Jerusalem to Be Attacked

12 The ^[a]burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel.

Thus declares the Lord who ^(A)stretches out the heavens, ^(B)lays the foundation of the earth, and ^(C)forms the spirit of man within him, ² “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a ^(D)cup ^[b]that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against ^(E)Judah. ³ It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy ^(F)stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be ^(G)severely ^[c]injured. And all the ^(H)nations of the earth will be gathered against it. ⁴ In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will ^[d]watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. ⁵ Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘^[e]A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the Lord of hosts, their God.’

⁶ “In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a ^(I)firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the ^(J)inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem. ⁷ The Lord also will ^(K)save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of ^(L)David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah. ⁸ In that day the Lord will ^(M)defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who ^[f](N)is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like ^(O)God, like the ^(P)angel of the Lord before them. ⁹ And in that day I will ^[g](Q)set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “I will ^(R)pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^[h]the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have ^(S)pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one ^(T)mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. ¹¹ In that day there will be great ^(U)mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the ^[i]plain of ^[j]Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; ¹³ the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; ¹⁴ all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves.

God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Foes

14 Behold, a ^(A)day is coming for the Lord when ^(B)the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. ² For I will ^(C)gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the ^(D)houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. ³ Then the Lord will go forth and ^(E)fight against those nations, as ^[a]when He fights on a day of battle. ⁴ In that day His feet will ^(F)stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be ^(G)split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. ⁵ You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the ^(H)earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. ^(I)Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with ^[b]Him!

⁶ In that day there will be ^(J)no light; the ^[c]luminaries will dwindle. ⁷ For it will be ^(K)a unique day which is ^(L)known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at ^(M)evening time there will be light.

⁸ And in that day ^(N)living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

God Will Be King over All

⁹ And the Lord will be ^(O)king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only ^(P)one, and His name the only one.

¹⁰ All the land will be changed into a plain from ^(Q)Geba to ^(R)Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but ^[d]Jerusalem will ^(S)rise and ^(T)remain on its site from ^(U)Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the ^(V)Corner Gate, and from the ^(W)Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. ^11 [e]People will live in it, and there will ^(X)no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will ^(Y)dwell in security.

Signs of Christ’s Return

24 ^(A)Jesus ^(B)came out from the temple and was going away ^[a]when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. ² And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, ^(C)not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³ As He was sitting on ^(D)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of ^(E)Your coming, and of the ^[b]end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(F)See to it that no one misleads you. ⁵ For ^(G)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the ^[c]Christ,’ and will mislead many. ⁶ You will be hearing of ^(H)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷ For ^(I)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be ^(J)famines and earthquakes. ^8 (K)But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

⁹ “^(L)Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and ^(M)you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ At that time many will ^[d](N)fall away and will ^[e]betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ Many ^(O)false prophets will arise and will mislead many. ¹² Because lawlessness is increased, ^[f]most people’s love will grow cold. ^13 (P)But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. ¹⁴ This ^(Q)gospel of the kingdom ^(R)shall be preached in the whole ^[g](S)world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Perilous Times

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the ^(T)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in ^(U)the holy place (^(V)let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^17 [h]Whoever is on ^(W)the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. ^18 [i]Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹ But ^(X)woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be a ^(Y)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. ²² Unless those days had been cut short, no ^[j]life would have been saved; but for ^(Z)the sake of the ^[k]elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (AA)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ^[l]Christ,’ or ‘^[m]There He is,’ do not believe him. ²⁴ For false Christs and ^(AB)false prophets will arise and will ^[n]show great ^[o](AC)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even ^(AD)the ^[p]elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you in advance. ²⁶ So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. ^27 (AE)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the ^(AF)coming of the ^(AG)Son of Man be. ^28 (AH)Wherever the corpse is, there the ^[q]vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

²⁹ “But immediately after the ^(AI)tribulation of those days ^(AJ)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(AK)the stars will fall from ^[r]the sky, and the powers of ^[s]the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then ^(AL)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ^(AM)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(AN)He will send forth His angels with ^(AO)a great trumpet and they will gather together His ^[t](AP)elect from ^(AQ)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Parable of the Fig Tree

³² “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³ so, you too, when you see all these things, ^[u]recognize that ^[v]He is near, right ^(AR)at the ^[w]door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you, ^(AS)this ^[x]generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ^35 (AT)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶ “But ^(AU)of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For ^[y]the ^(AV)coming of the Son of Man will be ^(AW)just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(AX)marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that ^(AY)Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not ^[z]understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the ^(AZ)coming of the Son of Man be.