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Matthew 24:4–26
4 And Jesus answered and* said to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you! 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive many. 6 And you are going to hear about wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.a 8 But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.
Persecution of Disciples Predicted
9 “Then they will hand you over to persecution and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nationsb because of my name. 10 And then many will be led into sin and will betray one another and will hate one another, 11 and many false prophets will appear and will deceive many, 12 and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end—this person will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations,c and then the end will come.
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolationd spoken about by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place” (let the one who reads understand), 16 “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains! 17 The one who is on his* housetop must not come down to take things out of his house, 18 and the one who is in the field must not turn back to pick up his cloak. 19 And woe to those ⌊who are pregnant⌋e and to those who are nursing their babies* in those days! 20 But pray that your flight may not happen in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will happen. 22 And unless those days had been shortened, ⌊no human being would be saved⌋.f But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.
23 “At that time if anyone should say to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘Here he is,’ do not believe him!* 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear, and will produce great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you ahead of time! 26 Therefore if they say to you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or* ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it!*
| * | Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb |
| a | Or “in place after place” |
| b | Or “Gentiles”; the same Greek word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context |
| c | Or “Gentiles”; the same Greek word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context |
| d | An allusion to Dan 9:27 |
| * | Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun |
| e | Literally “who have in the womb” |
| * | The words “their babies” are not in the Greek text but are supplied as a necessary clarification |
| f | Literally “every flesh would not be saved” |
| * | Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation |
| * | Here “or” is supplied because of English style |
| * | Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation |
A service of Faithlife / Logos Bible Software
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