Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

24 ^(A)Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. ² But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, ^(B)there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Signs of the End of the Age

³ As he sat on ^(C)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him ^(D)privately, saying, “Tell us, ^(E)when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your ^(F)coming and of ^(G)the end of the age?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, ^(H)“See that no one leads you astray. ⁵ For ^(I)many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am ^(J)the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you ^(K)are not alarmed, for this ^(L)must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For ^(M)nation will rise against nation, and ^(N)kingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^(O)famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are but the beginning of ^(P)the birth pains.

⁹ “Then ^(Q)they will deliver you up ^(R)to tribulation and ^(S)put you to death, and ^(T)you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰ And then many will fall away^[a] and ^(U)betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many ^(V)false prophets will arise ^(W)and lead many astray. ¹² And because lawlessness will be increased, ^(X)the love of many will grow cold. ^13 (Y)But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom ^(Z)will be proclaimed throughout the whole world ^(AA)as a testimony ^(AB)to all nations, and ^(AC)then the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁵ “So when you see the abomination of desolation ^(AD)spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in ^(AE)the holy place (^(AF)let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ^17 (AG)Let the one who is on ^(AH)the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, ¹⁸ and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. ¹⁹ And ^(AI)alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be ^(AJ)great tribulation, ^(AK)such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. ²² And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for ^(AL)the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (AM)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For ^(AN)false christs and ^(AO)false prophets will arise and ^(AP)perform great signs and wonders, ^(AQ)so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, ^(AR)I have told you beforehand. ²⁶ So, if they say to you, ‘Look, ^(AS)he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ^27 (AT)For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be ^(AU)the coming of the Son of Man. ^28 (AV)Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁹ “Immediately after ^(AW)the tribulation of those days ^(AX)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(AY)the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then ^(AZ)will appear in heaven ^(BA)the sign of the Son of Man, and then ^(BB)all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and ^(BC)they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven ^(BD)with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(BE)he will send out his angels with a loud ^(BF)trumpet call, and they will ^(BG)gather ^(BH)his elect from ^(BI)the four winds, ^(BJ)from one end of heaven to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

³² “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, ^(BK)at the very gates. ^34 (BL)Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ^35 (BM)Heaven and earth will pass away, but ^(BN)my words will not pass away.

No One Knows That Day and Hour

³⁶ “But concerning that day and hour ^(BO)no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, ^(BP)nor the Son,^{[b] (BQ)}but the Father only. ^37 (BR)For as were the days of Noah, ^(BS)so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ^38 (BT)For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(BU)marrying and giving in marriage, until ^(BV)the day when Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, ^(BW)so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. ^41 (BX)Two women will be grinding ^(BY)at the mill; one will be taken and one left. ⁴² Therefore, ^(BZ)stay awake, for you do not know on what day ^(CA)your Lord is coming. ^43 (CB)But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night ^(CC)the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also must be ^(CD)ready, for ^(CE)the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵ “Who then is ^(CF)the faithful and ^(CG)wise servant,^[c] whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ^46 (CH)Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly, I say to you, ^(CI)he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master ^(CJ)is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants^[d] and eats and drinks with ^(CK)drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come ^(CL)on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place ^(CM)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Resurrection

24 ^(A)But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, ^(B)taking the spices they had prepared. ² And they found ^(C)the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, ^(D)two ^(E)men stood by them in dazzling apparel. ⁵ And as they were ^(F)frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, ^(G)while he was still in Galilee, ^7 (H)that the Son of Man ^(I)must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and ^(J)be crucified and on ^(K)the third day rise.” ⁸ And ^(L)they remembered his words, ⁹ and returning from the tomb they ^(M)told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now it was ^(N)Mary Magdalene and ^(O)Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, ¹¹ but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and ^(P)they did not believe them. ¹² But ^(Q)Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw ^(R)the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

