⁸And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’^z and, ‘The time is near!’^a Do not go after them.^*

⁹“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” ¹⁰Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom;^* ¹¹there will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

¹²“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.^* ¹³This will give you an opportunity to testify.^* ¹⁴So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance,^* ¹⁵for I will give you words^b and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.^* ¹⁶You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.^* ¹⁷You will be hated by all because of my name.^* ¹⁸But not a hair of your head will perish.^* ¹⁹By your endurance you will gain your souls.^*

The Destruction of Jerusalem Foretold

²⁰“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.^c^* ²¹Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it,^* ²²for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written.^* ²³Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; ²⁴they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the times of the nations are fulfilled.^*

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁵“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.^* ²⁶People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.^*

Read in Logos

Footnotes

zGk I am
aOr at hand
bGk a mouth
cOr is at hand

Cross references

*Mk 13:21; Lk 17:23
*2 Chr 15:6; Isa 19:2
*Jn 16:2
*Phil 1:12
*Lk 12:11, 12
*Lk 12:12
*Lk 12:52, 53
*Mt 10:22
*Mt 10:30; Lk 12:7
*Rev 2:7
*Lk 19:43
*Lk 17:31
*Isa 63:4; Dan 9:24–27; Zech 11:1
*Isa 63:18; Dan 8:13; 9:27; 12:7; Rom 11:25; Rev 11:2
*2 Pet 3:10, 12
*Rev 1:7; 14:14