Matthew 24

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

1 And Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.

Signs of the Close of the Age

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the age? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no one deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that ye be not troubled, for it is necessary that all these things must take place; but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 Then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness shall abound, the charity of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come.

The Abomination of Desolation

15 Therefore, when ye see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, which shall stand in the holy place (whosoever reads, let him understand), 16 then let those who are in Judaea flee into the mountains; 17 let him who is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house, 18 neither let him who is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto those that are with child and to those that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter neither on the sabbath day, 21 for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Behold, here is the Christ, or there, believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders in such a manner that they shall deceive, if possible, the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Therefore if they say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; Behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. 27 For as the lightning that comes out of the east and shines even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28 For wherever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

The Coming of the Son of Man

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, 30 and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender and puts forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; 33 so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled. 35 The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

No One Knows That Day and Hour

36 But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of the heavens, but my Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39 and they knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43 But know this that if the husband of the house knew in what watch the thief would come, he would watch and would not suffer his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore be ye also ready; the Son of man is to come in the hour that ye think not.

45 Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom his lord has made ruler over his household to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that slave whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But and if that evil slave shall say in his heart, My lord delays his coming, 49 and shall begin to smite his fellowslaves and even to eat and drink with the drunken, 50 the lord of that slave shall come in a day when he does not look for him and in an hour that he is not aware of 51 and shall cut him off and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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