Mark 13:14–14:31

¹⁴“You will see ‘the hated thing that destroys.’ It will stand where it does not belong. The reader should understand this. Then those who are in Judea should escape to the mountains. ¹⁵No one on the roof should go down into his house to take anything out. ¹⁶No one in the field should go back to get his coat. ¹⁷How awful it will be in those days for pregnant women! How awful for nursing mothers! ¹⁸Pray that this will not happen in winter.

¹⁹“Those days will be worse than any others from the time God created the world until now. And there will never be any like them again. ²⁰If the Lord had not cut the time short, no one would live. But because of God’s chosen people, he has shortened it.

²¹“At that time someone may say to you, ‘Look! Here is the Christ!’ Or, ‘Look! There he is!’ Do not believe it. ²²False Christs and false prophets will appear. They will do signs and miracles. They will try to fool God’s chosen people if possible. ²³Keep watch! I have told you everything ahead of time.

²⁴“So in those days there will be terrible suffering. After that, Scripture says,

“ ‘The sun will be darkened.

The moon will not shine.

²⁵The stars will fall from the sky.

The heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

²⁶“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds. He will come with great power and glory. ²⁷He will send his angels. He will gather his chosen people from all four directions. He will bring them from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

²⁸“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹In the same way, when you see those things happening, you know that the end is near. It is right at the door. ³⁰What I’m about to tell you is true. The people living at that time will certainly not pass away until all those things have happened. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away. But my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Are Not Known

³²“No one knows about that day or hour. Not even the angels in heaven know. The Son does not know. Only the Father knows.

³³“Keep watch! Stay awake! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴It’s like a man going away. He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge. Each one is given a task to do. He tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵“So keep watch! You do not know when the owner of the house will come back. It may be in the evening or at midnight. It may be when the rooster crows or at dawn. ³⁶He may come suddenly. So do not let him find you sleeping.

³⁷“What I say to you, I say to everyone. ‘Watch!’ ”

A Woman Pours Perfume on Jesus

14The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for a clever way to arrest Jesus. They wanted to kill him. ²“But not during the Feast,” they said. “The people may stir up trouble.”

³Jesus was in Bethany. He was at the table in the home of a man named Simon, who had a skin disease. A woman came with a special sealed jar of very expensive perfume. It was made out of pure nard. She broke the jar open and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head.

⁴Some of the people there became angry. They said to one another, “Why waste this perfume? ⁵It could have been sold for more than a year’s pay. The money could have been given to poor people.” So they found fault with the woman.

⁶“Leave her alone,” Jesus said. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷You will always have poor people with you. You can help them any time you want to. But you will not always have me. ⁸She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body to prepare me to be buried. ⁹What I’m about to tell you is true. What she has done will be told anywhere the good news is preached all over the world. It will be told in memory of her.”

¹⁰Judas Iscariot was one of the Twelve. He went to the chief priests to hand Jesus over to them. ¹¹They were delighted to hear that he would do this. They promised to give Judas money. So he watched for the right time to hand Jesus over to them.

The Lord’s Supper

¹²It was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That was the time to sacrifice the Passover lamb.

Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?”

¹³So he sent out two of his disciples. He told them, “Go into the city. A man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴He will enter a house. Say to its owner, ‘The Teacher asks, “Where is my guest room? Where can I eat the Passover meal with my disciples?” ’ ¹⁵He will show you a large upstairs room. It will have furniture and will be ready. Prepare for us to eat there.”

¹⁶The disciples left and went into the city. They found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover meal.

¹⁷When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. ¹⁸While they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. One of you who is eating with me will hand me over to my enemies.”

¹⁹The disciples became sad. One by one they said to him, “It’s not I, is it?”

²⁰“It is one of the Twelve,” Jesus replied. “It is the one who dips bread into the bowl with me. ²¹The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But how terrible it will be for the one who hands over the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²²While they were eating, Jesus took bread. He gave thanks and broke it. He handed it to his disciples and said, “Take it. This is my body.”

²³Then he took the cup. He gave thanks and handed it to them. All of them drank from it.

²⁴“This is my blood of the new covenant,” he said to them. “It is poured out for many. ²⁵What I’m about to tell you is true. I won’t drink wine with you again until the day I drink it in God’s kingdom.”

²⁶Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus Says That Peter Will Fail

²⁷“You will all turn away,” Jesus told the disciples. “It is written,

“ ‘I will strike the shepherd down.

Then the sheep will be scattered.’

²⁸But after I rise from the dead, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

²⁹Peter said, “All the others may turn away. But I will not.”

³⁰“What I’m about to tell you is true,” Jesus answered. “It will happen today, this very night. Before the rooster crows twice, you yourself will say three times that you don’t know me.”

³¹But Peter would not give in. He said, “I may have to die with you. But I will never say I don’t know you.” And all the others said the same thing.