Jesus talks about people who give things to God

21 Then Jesus looked up and saw something that was happening in the temple. There was a box for money there. Many rich people were putting their gifts of money into the box.

² Then he saw a woman coming there. Her husband had died and she was very poor. She put two small coins that had only a little value into the box. ³ ‘Let me tell you this,’ Jesus said. ‘This poor woman has put a better gift into the box than all the other people have put in there. ⁴ All those rich people have plenty of money. They only gave a small part of that. But this woman has almost nothing. She put everything that she had into the box. That money was what she needed to live.’

Jesus talks about things that will happen

⁵ Some of Jesus' disciples were talking about the temple. They spoke about the many beautiful stones in the walls. They also spoke about the many gifts to God that people had put there. ⁶ Jesus said to them, ‘You can see all these beautiful things now. But a day is coming when enemies will completely destroy it all. Not even one stone will remain on top of another stone.’

⁷ ‘Teacher,’ they asked, ‘When will all these things happen? What will show us that they will soon happen?’

⁸ Jesus replied. ‘Be careful! Some people will tell you things that are not true. Do not believe them. Many people will say that they have come on my behalf. They will say, “I am the Messiah.” They will say, “Now is the time!” Do not agree with those people. ⁹ You will hear about wars and people fighting each other. Do not be afraid. Those things must happen first, but the end of everything will not happen immediately.’

¹⁰ Jesus then said to them, ‘People from one country will attack the people from another country. Kings and their armies will fight against other kings and their armies. ¹¹ The ground will shake, so that people will be afraid. In many different places, people will be hungry, with no food. Diseases will go from one person to another. Many people will die. Things will also happen in the sky that will frighten people.

¹² But before all those things happen, people will take hold of you. They will do bad things to you and give you pain. They will take you to the leaders in their meeting places and they will keep you in prisons. They will make you stand in front of kings and rulers. All this will happen because you are my disciples. ¹³ This will be the time to tell them the good news about me. ¹⁴ So prepare your minds. You must decide not to think about how to answer the questions of kings and rulers. Wait until that time comes. ¹⁵ I will give you the right words to speak at that time. I will help you to be wise. The people who are against you will not be able to argue with you. They will just be quiet. ¹⁶ Even your parents and other people in your family will take hold of you. They will make you stand in front of kings and rulers. They will even kill some of you. ¹⁷ Everybody will hate you because you are my disciples. ¹⁸ But your life will be safe with me. You will not lose even one hair from your head. ¹⁹ Yes, you will have true life, if you remain strong.

²⁰ One day you will see Jerusalem with armies all around it. Then you will know that enemies will soon destroy that city. ²¹ People in Judea must then run away to the hills to hide. People that are inside the city must leave it. People that are outside in the fields must not go back into the city. ²² This is when God will punish Israel's people. Then all the things will happen that his servants wrote about in the Bible. ²³ That will be a very bad time for women who are soon to have a baby! It will also be a bad time for those women who have little babies! Yes, very bad things will happen to all the people of this country. God will be very angry with the people who live here. ²⁴ At that time, enemies will fight God's people and kill many of them in war. They will take some of them away as prisoners to live in all the other countries. They will not be free to return home. People that are not Jews will destroy Jerusalem. They will rule here until it is time for them to stop.’^[a]

²⁵ ‘You will see strange things happen to the sun and to the moon and to the stars. Down on earth, things that happen will make people in many countries very afraid. The sea will move up and down and make a lot of noise. There will be great storms. ²⁶ These things will frighten people because they do not understand them. The powerful things in the sky will shake. People will be very afraid about what will happen next in the world. They will become very weak and fall to the ground. ²⁷ Then they will see the Son of Man. He will come in a cloud. He will have great power and bright glory. ²⁸ When these things begin to happen, stand up. And look up, because God will then save you very soon.’

²⁹ Then Jesus told them a story to explain this future time. He said, ‘Think about fig trees and other trees as well. ³⁰ When you see new leaves on a tree, you know that summer will come soon. Nobody needs to tell you that. ³¹ In the same way, you will see these strange things happening. Then you will know that God will soon begin to rule in his kingdom.

³² I tell you this: The people who are alive now will not all die until all these things happen. ³³ One day, the earth and the sky will have an end. But my words will be there for ever.

³⁴ But be careful, and watch how you live. Do not eat or drink too much. Do not waste your time like that. Do not waste time by having troubles in your mind about your life. If you do, that day will surprise you. It will come when you are not looking. ³⁵ It will surprise everyone who lives on all the earth. ³⁶ So watch all the time! Continue to pray that you will be strong. Then you will be safe through all these things! You will stand in front of the Son of Man and you will not be afraid.’

³⁷ Every day Jesus was teaching people in the temple. Each night he went out of the city and he stayed on the hill that is called the Mount of Olives. ³⁸ Each morning he returned to the temple. All the people were going there early in the morning to hear him.