Mark 13–14

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

13:1–37pp—Mt 24:1–51; Lk 21:5–36

13As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

²“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”^a

³As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives^b opposite the temple, Peter, James, John^c and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

⁵Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.^{d 6}Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. ⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues.^e On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. ¹¹Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.^f

¹²“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.^{g 13}Everyone will hate you because of me,^h but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.ⁱ

¹⁴“When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’^aj standing where it^b does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. ¹⁶Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. ¹⁷How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!^{k 18}Pray that this will not take place in winter, ¹⁹because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world,^l until now—and never to be equaled again.^m

²⁰“If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. ²¹At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.^{n 22}For false messiahs and false prophets^o will appear and perform signs and wonders^p to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²³So be on your guard;^q I have told you everything ahead of time.

²⁴“But in those days, following that distress,

“ ‘the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light;

²⁵the stars will fall from the sky,

and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’^cr

²⁶“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds^s with great power and glory. ²⁷And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.^t

²⁸“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it^d is near, right at the door. ³⁰Truly I tell you, this generation^u will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.^{v 31}Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.^w

The Day and Hour Unknown

³²“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.^{x 33}Be on guard! Be alert^e!^y You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants^z in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”^a

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

14:1–11pp—Mt 26:2–16 14:1,2,10,11pp—Lk 22:1–6 14:3–8Ref—Jn 12:1–8

14Now the Passover^b and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.^{c 2}“But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

³While he was in Bethany,^d reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.^e

⁴Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages^a and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

⁶“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷The poor you will always have with you,^b and you can help them any time you want.^f But you will not always have me. ⁸She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.^{g 9}Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world,^h what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve,ⁱ went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.^{j 11}They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

The Last Supper

14:12–26pp—Mt 26:17–30; Lk 22:7–23 14:22–25pp—1Co 11:23–25

¹²On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb,^k Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

¹³So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹⁵He will show you a large room upstairs,^l furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”

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

¹⁷When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. ¹⁸While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

²⁰“It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me.^{m 21}The Son of Manⁿ will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²²While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it^o and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

²³Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.^p

²⁴“This is my blood of the^c covenant,^q which is poured out for many,” he said to them. ²⁵“Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”^r

²⁶When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.^s

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

14:27–31pp—Mt 26:31–35

²⁷“You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written:

“ ‘I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep will be scattered.’^dt

²⁸But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”^u

²⁹Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”

³⁰“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice^e you yourself will disown me three times.”^v

³¹But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you,^w I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.

Gethsemane

14:32–42pp—Mt 26:36–46; Lk 22:40–46

³²They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³He took Peter, James and John^x along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ³⁴“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,”^y he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

³⁵Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour^z might pass from him. ³⁶“Abba,^f Father,”^a he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup^b from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”^c

³⁷Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? ³⁸Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.^d The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”^e

³⁹Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. ⁴⁰When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

⁴¹Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour^f has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴²Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Jesus Arrested

14:43–50pp—Mt 26:47–56; Lk 22:47–50; Jn 18:3–11

⁴³Just as he was speaking, Judas,^g one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.

⁴⁴Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” ⁴⁵Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!”^h and kissed him. ⁴⁶The men seized Jesus and arrested him. ⁴⁷Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

⁴⁸“Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? ⁴⁹Every day I was with you, teaching in the…