Signs of Christ’s Return

24 ^(A)Jesus ^(B)left the temple area and was going on His way ^[a]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, ^(C)not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³ And as He was sitting on ^(D)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 ^(E)Your coming, and of the ^[b]end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(F)See to it that no one ^[c]misleads you. ⁵ For ^(G)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the ^[d]Christ,’ and they will ^[e]mislead many people. ⁶ And you will be hearing of ^(H)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 ^(I)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^(J)famines and earthquakes in various places. ^8 (K)But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “^(L)Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and ^(M)you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ And at that time many will ^[f](N)fall away, and they will ^[g]betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many ^(O)false prophets will rise up and ^[h]mislead many people. ¹² And because lawlessness is increased, ^[i]most people’s love will become cold. ^13 (P)But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. ¹⁴ This ^(Q)gospel of the kingdom ^(R)shall be preached in the whole ^[j](S)world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Perilous Times

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the ^(T)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in ^(U)the holy place—^[k](V)let the ^[l]reader understand— ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^17 [m]Whoever is on ^(W)the ^[n]housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. ¹⁸ And ^[o]whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹ But ^(X)woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ Moreover, pray that ^[p]when you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be a ^(Y)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 ^[q]life would have been saved; but for ^(Z)the sake of the ^[r]elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (AA)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ^[s]Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him. ²⁴ For false christs and ^(AB)false prophets will arise and will provide great ^[t](AC)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even ^(AD)the ^[u]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 (AE)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the ^(AF)coming of the ^(AG)Son of Man ^[v]be. ^28 (AH)Wherever the corpse is, there the ^[w]vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

²⁹ “But immediately after the ^(AI)tribulation of those days ^(AJ)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(AK)the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then ^(AL)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 ^(AM)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(AN)He will send forth His angels with ^(AO)a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His ^[x](AP)elect from ^(AQ)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, ^[y]recognize that ^[z]He is near, right ^(AR)at the ^[aa]door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you, ^(AS)this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ^35 (AT)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶ “But ^(AU)about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For ^[ab]the ^(AV)coming of the Son of Man will be ^(AW)just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(AX)marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that ^(AY)Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not ^[ac]understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the ^(AZ)coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ At that time there will be two men in the field; one ^[ad]will be taken and one ^[ae]will be left. ^41 (BA)Two women will be grinding at the ^[af](BB)mill; one ^[ag]will be taken and one ^[ah]will be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

⁴² “Therefore ^(BC)be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But ^[ai]be sure of this, that ^(BD)if the head of the house had known ^(BE)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 ^(BF)you must be ready as well; for ^(BG)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵ “^(BH)Who then is the ^(BI)faithful and ^(BJ)sensible slave whom his ^[aj]master ^(BK)put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave whom his ^[ak]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I say to you that ^(BL)he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My ^[al]master ^[am]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 ^[an]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 ^[ao]cut him in two and assign ^[ap]him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be ^(BM)weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Sanctification and Love

4 ^(A)Finally then, ^(B)brothers and sisters, we request and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us as to how you ought to ^[a](C)walk and ^(D)please God (just as you actually do ^[b]walk), that you ^(E)excel even more. ² For you know what instructions we gave you ^[c]by the authority of the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you ^(F)abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that ^(G)each of you know how to ^[d]possess his own ^[e](H)vessel in sanctification and ^(I)honor, ⁵ not in ^[f](J)lustful passion, like the Gentiles who ^(K)do not know God; ⁶ and that no one violate the rights and ^(L)take advantage of his brother or sister ^(M)in the matter, because ^(N)the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also ^(O)told you previously and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For ^(P)God has not called us for ^[g](Q)impurity, but in sanctification. ⁸ Therefore, the one who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who ^(R)gives His Holy Spirit to you.

⁹ Now as to the ^(S)love of the brothers and sisters, you ^(T)have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are ^(U)taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰ for indeed ^(V)you practice it toward all the brothers and sisters who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to ^(W)excel even more, ¹¹ and to make it your ambition ^(X)to lead a quiet life and ^(Y)attend to your own business and ^(Z)work with your hands, just as we instructed you, ¹² so that you will ^[h](AA)behave properly toward ^(AB)outsiders and ^[i](AC)not be in any need.

Those Who Died in Christ

¹³ But ^(AD)we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who ^[j](AE)are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed ^(AF)the rest of mankind do, who have ^(AG)no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, ^(AH)so also God will bring with Him ^(AI)those who have fallen asleep ^[k]through Jesus. ¹⁵ For we say this to you ^(AJ)by the word of the Lord, that ^(AK)we who are alive ^[l]and remain until ^(AL)the coming of the Lord will not precede ^(AM)those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord ^(AN)Himself ^(AO)will descend from heaven with a ^[m](AP)shout, with the voice of ^(AQ)the archangel and with the ^(AR)trumpet of God, and ^(AS)the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then ^(AT)we who are alive, who remain, will be ^(AU)caught up together with them ^(AV)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always ^(AW)be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore, ^[n]comfort one another with these words.