The Temple Will Be Destroyed^(A)

24 As Jesus left the Temple [courts] and was walking away, his ·followers [disciples] came up to ·show [point out to] him the Temple’s buildings. ² Jesus asked, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. Every stone will be ·thrown [pulled; torn] down.”

³ Later, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his ·followers [disciples] came to be alone with him. They said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign ·that it is time for you to come again [of your coming/return] and ·for this age to end [the end/consummation of the age]?”

⁴ Jesus answered, “·Be careful [Watch out] that no one ·fools [misleads; deceives] you. ⁵ Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the ·Christ [Messiah],’ and they will ·fool [mislead; deceive] many people. ⁶ You will hear about wars and ·stories of wars that are coming [rumors/reports of wars], but don’t be ·afraid [alarmed]. These things must happen ·before the end comes [or but that is not yet the end]. ⁷ Nations will ·fight [^Lrise up] against other nations, and kingdoms against other kingdoms. There will be ·times when there is no food for people to eat [famines], and there will be earthquakes in ·different [various] places. ⁸ All these things are ·like the first pains when something new is about to be born [^Lthe beginning of the birth pains].

⁹ “Then people will arrest you, hand you over to be ·hurt [persecuted; tortured], and kill you. ·They [The world; ^LAll nations] will hate you because ·you believe in me [you follow me; ^Lof my name]. ¹⁰ At that time, many will ·lose their faith [turn/fall away], and they will ·turn against [betray] each other and hate each other. ¹¹ Many false prophets will ·come [appear; arise] and ·cause many people to believe lies [deceive many]. ¹² There will be more and more ·evil [sin; lawlessness] in the world, so ·most people will stop showing their love for each other [^Lthe love of many/most will grow cold]. ¹³ But those people who ·keep their faith [endure; stand firm; persevere] until the end will be saved. ¹⁴ ·The Good News [This Gospel] about God’s kingdom will be preached in all the world, [^Las a testimony] to every nation. Then the end will come.

¹⁵ “You will see ‘·a blasphemous object that brings destruction [^Tthe abomination of desolation; ^Ca phrase taken from Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11, and originally referring to the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 bc],’ which Daniel the prophet spoke about. ·It [or He] will be standing in the holy place.” (You who read this should understand what it means [^Cprobably a reference to the soon-to-occur destruction of Jerusalem in ad 70].) ¹⁶ “At that time, the people in Judea should ·run away [flee] to the mountains. ¹⁷ If people are on the roofs of their houses [^Croofs in Palestine were flat and used as spare rooms and for storage], they must not go down to get anything out of their houses. ¹⁸ If people are in the fields, they must not go back to get their ·coats [cloaks]. ¹⁹ At that time, ·how terrible it will be for [^Lwoe to] women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! ²⁰ Pray that it will not be ·winter [bad weather] or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away, ²¹ because at that time there will be much ·trouble [distress; ^Ttribulation]. There will be more ·trouble [distress; ^Ttribulation]. than there has ever been since the beginning of the world until now, and nothing as bad will ever happen again [Dan. 12:1]. ²² ·God has decided to make that terrible time short [^LIf those days had not been shortened (by God)…; ^Cthe passive verb implies God as subject]. Otherwise, no one would ·go on living [survive; ^Lbe saved]. But God will make that time short ·to help the people he has chosen [for the sake of the elect]. ²³ At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the ·Christ [Messiah]!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. ²⁴ False ·Christs [messiahs] and false prophets will ·come [appear; rise up] and perform great ·wonders [signs; miracles] and ·miracles [wonders; marvels]. They will try to ·fool [mislead; deceive] even the ·people God has chosen [elect], if that is possible. ²⁵ Now I have warned you about this before it happens.

²⁶ “If people tell you, ‘[^LLook,] ·the Christ [^Lhe] is in the ·desert [wilderness],’ don’t go there. If they say, ‘[^LLook,] he is ·in the inner room [or hiding here; in this secret place],’ don’t believe it. ²⁷ When the Son of Man comes [Dan. 7:13–14], he will be like lightning flashing from the east to the west [^Che will be seen by everyone]. ²⁸ Wherever the ·dead body [carcass] is, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹ “Soon after the ·trouble [tribulation; distress] of those days,

³⁰ “At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in ·the sky [or heaven]. Then all the ·peoples [tribes] of the world will ·cry [mourn]. They will see the Son of Man coming on ·clouds in the sky [or the clouds of heaven] with great power and glory. ³¹ He will use a loud trumpet to send his angels, and they will gather his ·chosen people [elect] ·from every part of the world [^Lfrom the four winds, from one end of the sky/heavens to another].

³² “Learn a ·lesson [parable; analogy] from the fig tree: When its branches ·become green and soft [become tender; sprout] and new leaves appear, you know summer is near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you will know that ·the time [or he] is near, ·ready to come [right at the door]. ³⁴ I tell you the truth, all these things will happen ·while the people of this time are still living [before this generation passes away; ^Ceither the generation that sees the destruction of Jerusalem (ad 70), or a future generation of the end times]. ³⁵ ·Earth and sky will be destroyed [^THeaven and earth will pass away], but the words I have said will never ·be destroyed [pass away].

When Will Jesus Come Again?^(B)

³⁶ “No one knows when that day or ·time [hour] will be, not the angels in heaven, not even the Son.^[a] Only the Father knows. ³⁷ When the Son of Man comes [Dan. 7:13–14], it will be like what happened during Noah’s time. ³⁸ [^LFor] In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving their children to be married, until the day Noah entered the boat. ³⁹ They ·knew [understood] nothing about what was happening until the flood came and ·destroyed them [^Ltook/swept them all away]. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding grain with a ·mill [handmill; ^Ctwo large, round, flat rocks used for grinding grain to make flour]. One will be taken, and the other will be left.

⁴² “So ·always be ready [stay alert; keep watching], because you don’t know the day your Lord will come. ⁴³ ·Remember [Know] this: If the owner of the house knew what time of night a thief was coming, the owner would ·watch [have stayed alert; kept watching] and not let ·the thief break in [^Lhis house be broken into]. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a ·time [hour] you don’t expect him.

The Story of the Two Servants^(C)

⁴⁵ “Who is the ·loyal [faithful; trusted] and ·wise [sensible] ·servant [slave] that the master ·trusts [^Lputs in charge of his household] to give ·the other servants [^Lthem] their food at the right time? ⁴⁶ That servant will be ·blessed [happy; or rewarded] when the master comes and finds him doing his work. ⁴⁷ I tell you the truth, the master will ·choose that servant to take care [put him in charge] of everything he owns. ⁴⁸ But suppose that evil servant thinks to himself, ‘My master ·will not come back soon [will be away for a long time; is delayed],’ ⁴⁹ and he begins to beat the other servants and eat and ·get drunk with others like him [drink with drunkards]? ⁵⁰ The master [^Lof that servant/slave] will come [^Lon a day] when that servant is not ready and [^Lat an hour when he] is not expecting him. ⁵¹ Then the master will cut him in pieces and ·send him away to be [^Lassign/appoint him a place] with the hypocrites, where ·people will cry and grind their teeth with pain [^Tthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; ^Cindicating agony and remorse].