^24:9“Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations¹⁷ because of my name.¹⁸^24:10Then many will be led into sin,¹⁹ and they will betray one another and hate one another. ^24:11And many false prophets will appear and deceive²⁰ many, ^24:12and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. ^24:13But the person who endures to the end will be saved.²¹^24:14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations,²² and then the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

^24:15“So when you see the abomination of desolation²³—spoken about by Daniel the prophet—standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), ^24:16then those in Judea must flee²⁴ to the mountains. ^24:17The one on the roof²⁵ must not come down²⁶ to take anything out of his house, ^24:18and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ^24:19Woe²⁷ to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! ^24:20Pray²⁸ that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

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Footnotes

16 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
17 Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).
19 Or “many will fall away.” This could also refer to apostasy.
20 Or “and lead many astray.”
21 But the person who endures to the end will be saved. Jesus was not claiming here that salvation is by works. He was simply arguing that genuine faith evidences itself in persistence through even the worst of trials.
22 Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).
23 The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167 b.c., the words of Jesus seem to indicate that Antiochus was not the final fulfillment, but that there was (from Jesus’ perspective) still another fulfillment yet to come. Some argue that this was realized in a.d. 70, while others claim that it refers specifically to Antichrist and will not be fully realized until the period of the great tribulation at the end of the age (cf. Mark 13:14, 19, 24; Rev 3:10).
24 Fleeing to the mountains is a key OT image: Gen 19:17; Judg 6:2; Isa 15:5; Jer 16:16; Zech 14:5.
25 On the roof. Most of the roofs in the NT were flat roofs made of pounded dirt, sometimes mixed with lime or stones, supported by heavy wooden beams. They generally had an easy means of access, either a sturdy wooden ladder or stone stairway, sometimes on the outside of the house.
26 The swiftness and devastation of the judgment will require a swift escape. There will be no time to come down from the roof and pick up anything from inside one’s home.
27 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
28 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

Cross references

18 See Matt 5:10–12; 1 Cor 1:25–31.