< Matthew 24 >
1 And Jesus went out, and was departing from the temple, and his disciples came to him to point out to him the buildings of the temple.
2 But Jesus said to them: Do you not see all these things? Verily I say to you, There shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down,
3 And as he was sitting upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, and said: Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the age? (aiōn )
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: Take heed that no one deceive you.
5 For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and will deceive many.
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled, for all things must be fulfilled; but the end is not yet.
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in various places.
8 But all these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then they will deliver you up to affliction, and kill you; and you will be hated by all nations on my account.
10 And then will many be ensnared, and they will deliver one another up, and hate one another;
11 and many false prophets will arise, and deceive many;
12 and because iniquity abounds, the love of many will grow cold.
13 But he that endures to the end, shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole habitable earth, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the end come.
15 When, therefore, you see that detestable thing that makes desolate, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, (let him that reads understand; )
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;
17 let not him that is on the house-top come down to take his goods out of his house;
18 and let not him that is in the field turn back to take his clothing.
19 But alas for those who are with child, and those who give suck in those days!
20 Pray that your flight may not be in the winter, nor on the Sabbath:
21 for then shall be great affliction, such as has not been from the beginning of the world till now, nor shall ever be.
22 And unless those days should be made few, no flesh could be saved. But on account of the elect those days shall be made few.
23 Then if any one shall say to you: Lo! here is the Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25 Behold, I have told you beforehand.
26 Therefore, if they say to you: Behold, he is in the desert; go not out: Behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning comes out from the east, and shines even to the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wherever the carcass is, there will the vultures come together.
29 Immediately after the affliction of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the hosts of the heavens shall be shaken.
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the land mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he will send his angels with a trumpet of great voice, and they shall gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 Learn now a parable from the fig-tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.
33 So also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the doors.
34 Verily I say to you, This generation shall not pass away till all these things shall have taken place.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, till the day in which Noah entered the ark,
39 and knew not, till the flood came and took them all away: so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
40 Then two men shall be in the field; one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch, therefore, for you know not at what hour your Lord is coming.
43 But know this, That if the master of the house had known at what watch the thief comes, he would have watched, and would not have permitted his house to be broken open.
44 For this reason, be you also ready; for at an hour in which you think not, the Son of man comes.
45 Who then is that faithful and wise servant, whom his master has made ruler over his household servants, to give them their food in due time?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his master, when he comes, shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say to you, That he will make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But if that wicked servant shall say in his heart, My master delays his coming;
49 and shall begin to strike his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken;
50 the master of that servant will come in a day in which he looks not for him, and at an hour which he knows not,
51 and will cut him in two, and appoint him his part with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
