⁵So Jesus began to say to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you! ⁶Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will deceive many. ⁷And when you hear about wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁸For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. These things are the beginning of birth pains.

Persecution of Disciples Predicted

⁹“But you, watch out for yourselves! They will hand you over to councils and you will be beaten in the synagogues and will have to stand before governors and kings because of me, for a witness to them. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations.^a ¹¹And when they arrest you and^* hand you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you should say, but whatever is given to you at that hour, say this. For you are not the ones who are speaking, but the Holy Spirit. ¹²And brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his^* child, and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ¹³And you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end—this one will be saved.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁴“But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be” (let the one who reads understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains! ¹⁵The one^b who is on his^c housetop must not come down or go inside to take anything out of his house, ¹⁶and the one who is in the field must not turn back to pick up his cloak. ¹⁷And woe to those who are pregnant^d and to those who are nursing their babies^* in those days! ¹⁸But pray that it will not happen in winter. ¹⁹For in those days there will be tribulation of such a kind as has not happened from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will happen. ²⁰And if the Lord had not shortened the days, no human being would be saved.^e But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he has shortened the days.

²¹“And at that time if anyone should say to you, “Behold, here is the Christ,’ ‘Behold, there he is,’ do not believe him!^* ²²For false messiahs and false prophets will appear, and will produce signs and wonders in order to mislead, if possible, the elect. ²³But you, watch out! I have told you everything ahead of time!

The Arrival of the Son of Man

²⁴“But in those days, after that tribulation,

‘the sun will be darkened

and the moon will not give its light,

²⁵and the stars will be falling from heaven,

and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.’^f

²⁶And then they will see the Son of Man arriving in the clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷And then he will send out the angels, and will gather the^g elect together from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.

Read in Logos

Mark 13:26: And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

Footnotes

aOr “Gentiles”; the same Greek word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context
*Here “and” is supplied because the participle (“hand you over”) has been translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style
*The word “his” is not in the Greek text but is implied
bSome manuscripts have “And the one”
cLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
dLiterally “who have in the womb”
*The words “their babies” are not in the Greek text but are supplied as a necessary clarification
eLiterally “every flesh would not be saved”
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
fA quotation from Isa 13:10; 34:4
gSome manuscripts have “his”