Matthew 24–25

The Temple to Be Destroyed

Mark 13:1, 2; Luke 21:5, 6

24Then ^aJesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. ²And 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.”

The Disciples’ Two Questions

Mark 13:3, 4; Luke 21:7

³Now 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?”

The Tribulation

Mark 13:5–23; Luke 21:5–24

⁴And Jesus answered and said to them: ^e“Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵For ^fmany will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ ^gand will deceive many. ⁶And 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. ⁷For ⁱnation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be ^jfamines, ²pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are the beginning of sorrows.

^9k“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹Then ^lmany false prophets will rise up and ^mdeceive many. ¹²And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow ⁿcold. ^13oBut he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴And 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.

^15r“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. ¹⁷Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. ¹⁹But ^uwoe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹For ^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. ²²And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; ^wbut for the ³elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

^23x“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. ²⁴For ^yfalse christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, ^zif possible, even the elect. ²⁵See, 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.

The Second Coming

Mark 13:24–27; Luke 21:25–28

^27aFor as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ^28bFor wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

^29c“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. ^30eThen 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. ^31gAnd 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.

Parable of the Fig Tree

Mark 13:28–31; Luke 21:29–33

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. ³³So you also, when you see all these things, know ⁱthat ⁵it is near—at the doors! ³⁴Assuredly, I say to you, ^jthis generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. ^35kHeaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Illustration of the Days of Noah

Mark 13:32–37; Luke 21:34–36

^36l“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of ⁶heaven, ^mbut My Father only. ³⁷But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸ⁿFor 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, ³⁹and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ^40oThen two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ^42pWatch therefore, for you do not know what ⁷hour your Lord is coming. ^43qBut 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. ^44rTherefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Illustration of the Two Servants

Luke 12:41–48

^45s“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food ⁹in due season? ^46tBlessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. ⁴⁷Assuredly, I say to you that ^uhe will make him ruler over all his goods. ⁴⁸But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master ^vis delaying ¹his coming,’ ⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, ⁵⁰the 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, ⁵¹and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. ^xThere shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Parable of the Ten Virgins

25“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet ^athe bridegroom. ^2bNow five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵But 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!’ ⁷Then all those virgins arose and ^etrimmed their lamps. ⁸And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But 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.’ ¹⁰And 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!’ ¹²But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, ^hI do not know you.’

¹³ⁱ“Watch therefore, for you ^jknow neither the day nor the hour ²in which the Son of Man is coming.

Parable of the Talents

^14k“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. ¹⁵And 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. ¹⁶Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. ¹⁸But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹After 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 gained five more talents besides them.’ ²¹His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were ⁿfaithful over a few things, ^oI will make you ruler over many things. Enter into ^pthe joy of your lord.’ ²²He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ ²³His lord said to him, ^q‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into ^rthe joy of your lord.’

²⁴“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

²⁶“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You ^swicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

^29t‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰And cast the unprofitable servant ^uinto the outer darkness. ^vThere will be weeping and ^wgnashing of teeth.’

Judgement of the Gentiles

^31x“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the ³holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ^32yAll the nations will be gathered before Him, and ^zHe will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. ³³And He will set the ^asheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, ^binherit the kingdom ^cprepared for you from the foundation of the world: ^35dfor I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; ^eI was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶I was ^fnaked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; ^gI was in prison and you came to Me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see…