Matthew 23:23–26:35
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! rFor you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and shave neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! tFor you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and 3self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! uFor you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 v“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and 4adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
31 “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that wyou are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 xFill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. 33 Serpents, ybrood 5of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? 34 zTherefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: asome of them you will kill and crucify, and bsome of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 cthat on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, dfrom the blood of righteous Abel to ethe blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
37 f“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets gand stones those who are sent to her! How often hI wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks iunder her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, j‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
24 Then aJesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, bnot one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, cthe disciples came to Him privately, saying, d“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: e“Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For fmany will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ gand will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of hwars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for 1all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For ination will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be jfamines, 2pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 k“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then lmany false prophets will rise up and mdeceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow ncold. 13 oBut he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this pgospel of the kingdom qwill be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
15 r“Therefore when you see the s‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” t(whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But uwoe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For vthen there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; wbut for the 3elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
23 x“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For yfalse christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, zif possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.
27 aFor as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 bFor wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
29 c“Immediately after the tribulation of those days dthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 eThen the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, fand then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 gAnd He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His 4elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 “Now learn hthis parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know ithat 5it is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, jthis generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 kHeaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Illustration of the Days of Noah
36 l“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of 6heaven, mbut My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 nFor as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 oThen two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 pWatch therefore, for you do not know what 7hour your Lord is coming. 43 qBut know this, that if the master of the house had known what 8hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 rTherefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Illustration of the Two Servants
45 s“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food 9in due season? 46 tBlessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that uhe will make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master vis delaying 1his coming,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is wnot aware of, 51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. xThere shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet athe bridegroom. 2 bNow five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, cthey all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight da cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom 1is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and etrimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and fthe door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, g‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, hI do not know you.’
13 i“Watch therefore, for you jknow neither the day nor the hour 2in which the Son of Man is coming.
14 k“For the kingdom of heaven is llike a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, mto each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have