²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days

³⁰ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth^[b] will mourn^(B) when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,^(C) with power and great glory.^{[c] 31} And he will send his angels^(D) with a loud trumpet call,^(E) and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes^(A) in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.^{(B) 32} All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate^(C) the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.^{(D) 33} He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom^(E) prepared for you since the creation of the world.^{(F) 35} For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,^{(G) 36} I needed clothes and you clothed me,^(H) I was sick and you looked after me,^(I) I was in prison and you came to visit me.’^(J)

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’^(K)

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me,^(L) you who are cursed, into the eternal fire^(M) prepared for the devil and his angels.^{(N) 42} For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’^(O)

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.^(P)”^(Q)

²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

²⁶ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds^(B) 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.^(C)

²⁸ “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. ²⁹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it^[b] is near, right at the door. ³⁰ Truly I tell you, this generation^(D) will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.^{(E) 31} Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.^(F)

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.^{(G) 33} Be on guard! Be alert^[c]!^(H) You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴ It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants^(I) in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵ “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”^(J)

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) 27} At that time they will see the Son of Man^(C) coming in a cloud^(D) with power and great glory. ²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”^(E)

¹¹ “Men of Galilee,”^(A) they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back^(B) in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

The Judgment of the Dead

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne^(A) and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence,^(B) and there was no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small,^(C) standing before the throne, and books were opened.^(D) Another book was opened, which is the book of life.^(E) The dead were judged^(F) according to what they had done^(G) as recorded in the books.