Matthew

24 And Jesus came out from the temple-precinct and was going on his way; and his disciples came up to show him the architecture of the precinct. 2 And he answered them “You see all this, do you not? I tell you verily, there shall not be one stone left upon another here that shall not be torn down.”

3 And as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him by themselves, saying “Tell us when this will be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the final time.”

4 And Jesus answered them “Look out that no one deludes you. 5 For many will come under my name, saying ‘I am the Messiah,’ and delude many. 6 And you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not disquieted; for they have to come, but it is not yet the end. 7 For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in one place and another; 8 but all this is the beginning of the birth-pangs. 9 Then they will have you arrested and cruelly treated, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my name. 10 And then many will be staggered and have each other arrested and hate each other; 11 and many pretended prophets will arise and delude many; 12 and, because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will cool;— 13 but he who holds out to the end, he will come safe through;— 14 and this gospel of the Reign will be proclaimed in all the world of men, for an attestation to all the nations. And then the end will come.

15 “So when you see standing in a sacred place the desolating abomination spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader note), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; 17 let him who is on the roof not go down to take away what is in his house, 18 and let him who is in the field not go back to pick up his cloak; 19 and woe to women who are pregnant and nursing in those days! 20 But pray that your flight may not come in winter or on a sabbath; 21 for then there will be such great distress as there has not been from the beginning of the world till now, nor shall be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short no flesh would have come safe through; but because of the chosen those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anybody says to you ‘here is the Messiah at this place or this’ do not believe it; 24* for there will arise pretended Messiahs and pretended prophets, and they will exhibit great tokens and wonders, so as to delude even the chosen if possible; 25 now I have told you beforehand. 26 So if they say to you ‘here he is, in the wilderness,’ do not go out; ‘here he is, in the closets,’ do not believe it; 27 for as the lightning comes out of the eastern horizon and shines to the western, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man; 28 wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.

29 “But directly after the distress of those days the sun will turn dark and the moon will not give its radiance, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; 30 and then will the token of the Son of Man appear in the sky; and then will all the tribes of the earth wail, and see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory; 31 and he will send out his angels with the sound of a great trumpet, and they will gather his chosen from the four winds, from one edge of the sky to the other. 32 But learn from the fig-tree this parable: when its twigs come to be tender and put out their leaves you know that the summer is near; 33 so you too, when you see all this, are to know that he is near, at the doors. 34 I tell you verily that this generation shall not pass away till all this has taken place. 35 The heavens and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not. 36 But as to that day and hour nobody knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in those days before the flood they ate and drank, married and got their children married, till the day that Noah went into the ark, 39 and before they knew it the flood came and carried off one and all, so shall be also the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then there will be two men in the field, one is taken along and one is left; 41 two women grinding at the mill, one is taken along and one is left.

42 “So keep awake, because you do not know on what day your Master is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the man of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Accordingly be ready yourselves, because it will be at the moment when you are not thinking of it that the Son of Man comes. 45 Who, then, is the faithful and intelligent servant whom the master has set over his household to give them their food at the right time? 46 Happy is that servant whom his master, when he comes, shall find doing thus: 47 I tell you verily he will set him over all his property. 48 But if that worthless servant says to himself ‘My master is staying late’ 49 and begins to beat his fellowservants and eats and drinks with the drunken, 50 that servant’s master will come on a day when he does not expect it and at an hour that he does not know, 51* and will cut him in two and allot him a part among the hypocrites: there will the weeping and the grinding of teeth be.