13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

25 Behold, I have told you before.

26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

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13 But he who endures to the end will be saved.

14 And this good news of the kingdom (the Gospel) will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end.

15 So when you see the appalling sacrilege [the abomination that astonishes and makes desolate], spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place—let the reader take notice and [a]ponder and consider and heed [this]—(A)

16 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;

17 Let him who is on the housetop not come down and go into the house to take anything;

18 And let him who is in the field not turn back to get his overcoat.

19 And alas for the women who are pregnant and for those who have nursing babies in those days!

20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

21 For then there will be great tribulation (affliction, distress, and oppression) such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now—no, and never will be [again].(B)

22 And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would endure and survive, but for the sake of the elect (God’s chosen ones) those days will be shortened.

23 If anyone says to you then, Behold, here is the Christ (the Messiah)! or, There He is!—do not believe it.

24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and wonders so as to deceive and lead astray, if possible, even the elect (God’s chosen ones).

25 See, I have warned you beforehand.

26 So if they say to you, Behold, He is in the wilderness (desert)—do not go out there; if they tell you, Behold, He is in the secret places or inner rooms—do not believe it.

27 For just as the lightning flashes from the east and shines and [b]is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

28 Wherever there is a fallen body (a corpse), there the vultures (or eagles) will flock together.(C)

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.(D)

30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and [c]beat their breasts and lament in anguish, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory [in brilliancy and splendor].(E)

31 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect (His chosen ones) from the four winds, [even] from one end of the [d]universe to the other.(F)

32 From the fig tree learn this lesson: as soon as its [e]young shoots become soft and tender and it puts out its leaves, you know [f]of a surety that summer is near.

33 So also when you see these signs, [g]all taken together, coming to pass, you may know [h]of a surety that He is near, at the very doors.

34 Truly I tell you, this generation ([i]the whole multitude of people living at the same time, [j]in a definite, [k]given period) will not pass away till all these things [l]taken together take place.

35 [m]Sky and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:15 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  2. Matthew 24:27 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  3. Matthew 24:30 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  4. Matthew 24:31 G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon.
  5. Matthew 24:32 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  6. Matthew 24:32 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  7. Matthew 24:33 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  8. Matthew 24:33 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  9. Matthew 24:34 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  10. Matthew 24:34 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
  11. Matthew 24:34 G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon.
  12. Matthew 24:34 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  13. Matthew 24:35 James Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary.

13 But those enduring to the end shall be saved.

14 “And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it, and then, finally, the end will come.

15 “So, when you see the horrible thing[a] (told about by Daniel the prophet) standing in a holy place (Note to the reader: You know what is meant!), 16 then those in Judea must flee into the Judean hills. 17 Those on their porches[b] must not even go inside to pack before they flee. 18 Those in the fields should not return to their homes for their clothes.

19 “And woe to pregnant women and to those with babies in those days. 20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter, or on the Sabbath.[c] 21 For there will be persecution such as the world has never before seen in all its history and will never see again.

22 “In fact, unless those days are shortened, all mankind will perish. But they will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen people.[d]

23 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘The Messiah has arrived at such and such a place, or has appeared here or there,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false Christs shall arise, and false prophets, and will do wonderful miracles so that if it were possible, even God’s chosen ones[e] would be deceived. 25 See, I have warned you.

26 “So if someone tells you the Messiah has returned and is out in the desert, don’t bother to go and look. Or, that he is hiding at a certain place, don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes across the sky from east to west, so shall my coming be, when I, the Messiah,[f] return. 28 And wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.

29 “Immediately after the persecution of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give light, and the stars will seem to fall from the heavens,[g] and the powers overshadowing the earth will be convulsed.

30 “And then at last the signal of my coming[h] will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning all around the earth. And the nations of the world will see me arrive in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And I shall send forth my angels with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast, and they shall gather my chosen ones from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.[i]

32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When her branch is tender and the leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is almost here. 33 Just so, when you see all these things beginning to happen, you can know that my return is near,[j] even at the doors. 34 Then at last this age will come to its close.[k]

35 “Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words remain forever.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:15 the horrible thing, literally, “the abomination of desolation.” Daniel, see Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. Note to the reader: You know what is meant, literally, “Let the reader take note.”
  2. Matthew 24:17 porches, literally, “rooftops,” which, being flat, were used as porches at that time. See Acts 10:9.
  3. Matthew 24:20 on the Sabbath. The city gates were closed on the Sabbath.
  4. Matthew 24:22 God’s chosen people, literally, “the elect.”
  5. Matthew 24:24 God’s chosen ones, literally, “the elect.”
  6. Matthew 24:27 the Messiah, literally, “the Son of Man.”
  7. Matthew 24:29 the stars will seem to fall from the heavens, literally, “the stars shall fall from heaven.” the earth will be convulsed, literally, “the powers of the heavens shall be shaken”; see Ephesians 6:12.
  8. Matthew 24:30 of my coming, literally, “of the coming of the Son of Man.”
  9. Matthew 24:31 from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven, literally, “from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
  10. Matthew 24:33 my return is near, literally, “he is nigh.”
  11. Matthew 24:34 this age will come to its close, literally, “this generation shall pass away.”