Matthew 24:1–51

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.