Things to Come

13 ^(A)As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples *said to Him, “Teacher, look! ^[a]What wonderful stones and ^[b]what wonderful buildings!” ² And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? ^(B)Not one stone will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³ As He was sitting on ^(C)the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, ^(D)Peter, ^[c]James, John, and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things come about, and what will be the ^[d]sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” ⁵ And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. ⁶ Many will come in My name, saying, ‘^(E)I am He!’ and they will mislead many. ⁷ When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. ⁸ For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are only the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “But ^[e]be on your guard; for they will ^(F)hand you over to the ^[f]courts, and you will be flogged ^(G)in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. ^10 (H)And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ^11 (I)And when they ^[g]arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you at that time; for you are not the ones speaking, but it is the Holy Spirit. ¹² And brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and ^[h]have them put to death. ¹³ And ^(J)you will be hated by everyone because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

¹⁴ “Now ^(K)when you see the ^(L)abomination of desolation standing where it should not be—^[i]let the ^[j]reader understand—then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^15 [k](M)Whoever is on the ^[l]housetop must not go down, nor go in to get anything out of his house. ¹⁶ And ^[m]whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁷ But woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ¹⁸ Moreover, pray that it will not happen in winter. ¹⁹ For those days will be such a time of tribulation as has not occurred ^(N)since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will again. ²⁰ And if the Lord had not shortened those days, no ^[n]life would have been saved; but for the sake of the ^[o]elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. ²¹ And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the ^[p]Christ’; or, ‘Look, there He is’; do not believe it; ²² for false christs and ^(O)false prophets will arise, and will provide ^(P)signs and ^(Q)wonders, in order to mislead, if possible, the elect. ²³ But beware; I have told you everything in advance.

The Return of Christ

²⁴ “But in those days, after that tribulation, ^(R)the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, ^25 (S)and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶ And then they will see ^(T)the Son of Man ^(U)coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And then He will send forth the angels, and ^(V)will gather together His ^[q]elect from the four winds, ^(W)from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.

²⁸ “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. ²⁹ So you too, when you see these things happening, ^[r]recognize that ^[s]He is near, right at the ^[t]door. ³⁰ Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. ^32 (X)But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

³³ “Watch out, ^(Y)stay alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is. ^34 (Z)It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and ^[u]putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. ³⁵ Therefore, ^(AA)stay alert—for you do not know when the ^[v]master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or ^(AB)when the rooster crows, or ^(AC)in the morning— ³⁶ so that he does not come suddenly and find you ^(AD)asleep. ³⁷ What I say to you I say to all: ‘^(AE)Stay alert!’”