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“When Will These Things Take Place? And What Will Be the Sign When These Things Are About to Reach Their Culmination—All?”
1 As Jesus was leaving the temple complex, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What beautiful stones! What impressive buildings!”
2 “Do ˢyou see these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “No two stones here will be left standing together; all are doomed to be torn down!”
3 While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple complex, he was asked privately by Peter and James and John and Andrew,
4 “Please tell us, when will these things take place? And what will be the sign when these things are about to reach their culmination—all?”
5 Jesus, then, began by saying to them, “Make sure that ᵖyou don’t let anyone deceive you!
6 There will appear in my name many imposters, claiming, ‘ I am he!’, and they will deceive many, many people.
7 Now when ᵖyou hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed. These things must take place, but its end+ is still to come.
8 Nation will rise against nation and ‘kingdom against kingdom,’+ you see. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. What will these events signal? The beginning of birth pains.
9 “Now, ᵖyou yourselves must be on your guard. People will hand ᵖyou over to the local sanhedrins, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. ᵖYou will be made to stand, too, even before rulers and kings because of me, as a witness before them;
10 the gospel must be proclaimed, first, before all the Gentiles.
11 When people arrest ᵖyou, handing you over to be put on trial, don’t worry ahead of time about what you should say. Rather, whatever words are given to ᵖyou at that time, this is what ᵖyou are to speak. It is not ᵖyou who will be doing the speaking, you see, but the Holy Spirit.
12 A brother will hand his brother over to be put to death, as will a father his child, and children will turn against their parents and have them put to death,
13 and ᵖyou will be hated by everyone because of my name. He who endures to the finish, however, will be saved.
14 “Now, when ᵖyou see the ‘abomination that causes desolation’+ stationed where it+ should not be (let the reader take careful note), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.
15 If someone happens to be on the roof of his house, he must not come down and go inside to gather his belongings in the house.
16 Likewise, if someone happens to be out in his field, he must not turn back ‘toward the things behind,’+ even to get his precious cloak.
17 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers at that time!
18 Pray that this won’t take place in winter,
19 because that time will be a time of trial and distress such as has not occurred from the beginning of creation, when God created everything, until now, and will never occur again.
20 In fact, if the Lord had not cut that time short, no one would survive. He will surely cut that time short, however, because of the chosen ones, whom he chose for himself.
21 At that time, if anyone, to ᵖyou, says, ‘Look! The Messiah is over here!’ or ‘Look! There he is!’, don’t believe it!
22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, the chosen ones.
23 ᵖYou, then, watch out! I have warned you of everything ahead of time.
24 “But at that time, after that trial and distress,
“ ‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,’+
25 and ‘the stars will from heaven be falling,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken’+!
26 And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds’+ with great power and glory,
27 and then he will send out his angels and have his chosen ones gathered from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and start sprouting leaves, ᵖyou recognize that summer is very near.
29 In the same way, ᵖyou, too, when you observe these things unfolding, recognize that he+ is very near—right at the door!
30 Amen, I solemnly tell ᵖyou this: This generation will certainly not pass away until these things, all of them, take place.
31 It is heaven and the earth that will pass away! My words, however, will never pass away.
32 “Now in regard to that day and appointed time, no one knows it—not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
33 Keep alert! Stay awake! For ᵖyou don’t know when that appointed time will come.
34 It is like a man away from home on a journey, who left his household and entrusted his slaves with authority—each with his own assignment—and to the doorkeeper gave orders to stay awake and be watchful.
35 Stay awake and be watchful, therefore, since ᵖyou don’t know when the master of the household is going to come—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.
36 Otherwise, he may come unexpectedly and find ᵖyou asleep.
37 What I say to ᵖyou, moreover, I say to everyone: Stay awake and be watchful!”