Mark 13
The Voice
13 As Jesus left the temple later that day, one of the disciples noticed the grandeur of Herod’s temple.
Disciple: Teacher, I can’t believe the size of these stones! Look at these magnificent buildings!
Jesus: 2 Look closely at these magnificent buildings. Someday there won’t be one of these great stones left on another. Everything will be thrown down.
3 They took a seat on the Mount of Olives, across the valley from the temple; and Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Jesus to explain His statement to them privately.
Peter, James, John, and Andrew: 4 Don’t keep us in the dark. When will the temple be destroyed? What sign will let us know that it’s about to happen?
Jesus: 5 Take care that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come claiming to be Mine, saying, “I am the One,” and they will fool lots of people. 7 You will hear of wars, or that war is coming, but don’t lose heart. These things will have to happen, although it won’t mean the end yet. 8 Tribe will rise up against tribe, nation against nation, and there will be earthquakes in place after place and famines. These are a prelude to “labor pains” that precede the temple’s fall.
9 Be careful, because you will be delivered to trial and beaten in the places of worship. Kings and governors will stand in judgment over you as you speak in My name. 10 The good news of the coming kingdom of God must be delivered first in every land and every language. 11 When people bring you up on charges and it is your time to defend yourself, don’t worry about what message you’ll deliver. Whatever comes to your mind, speak it, because the Holy Spirit will inspire it.
12 But it will get worse. Brothers will betray each other to death, and fathers will betray their children. Children will turn against their parents and cause them to be executed. 13 Everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to Me. But if you’re faithful until the end, you will be rescued.
14 You will see that which desecrates our most holy place[a] [described by Daniel the prophet][b] out of place.
Let the one who reads and hears understand.
Jesus: On the day you see it, whoever is in Judea should flee for the mountains. 15 The person on the rooftop shouldn’t reenter the house to get anything, 16 and the person working in the field shouldn’t turn back to grab his coat. 17 It will be horrible for women who are pregnant or who are nursing their children when those days come. 18 And pray that you don’t have to run for your lives in the winter. 19 When those days come, there will be suffering like nobody has seen from the beginning of the world that God created until now, and it never will be like this again. 20 And if the Lord didn’t shorten those days for the sake of the ones He has chosen, then nobody would survive them.
21 If anyone tells you in those days, “Look, there is the Anointed One!” or “Hey, that must be Him!” don’t believe them. 22 False liberators and prophets will pop up like weeds, and they will work signs and perform miracles that would entice even God’s chosen people, if that were possible. 23 So be alert, and remember how I have warned you.
24-25 As Isaiah said in the days after that great suffering,
The sun will refuse to shine,
and the moon will hold back its light.
The stars in heaven will fall,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.[c]
26 Then you will see (as Daniel predicted) “the Son of Man coming in the clouds,”[d] clothed in power and majesty. 27 And He will send out His heavenly messengers and gather together to Himself those He has chosen from the four corners of the world, from every direction and every land.
The disciples can’t help but notice that something is in the air during this week between His entry into Jerusalem and His crucifixion. Surely the moment when Jesus is to reveal Himself as the Anointed can’t be far off. By repeatedly calling Himself the Son of Man, Jesus has told people His kingdom will be divinely instituted like the one described in Daniel 7. They are also thinking of promises about the coming Anointed One. But for Jesus, everything now is connected to His imminent death and resurrection. Even as He predicts the temple’s fall—an event that will occur about 40 years later—and speaks of His second coming, He is still thinking about His death. After all, resurrection can’t happen without death. And the old world must die before the world is made new.
Jesus: 28 Learn this lesson from the fig tree: When its branch is new and tender and begins to put forth leaves, you know that summer must be near. 29 In the same way, when you see and hear the things I’ve described to you taking place, you’ll know the time is drawing near. 30 It’s true—this generation will not pass away before all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth may pass away, but these words of Mine will never pass away.
32 Take heed: no one knows the day or hour when the end is coming. The messengers in heaven don’t know, nor does the Son. Only the Father knows.
33 So be alert. Watch for it [and pray,][e] for you never know when that time might approach.
34 This situation is like a man who went on a journey; when he departed, he left his servants in charge of the house. Each of them had his own job to do; and the man left the porter to stand at the door, watching. 35 So stay awake, because no one knows when the master of the house is coming back. It could be in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or in the morning. 36 Stay awake; be alert so that when he suddenly returns, the master won’t find you sleeping.
37 The teaching I am giving the four of you now is for everyone who will follow Me: stay awake, and keep your eyes open.
Footnotes
- 13:14 Literally abomination of desolation, Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11
- 13:14 The earliest manuscripts omit this portion.
- 13:24–25 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
- 13:26 Daniel 7:13
- 13:33 Some manuscripts omit this portion.
Mark 13
King James Version
13 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!
2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,
4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?
5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:
6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.
13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
15 And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house:
16 And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.
17 But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
18 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.
19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.
20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.
21 And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.
30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.