Matthew 24

1 And having gone forth, Jesus departed from the temple, and His disciples came near to show Him the buildings of the temple,

As Jesus was leaving the Temple his disciples came to him, pointing proudly to the Temple buildings.

2 and Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these? Truly I say to you, there may not be left here a stone on a stone that will not be thrown down.”

But Jesus replied, “You see all these buildings? I tell you the truth: there won't be one stone left upon another. Every last one will come crashing down!”

3 And when He is sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came near to Him by Himself, saying, “Tell us, when will these be? And what [is] the sign of Your coming, and of the full end of the age?” (aiōn g165)

As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him in private, and asked, “Please tell us when this will happen. What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the world?” (aiōn g165)

4 And Jesus answering said to them, “Take heed that no one may lead you astray,

“Make sure no one misleads you,” Jesus replied.

5 for many will come in My Name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray,

“Many will come claiming to be me, saying, ‘I'm the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many people.

6 and you will begin to hear of wars, and reports of wars; see, do not be troubled, for it is necessary for all [these] to come to pass, but the end is not yet.

You'll hear about wars, and rumors about wars, but don't be anxious. These things have to happen, but this isn't the end.

7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in various places;

Nations will attack other nations, and kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places,

8 and all these [are the] beginning of travails;

but all these things are just the beginnings of birth pains.

9 then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of My Name;

Then they will arrest you, they will persecute you, and they will kill you. All people will hate you because of me.

10 and then will many be stumbled, and they will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.

At that time many believers will give up believing. They will betray one another and hate one another.

11 And many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray;

Many false prophets will come and deceive many people.

12 and because of the abounding of the lawlessness, the love of the many will become cold;

The increasing evil will lead the love of many to grow cold,

13 but he who endured to the end, he will be saved;

but those who hold out to the end will be saved.

14 and this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world, for a testimony to all the nations, and then will the end arrive.

The good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed around the whole world so everyone will be able to hear it, and then the end will come.

15 Whenever, therefore, you may see the abomination of the desolation, that was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever is reading let him observe)

So when you see the ‘idolatry that defiles’ standing in the holy place that the prophet Daniel spoke about (those who read this please consider carefully),

16 then those in Judea—let them flee to the mountains;

then the people living in Judea should run away to the mountains.

17 he on the housetop—do not let him come down to take up anything out of his house;

Anyone who is on the housetop must not go down and fetch what's in the house.

18 and he in the field—do not let him turn back to take his garments.

Anyone who is out in the fields must not go back to get a coat.

19 And woe to those with child, and to those giving suck in those days;

How awful it will be for those who are pregnant, and those who are nursing babies at that time!

20 and pray that your flight may not be in winter, nor on a Sabbath;

Pray that you don't have to run away in winter, or on the Sabbath day.

21 for there will then be great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor may be.

For at that time there will be terrible persecution—more terrible than anything that has happened from the beginning of the world up till now, and won't ever happen again.

22 And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but because of the chosen will those days be shortened.

Unless those days are cut short, nobody will be saved, but for the sake of the chosen those days will be cut short.

23 Then if anyone may say to you, Behold, here [is] the Christ! Or, Here! You may not believe;

So if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here's the Messiah,’ or, ‘There he is,’ don't believe it.

24 for there will arise false Christs, and false prophets, and they will give great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, also the chosen.

For false messiahs will appear, and false prophets too, and they will perform incredible signs and miracles in order to deceive the chosen, if that were possible.

25 Behold, I told you beforehand.

Notice that I've told you this before it even happens.

26 If therefore they may say to you, Behold, He is in the wilderness, you may not go forth; Behold, in the inner chambers, you may not believe;

So if they tell you, ‘Look, he's out in the desert,’ don't go looking there; or if they say, ‘Look, he's secretly here,’ don't believe it.

27 for as the lightning comes forth from the east, and appears to the west, so will also be the coming of the Son of Man;

For the coming of the Son of man will be like the lightning that flashes brightly from east to west.

28 for wherever the carcass may be, there the eagles will be gathered together.

‘Vultures gather where the carcass is.’

29 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;

But right after those days of persecution the sun will be darkened, the moon will not shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.

30 and then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in the sky; and then will all the tribes of the earth strike the breast, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven, with power and much glory;

Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and in brilliant glory.

31 and He will send His messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to the ends thereof.

With a blast from a trumpet he will send his angels to gather his chosen ones from every place, from one end of heaven and earth to the other.

32 And from the fig tree learn the allegory: when its branch may have already become tender, and it may put forth the leaves, you know that summer [is] near,

Learn an illustration from the fig tree. When its shoots become tender and leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is coming.

33 so also you, when you may see all these, you know that it is near—at the doors.

In the same way when you see all these things happening, you know that his coming is near, in fact it's right at the door!

34 Truly I say to you, this generation may not pass away until all these may come to pass.

I tell you the truth: this generation won't pass away until all these things have happened.

35 The heaven and the earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words won't pass away.

36 And concerning that day and the hour no one has known—not even the messengers of the heavens—except My Father only;

But no one knows the day or hour when this will take place, not the angels in heaven, nor the Son. Only the Father knows.

37 and as the days of Noah—so will also be the coming of the Son of Man;

When the Son of man comes it will be like it was during the time of Noah.

38 for as they were, in the days before the flood, eating, and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the Ark,

It will be as in the days before the flood, when they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, right up until the day that Noah went into the ark.

39 and they did not know until the flood came and took all away, so will also be the coming of the Son of Man.

They didn't realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That's how the coming of the Son of man will be.

40 Then two [men] will be in the field: one is received, and one is left;

Two men will be working in the fields. One will be taken, the other left.

41 two [women] will be grinding in the mill: one is received, and one is left.

Two women will be grinding grain with a mill. One will be taken, the other left.

42 Watch therefore, because you have not known in what hour your Lord comes;

So stay alert, because you don't know what day your Lord is coming.

43 and know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief comes, he had watched, and did not permit his house to be broken through;

But consider this: if the house-owner knew what time a thief was coming, he would keep watch. He would not allow his house to be broken into and robbed.

44 because of this also you, become ready, because in what hour you do not think, the Son of Man comes.

You also need to be ready, because the Son of man is coming at a time when you're not expecting him.

45 Who, then, is the servant, faithful and wise, whom his lord set over his household, to give them the nourishment in season?

For who is the trustworthy and thoughtful servant? It's the one his master puts in charge of his household to provide them with food at the proper time.

46 Blessed that servant, whom his lord, having come, will find doing so;

How good it will be for that servant to be found doing that when his master returns!

47 truly I say to you that he will set him over all his substance.

I tell you the truth: the master will put that servant in charge over everything he has.

48 And if that evil servant may say in his heart, My lord delays to come,

But if he was evil, the servant would say to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time,’

49 and may begin to beat the fellow-servants, and to eat and to drink with the drunken,

and would start beating the other servants, feasting and drinking with the drunks.

50 the lord of that servant will arrive in a day when he does not expect, and in an hour of which he does not know,

Then that servant's master will return when the man doesn't expect him, at a time he doesn't know.

51 and will cut him off, and will appoint his portion with the hypocrites; there will be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.”

He'll cut him to pieces, and treat him in the same way as the hypocrites, sending him to a place where there's crying and gnashing of teeth.

The World is Destroyed by Water