Psalm 146

¹⁴ “The day is coming when you will see the sacrilegious object that causes desecration^[a] standing where he^[b] should not be.” (Reader, pay attention!) “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. ¹⁵ A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. ¹⁶ A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. ¹⁷ How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. ¹⁸ And pray that your flight will not be in winter. ¹⁹ For there will be greater anguish in those days than at any time since God created the world. And it will never be so great again. ²⁰ In fact, unless the Lord shortens that time of calamity, not a single person will survive. But for the sake of his chosen ones he has shortened those days.

²¹ “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. ²² For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. ²³ Watch out! I have warned you about this ahead of time!

²⁴ “At that time, after the anguish of those days,

²⁶ Then everyone will see the Son of Man^[d] coming on the clouds with great power and glory.^{[e] 27} And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world^[f]—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

³² “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. ³³ And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert^[a]!

¹³ All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. ¹⁴ Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. ¹⁵ If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. ¹⁶ But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

¹⁷ It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, ¹⁸ even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.”^{[a] 19} Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.

²⁰ It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.

²¹ It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.

²² It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.