Signs of Christ’s Return

13 ^(A)And as He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples *said to Him, “Teacher, behold ^[a]what wonderful stones and ^[b]what wonderful buildings!” ² And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? ^(B)Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”

³ And as He was sitting on ^(C)the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, ^(D)Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the ^[c]sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” ⁵ And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one deceives you. ⁶ Many will come in My name, saying, ‘^(E)I am He!’ and will mislead many. ⁷ And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. ⁸ For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “But see to yourselves; for they will ^(F)deliver you to the ^[d]courts, and you will be beaten ^(G)in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a witness to them. ^10 (H)And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations. ^11 (I)And when they lead you away, delivering you up, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. ¹² And brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and ^[e]have them put to death. ^13 (J)And you will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

The Abomination of Desolation and the Tribulation

¹⁴ “But ^(K)when you see the ^(L)abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^15 (M)And the one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house; ¹⁶ and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his garment. ¹⁷ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ¹⁸ But pray that it may not happen in the winter. ¹⁹ For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred ^(N)since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. ²⁰ And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no ^[f]life would have been saved; but for the sake of the ^[g]elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. ²¹ And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ^[h]Christ’; or, ‘Behold, He is there’; do not believe him; ²² for false christs and ^(O)false prophets will arise, and will show ^[i](P)signs and ^(Q)wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. ²³ But as for you, see! I have told you everything in advance.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁴ “But in those days, after that tribulation, ^(R)the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, ^25 (S)and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in ^[j]the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶ And then they will see ^(T)the Son of Man ^(U)coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And then He will send forth the angels, and ^(V)will gather together His ^[k]elect from the four winds, ^(W)from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

The Parable of the Fig Tree

²⁸ “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. ²⁹ Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, ^[l]recognize that ^[m]He is near, right at the ^[n]door. ³⁰ Truly I say to you, this ^[o]generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. ^32 (X)But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

³³ “See to it, ^(Y)keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time ^[p]will come. ^34 (Z)It is like a man away on a journey, who, leaving his house and giving authority to his slaves—each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay awake. ³⁵ Therefore, ^(AA)stay awake—for you do not know when the ^[q]master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or ^(AB)when the rooster crows, or ^(AC)in the morning— ³⁶ lest he come suddenly and find you ^(AD)sleeping. ³⁷ And what I say to you I say to all, ‘^(AE)Stay awake!’”