Mark 13

CHAPTER 13

Signs of Christ’s Return

^1aAnd as He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples ^*said to Him, “Teacher, behold ¹what wonderful stones and ²what wonderful buildings!”

²And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? ^aNot one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”

³And as He was sitting on ^athe Mount of Olives opposite the temple, ^bPeter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately,

⁴“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the ¹sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?”

⁵And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one deceives you.

⁶“Many will come in My name, saying, ‘^aI am He!’ and will mislead many.

⁷“And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.

⁸“For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“But see to yourselves; for they will ^adeliver you to the ¹courts, and you will be beaten ^bin the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a witness to them.

¹⁰“^aAnd the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations.

¹¹“^aAnd when they lead you away, delivering you up, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.

¹²“And brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and ¹have them put to death.

¹³“^aAnd you will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

The Abomination of Desolation and the Tribulation

¹⁴“But ^awhen you see the ^babomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

¹⁵“^aAnd the one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house;

¹⁶and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his garment.

¹⁷“But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!

¹⁸“But pray that it may not happen in the winter.

¹⁹“For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred ^asince the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will.

²⁰“And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no ¹life would have been saved; but for the sake of the ²elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.

²¹“And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ¹Christ’; or, ‘Behold, He is there’; do not believe him;

²²for false christs and ^afalse prophets will arise, and will show ^1bsigns and ^cwonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

²³“But as for you, see! I have told you everything in advance.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁴“But in those days, after that tribulation, ^athe sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light,

^25aand the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in ¹the heavens will be shaken.

²⁶“And then they will see ^athe Son of Man ^bcoming in clouds with great power and glory.

²⁷“And then He will send forth the angels, and ^awill gather together His ¹elect from the four winds, ^bfrom the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

The Parable of the Fig Tree

²⁸“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.

²⁹“Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, ¹recognize that ²He is near, right at the ³door.

³⁰“Truly I say to you, this ¹generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

³¹“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³²“^aBut of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

³³“See to it, ^akeep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time ¹will come.

³⁴“^aIt is like a man away on a journey, who, leaving his house and giving authority to his slaves—each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay awake.

³⁵“Therefore, ^astay awake—for you do not know when the ¹master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or ^bwhen the rooster crows, or ^cin the morning—

³⁶lest he come suddenly and find you ^asleeping.

³⁷“And what I say to you I say to all, ‘^aStay awake!’”