The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times^(A)

13 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

² “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”^(B)

³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives^(C) opposite the temple, Peter, James, John^(D) and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

⁵ Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.^{(E) 6} Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. ⁷ When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

¹⁰ Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.^{(A) 11} There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.^(B)

⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.

¹² “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. ¹³ And so you will bear testimony to me.^{(A) 14} But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.^{(B) 15} For I will give you^(C) words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. ¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends,^(D) and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷ Everyone will hate you because of me.^{(E) 18} But not a hair of your head will perish.^{(F) 19} Stand firm, and you will win life.^(G)

²⁰ “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies,^(H) you will know that its desolation is near. ²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city.^{(I) 22} For this is the time of punishment^(J) in fulfillment^(K) of all that has been written. ²³ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. ²⁴ They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled^(L) on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted^(A) and put to death,^(B) and you will be hated by all nations because of me.^{(C) 10} At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets^(D) will appear and deceive many people.^{(E) 12} Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.^{(F) 14} And this gospel of the kingdom^(G) will be preached in the whole world^(H) as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵ “So when you see standing in the holy place^(I) ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’^[a](J) spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let no one on the housetop^(K) go down to take anything out of the house. ¹⁸ Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. ¹⁹ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!^{(L) 20} Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.^(M)

²² “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect^(N) those days will be shortened. ²³ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.^{(O) 24} For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders^(P) to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you ahead of time.

²⁶ “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as lightning^(Q) that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming^(R) of the Son of Man.^{(S) 28} Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.^(T)

²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days

²⁵ “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.^{(A) 26} People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.^(B)

³⁰ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth^[a] will mourn^(A) when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,^(B) with power and great glory.^[b]

²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”^(A)

³¹ And he will send his angels^(A) with a loud trumpet call,^(B) and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³² “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it^[a] is near, right at the door.^{(C) 34} Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.^{(D) 35} Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.^(E)

The Day and Hour Unknown^(F)(G)

³⁶ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[b] but only the Father.^{(H) 37} As it was in the days of Noah,^(I) so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,^(J) up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.^{(K) 40} Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.^{(L) 41} Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.^(M)

⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.^(N)