return to get his clothes. ¹⁹ How terrible it will be for those who are pregnant or are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your flight will not take place in the winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For at that time there will be great distress, unlike any that has happened since the beginning of the world until now, and unlike any that will happen again. ²² If those days were not shortened, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.

²³ “At that time if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There he is,’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive even the elect, if it were possible.

²⁵ “See, I have told you in advance. ²⁶ So if they tell you, ‘Look! There he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out there, or ‘Look! Here he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ Just as the lightning flashes from the east and shines as far as the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. ²⁸ Wherever the carcass may be, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹ “Immediately after the misery of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. And at that time all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³² “Learn this lesson from the fig tree. When its branch has become tender and produces leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the doors. ³⁴ Amen I tell you: This generation^[a] will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Be Ready!

³⁶ “No one knows when that day and hour will be, not the angels of heaven, not even the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when the Son of Man returns. ³⁸ In fact, in the days before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the very day that Noah entered the ark. ³⁹ And they did not realize what was coming until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man returns.

⁴⁰ “At that time two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴² So be alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But understand this: If the master of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ You also need to be ready for this reason: The Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect him.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master finds doing this when he returns. ⁴⁷ Amen I tell you: He will put him in charge of all that he has. ⁴⁸ But if that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will return on a day when he does not expect it and at an hour he does not know. ⁵¹ The master will cut him in two and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”