¹³ That very day ^(S)two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem, ¹⁴ and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. ^16 (T)But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷ And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” ¹⁹ And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was ^(U)a prophet ^(V)mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰ and ^(W)how our chief priests and ^(X)rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. ²¹ But we had hoped that he was ^(Y)the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now ^(Z)the third day since these things happened. ²² Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. ^(AA)They were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³ and ^(AB)when they did not find his body, they came back saying that ^(AC)they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. ^24 (AD)Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” ²⁵ And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ^26 (AE)Was it not necessary that ^(AF)the Christ should suffer these things and enter into ^(AG)his glory?” ²⁷ And ^(AH)beginning with ^(AI)Moses and ^(AJ)all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

²⁸ So they drew near to the village to which they were going. ^(AK)He acted as if he were going farther, ²⁹ but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and ^(AL)the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When he was at table with them, he took the bread and ^(AM)blessed and broke it and gave it to them. ^31 (AN)And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And ^(AO)he vanished from their sight. ³² They said to each other, ^(AP)“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he ^(AQ)opened to us the Scriptures?” ³³ And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they ^(AR)found the eleven and ^(AS)those who were with them gathered together, ³⁴ saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and ^(AT)has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ Then they told what had happened on the road, and ^(AU)how he was known to them in ^(AV)the breaking of the bread.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

³⁶ As they were talking about these things, ^(AW)Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” ³⁷ But they were ^(AX)startled and ^(AY)frightened and ^(AZ)thought they saw a spirit. ³⁸ And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹ See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. ^(BA)Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰ And when he had said this, ^(BB)he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹ And while they still disbelieved ^(BC)for joy and were marveling, ^(BD)he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish,^{[b] 43} and he took it and ate before them.

⁴⁴ Then he said to them, ^(BE)“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, ^(BF)that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then ^(BG)he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus ^(BH)it is written, ^(BI)that the Christ should suffer and on the third day ^(BJ)rise from the dead, ⁴⁷ and that ^(BK)repentance for^[c] the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed ^(BL)in his name ^(BM)to all nations, ^(BN)beginning from Jerusalem. ^48 (BO)You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending ^(BP)the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you ^(BQ)are clothed with ^(BR)power ^(BS)from on high.”

The Ascension

⁵⁰ And ^(BT)he led them out as far as ^(BU)Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. ⁵¹ While he blessed them, ^(BV)he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they ^(BW)worshiped him and ^(BX)returned to Jerusalem ^(BY)with great joy, ⁵³ and ^(BZ)were continually in the temple ^(CA)blessing God.

A Man with a Withered Hand

3 ^(A)Again ^(B)he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. ² And ^(C)they watched Jesus,^[a] to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³ And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” ⁴ And he said to them, ^(D)“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵ And he ^(E)looked around at them with anger, grieved at ^(F)their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” ^(G)He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ^6 (H)The Pharisees went out and immediately ^(I)held counsel with ^(J)the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

^7 (K)Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and ^(L)a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea ⁸ and Jerusalem and ^(M)Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around ^(N)Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. ⁹ And he told his disciples to ^(O)have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they ^(P)crush him, ¹⁰ for ^(Q)he had healed many, so that all who had ^(R)diseases pressed around him ^(S)to touch him. ^11 (T)And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they ^(U)fell down before him and cried out, “You are ^(V)the Son of God.” ¹² And ^(W)he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

The Twelve Apostles

^13 (X)And he went up on the mountain and called to him those ^(Y)whom he desired, and they came to him. ^14 (Z)And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach ^15 (AA)and have authority to cast out demons. ¹⁶ He appointed the twelve: ^(AB)Simon (to whom ^(AC)he gave the name Peter); ^17 (AD)James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); ¹⁸ Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and ^(AE)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,^{[b] 19} and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

²⁰ Then he went ^(AF)home, and the crowd gathered again, ^(AG)so that they could not even eat. ^21 (AH)And when ^(AI)his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He ^(AJ)is out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

²² And ^(AK)the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^(AL)“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” ^23 (AM)And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷ But ^(AN)no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ^(AO)Then indeed he may plunder his house.

^28 (AP)“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, ²⁹ but whoever ^(AQ)blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰ for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

^31 (AR)And his mother and his ^(AS)brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. ³² And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers^[c] are outside, seeking you.” ³³ And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴ And ^(AT)looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ^35 (AU)For whoever ^(AV)does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”