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.

The Abomination of Desolation

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!* 27 For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Arrival of the Son of Man

29 “And immediately after the tribulation of those days,

‘the sun will be darkened

and the moon will not give its light,

and the stars will fall from heaven,

and the powers of heaven will be shaken.’g

30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,h and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaveni with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect together from the four winds, from one end of heavenj to the other end of it.