Matthew 24:1–28

Signs of the End

24Jesus left the temple. He was walking away when his disciples came up to him. They wanted to call his attention to the temple buildings.

²“Do you see all these things?” Jesus asked. “What I’m about to tell you is true. Not one stone here will be left on top of another. Every stone will be thrown down.”

³Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives. There the disciples came to him in private. “Tell us,” they said. “When will this happen? And what will be the sign of your coming? What will be the sign of the end?”

⁴Jesus answered, “Keep watch! Be careful that no one fools you. ⁵Many will come in my name. They will claim, ‘I am the Christ!’ They will fool many people.

⁶“You will hear about wars. You will also hear people talking about future wars. Don’t be alarmed. Those things must happen. But the end still isn’t here. ⁷Nation will fight against nation. Kingdom will fight against kingdom. People will go hungry. There will be earthquakes in many places. ⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“Then people will hand you over to be treated badly and killed. All nations will hate you because of me. ¹⁰At that time, many will turn away from their faith. They will hate each other. They will hand each other over to their enemies. ¹¹Many false prophets will appear. They will fool many people. ¹²Because evil will grow, most people’s love will grow cold. ¹³But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴This good news of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world. It will be a witness to all nations. Then the end will come.

¹⁵“The prophet Daniel spoke about ‘the hated thing that destroys.’ Someday you will see it standing in the holy place. The reader should understand this. ¹⁶Then those who are in Judea should escape to the mountains. ¹⁷No one on the roof should go down into his house to take anything out. ¹⁸No one in the field should go back to get his coat. ¹⁹How awful it will be in those days for pregnant women! How awful for nursing mothers! ²⁰Pray that you will not have to escape in winter or on the Sabbath day. ²¹There will be terrible suffering in those days. It will be worse than any other from the beginning of the world until now. And there will never be anything like it again. ²²If the time had not been cut short, no one would live. But because of God’s chosen people, it will be shortened.

²³“At that time someone may say to you, ‘Look! Here is the Christ!’ Or, ‘There he is!’ Do not believe it. ²⁴False Christs and false prophets will appear. They will do great signs and miracles. They will try to fool God’s chosen people if possible. ²⁵See, I have told you ahead of time.

²⁶“So if anyone tells you, ‘He is far out in the desert,’ do not go out there. Or if anyone says, ‘He is deep inside the house,’ do not believe it. ²⁷Lightning that comes from the east can be seen in the west. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. ²⁸The vultures will gather wherever there is a dead body.