Psalm 146

¹⁴ “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’^[a](A) standing where it^[b] does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵ Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. ¹⁶ Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. ¹⁷ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!^{(B) 18} Pray that this will not take place in winter, ¹⁹ because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world,^(C) until now—and never to be equaled again.^(D)

²⁰ “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. ²¹ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.^{(E) 22} For false messiahs and false prophets^(F) will appear and perform signs and wonders^(G) to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²³ So be on your guard;^(H) I have told you everything ahead of time.

²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

²⁶ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds^(J) with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.^(K)

The Day and Hour Unknown

³² “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.^{(A) 33} Be on guard! Be alert^[a]!^(B) You do not know when that time will come.

¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;^(A) they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance,^(B) admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.^{(C) 14} People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.^{(D) 16} Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.^(E) Therefore God is not ashamed^(F) to be called their God,^(G) for he has prepared a city^(H) for them.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.^(I) He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[a](J) 19} Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead,^(K) and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.^(L)

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons,^(M) and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

²² By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.^(N)