Matthew 24:15-28

Contemporary English Version

The Horrible Thing

(Mark 13.14-23; Luke 21.20-24)

¹⁵^(A) Someday you will see that “Horrible Thing” in the holy place, just as the prophet Daniel said. Everyone who reads this must try to understand! ¹⁶If you are living in Judea at that time, run to the mountains. ¹⁷^(B) If you are on the roof^[a] of your house, don't go inside to get anything. ¹⁸If you are out in the field, don't go back for your coat. ¹⁹It will be a terrible time for women who are expecting babies or nursing young children. ²⁰And pray that you won't have to escape in winter or on a Sabbath.^[b] ²¹^(C) This will be the worst time of suffering since the beginning of the world, and nothing this terrible will ever happen again. ²²If God doesn't make the time shorter, no one will be left alive. But because of God's chosen ones, he will make the time shorter.

²³Someone may say, “Here is the Messiah!” or “There he is!” But don't believe it. ²⁴False messiahs and false prophets will come and work great miracles and signs. They will even try to fool God's chosen ones. ²⁵But I have warned you ahead of time. ²⁶^(D) If you are told the Messiah is out in the desert, don't go there! And if you are told he is in some secret place, don't believe it! ²⁷The coming of the Son of Man will be like lightning that can be seen from east to west. ²⁸^(E) Where there is a corpse, there will always be vultures.^[c]

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Footnotes

24.17 roof: In Palestine the houses usually had a flat roof. Stairs on the outside led up to the roof, which was made of beams and boards covered with packed earth.
24.20 in winter or on a Sabbath: In Palestine the winters are cold and rainy and make travel difficult. The Jewish people were not allowed to travel much more than a kilometer on the Sabbath. For these reasons it was hard for them to escape from their enemies in the winter or on a Sabbath.
24.28 Where there is a corpse, there will always be vultures: This saying may mean that when anything important happens, people soon know about it. Or the saying may mean that whenever something bad happens, curious people gather around and stare. But the word translated “vulture” also means “eagle” and may refer to the Roman army, which had an eagle as its symbol.