Matthew 23:29-24:51

New American Standard Bible

²⁹ “^(A)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves, that you ^(B)are ^[a]sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32 [b]Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. ³³ You snakes, ^(C)you ^[c]offspring of vipers, how ^[d]will you escape the ^[e]sentence of ^[f](D)hell?

³⁴ “^(E)Therefore, behold, ^(F)I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will ^(G)flog in your synagogues, and ^(H)persecute from city to city, ³⁵ so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^(I)Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the ^(J)son of Berechiah, whom ^(K)you murdered between the ^[g]temple and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon ^(L)this generation.

Grieving over Jerusalem

³⁷ “^(M)Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who ^(N)kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, ^(O)the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. ³⁸ Behold, ^(P)your house is being left to you desolate! ³⁹ For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘^(Q)Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Signs of Christ’s Return

24 ^(R)Jesus ^(S)left the temple area and was going on His way ^[h]when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. ² But He responded and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, ^(T)not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³ And as He was sitting on ^(U)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of ^(V)Your coming, and of the ^[i]end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(W)See to it that no one ^[j]misleads you. ⁵ For ^(X)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the ^[k]Christ,’ and they will ^[l]mislead many people. ⁶ And you will be hearing of ^(Y)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷ For ^(Z)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^(AA)famines and earthquakes in various places. ^8 (AB)But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “^(AC)Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and ^(AD)you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ And at that time many will ^[m](AE)fall away, and they will ^[n]betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many ^(AF)false prophets will rise up and ^[o]mislead many people. ¹² And because lawlessness is increased, ^[p]most people’s love will become cold. ^13 (AG)But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. ¹⁴ This ^(AH)gospel of the kingdom ^(AI)shall be preached in the whole ^[q](AJ)world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Perilous Times

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the ^(AK)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in ^(AL)the holy place—^[r](AM)let the ^[s]reader understand— ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^17 [t]Whoever is on ^(AN)the ^[u]housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. ¹⁸ And ^[v]whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹ But ^(AO)woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ Moreover, pray that ^[w]when you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be a ^(AP)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. ²² And if those days had not been cut short, no ^[x]life would have been saved; but for ^(AQ)the sake of the ^[y]elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (AR)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ^[z]Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him. ²⁴ For false christs and ^(AS)false prophets will arise and will provide great ^[aa](AT)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even ^(AU)the ^[ab]elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you in advance. ²⁶ So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. ^27 (AV)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the ^(AW)coming of the ^(AX)Son of Man ^[ac]be. ^28 (AY)Wherever the corpse is, there the ^[ad]vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

²⁹ “But immediately after the ^(AZ)tribulation of those days ^(BA)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(BB)the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then ^(BC)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ^(BD)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(BE)He will send forth His angels with ^(BF)a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His ^[ae](BG)elect from ^(BH)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Parable of the Fig Tree

³² “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³ so you too, when you see all these things, ^[af]recognize that ^[ag]He is near, right ^(BI)at the ^[ah]door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you, ^(BJ)this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ^35 (BK)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶ “But ^(BL)about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For ^[ai]the ^(BM)coming of the Son of Man will be ^(BN)just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(BO)marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that ^(BP)Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not ^[aj]understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the ^(BQ)coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ At that time there will be two men in the field; one ^[ak]will be taken and one ^[al]will be left. ^41 (BR)Two women will be grinding at the ^[am](BS)mill; one ^[an]will be taken and one ^[ao]will be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

⁴² “Therefore ^(BT)be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But ^[ap]be sure of this, that ^(BU)if the head of the house had known ^(BV)at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ For this reason ^(BW)you must be ready as well; for ^(BX)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵ “^(BY)Who then is the ^(BZ)faithful and ^(CA)sensible slave whom his ^[aq]master ^(CB)put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave whom his ^[ar]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I say to you that ^(CC)he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My ^[as]master ^[at]is not coming for a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk; ⁵⁰ then the ^[au]master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, ⁵¹ and he will ^[av]cut him in two and assign ^[aw]him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be ^(CD)weeping and gnashing of teeth.