Matthew 23:29–25:46

29 “aWoe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,

30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

31 “So you testify against yourselves, that you aare 1sons of those who murdered the prophets.

32 “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

33 “You serpents, ayou brood of vipers, how 1will you escape the 2sentence of 3bhell?

34 “aTherefore, behold, bI am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will cscourge in your synagogues, and dpersecute from city to city,

35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous aAbel to the blood of Zechariah, the bson of Berechiah, whom cyou murdered between the 1temple and the altar.

36 “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon athis generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

37 “aJerusalem, Jerusalem, who bkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, cthe way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

38 “Behold, ayour house is being left to you desolate!

39 “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘aBlessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Chapter 24

Signs of Christ’s Return

1 aJesus bcame out from the temple and was going away 1when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.

2 And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, anot one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

3 As He was sitting on athe Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of bYour coming, and of the 1end of the age?”

4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “aSee to it that no one misleads you.

5 “For amany will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the 1Christ,’ and will mislead many.

6 “You will be hearing of awars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.

7 “For anation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be bfamines and earthquakes.

8 “aBut all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

9 “aThen they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and byou will be hated by all nations because of My name.

10 “At that time many will 1afall away and will 2betray one another and hate one another.

11 “Many afalse prophets will arise and will mislead many.

12 “Because lawlessness is increased, 1most people’s love will grow cold.

13 “aBut the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

14 “This agospel of the kingdom bshall be preached in the whole 1cworld as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Perilous Times

15 “Therefore when you see the aabomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in bthe holy place (clet the reader understand),

16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

17 “1Whoever is on athe housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house.

18 “1Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.

19 “But awoe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!

20 “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.

21 “For then there will be a agreat tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.

22 “Unless those days had been cut short, no 1life would have been saved; but for athe sake of the 2elect those days will be cut short.

23 “aThen if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the 1Christ,’ or ‘2There He is,’ do not believe him.

24 “For false Christs and afalse prophets will arise and will 1show great 2bsigns and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even cthe 3elect.

25 “Behold, I have told you in advance.

26 “So 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 them.

27 “aFor just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the bcoming of the cSon of Man be.

28 “aWherever the corpse is, there the 1vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

29 “But immediately after the atribulation of those days bthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and cthe stars will fall from 1the sky, and the powers of 1the heavens will be shaken.

30 “And then athe sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see bthe Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.

31 “And aHe will send forth His angels with ba great trumpet and they will gather together His 1celect from dthe four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Parable of the Fig Tree

32 “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;

33 so, you too, when you see all these things, 1recognize that 2He is near, right aat the 3door.

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

35 “aHeaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

36 “But aof that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

37 “For 1the acoming of the Son of Man will be bjust like the days of Noah.

38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, amarrying and giving in marriage, until the day that bNoah entered the ark,

39 and they did not 1understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the acoming of the Son of Man be.

40 “Then there will be two men in the field; one 1will be taken and one 1will be left.

41 “aTwo women will be grinding at the 1bmill; one 2will be taken and one 2will be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

42 “Therefore abe on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

43 “But 1be sure of this, that aif the head of the house had known bat what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be 2broken into.

44 “For this reason ayou also must be ready; for bthe Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

45 “aWho then is the bfaithful and csensible slave whom his 1master dput in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?

46 “Blessed is that slave whom his 1master finds so doing when he comes.

47 “Truly I say to you that ahe will put him in charge of all his possessions.

48 “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My 1master 2is not coming for a long time,’

49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards;

50 the 1master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,

51 and will 1cut him in pieces and 2assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be aweeping and gnashing of teeth.

Chapter 25

Parable of Ten Virgins

1 “Then athe kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their blamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

2 “Five of them were foolish, and five were aprudent.

3 “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,

4 but the aprudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.

5 “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.

6 “But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’

7 “Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.

8 “The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

9 “But the aprudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’

10 “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were aready went in with him to bthe wedding feast; and cthe door was shut.

11 “Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘aLord, lord, open up for us.’

12 “But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’

13 “aBe on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

Parable of the Talents

14 “aFor it is just like a man babout to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.

15 “To one he gave five 1atalents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he bwent on his journey.

16 “Immediately the one who had received the five atalents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.

17 “In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.

18 “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his 1master’s money.

19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves * came and * asettled accounts with them.

20 “The one who had received the five atalents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’

21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and afaithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will bput you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your 1master.’

22 “Also the one who had received the two atalents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’

23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and afaithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

24 “And the one also who had received the one atalent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.

25 ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

26 “But his master …