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Matthew 22-24
New Living Translation

Parable of the Great Feast

22 Jesus also told them other parables. He said, 2 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!

4 “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.

7 “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. 8 And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ 10 So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Taxes for Caesar

15 Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. 16 They sent some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. 17 Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

18 But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me? 19 Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When they handed him a Roman coin,[a] 20 he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”

21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.

“Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

22 His reply amazed them, and they went away.

Discussion about Resurrection

23 That same day Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question: 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.’[b] 25 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children, so his brother married the widow. 26 But the second brother also died, and the third brother married her. This continued with all seven of them. 27 Last of all, the woman also died. 28 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.”

29 Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. 30 For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.

31 “But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said,[c] 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[d] So he is the God of the living, not the dead.”

33 When the crowds heard him, they were astounded at his teaching.

The Most Important Commandment

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[e] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[f] 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Whose Son Is the Messiah?

41 Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

They replied, “He is the son of David.”

43 Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said,

44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
    until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’[g]

45 Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”

46 No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.[h] 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

5 “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.[i] 6 And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. 7 They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’[j]

8 “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.[k] 9 And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father. 10 And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you must be a servant. 12 But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.[l]

15 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell[m] you yourselves are!

16 “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ 17 Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. 19 How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. 21 And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. 22 And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.

23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens,[n] but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel![o]

25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish,[p] and then the outside will become clean, too.

27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. 30 Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’

31 “But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. 33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?

34 “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. 35 As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation.

Jesus Grieves over Jerusalem

37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate.[q] 39 For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’[r]”

Jesus Speaks about the Future

24 As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. 2 But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”

3 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?[s]”

4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.[t] 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. 12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations[u] will hear it; and then the end will come.

15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration[v] standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) 16 “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 17 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 18 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. 19 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. 20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. 22 In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.

23 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. 25 See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.

26 “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man[w] comes. 28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.[x]

29 “Immediately after the anguish of those days,

the sun will be darkened,
    the moon will give no light,
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.[y]

30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.[z] 31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world[aa]—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation[ab] will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.

36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.[ac] Only the Father knows.

37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.

40 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.

42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

45 “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. 46 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 48 But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ 49 and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? 50 The master will return unannounced and unexpected, 51 and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Footnotes

  1. 22:19 Greek a denarius.
  2. 22:24 Deut 25:5-6.
  3. 22:31 Greek read about this? God said.
  4. 22:32 Exod 3:6.
  5. 22:37 Deut 6:5.
  6. 22:39 Lev 19:18.
  7. 22:44 Ps 110:1.
  8. 23:2 Greek and the Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses.
  9. 23:5 Greek They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
  10. 23:7 Rabbi, from Aramaic, means “master” or “teacher.”
  11. 23:8 Greek brothers.
  12. 23:13 Some manuscripts add verse 14, What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, you will be severely punished. Compare Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.
  13. 23:15 Greek of Gehenna; also in 23:33.
  14. 23:23 Greek tithe the mint, the dill, and the cumin.
  15. 23:24 See Lev 11:4, 23, where gnats and camels are both forbidden as food.
  16. 23:26 Some manuscripts do not include and the dish.
  17. 23:38 Some manuscripts do not include and desolate.
  18. 23:39 Ps 118:26.
  19. 24:3 Or the age?
  20. 24:9 Greek on account of my name.
  21. 24:14 Or all peoples.
  22. 24:15 Greek the abomination of desolation. See Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11.
  23. 24:27 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
  24. 24:28 Greek Wherever the carcass is, the vultures gather.
  25. 24:29 See Isa 13:10; 34:4; Joel 2:10.
  26. 24:30 See Dan 7:13.
  27. 24:31 Greek from the four winds.
  28. 24:34 Or this age, or this nation.
  29. 24:36 Some manuscripts do not include or the Son himself.
Listen to Matthew 22-24
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Matthew 22-24
New International Version

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet(A)

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like(B) a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants(C) to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants(D) and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers(E) and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners(F) and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good,(G) and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend(H)?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’(I)

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”(J)

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar(K)

15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.(L) “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a](M) to Caesar or not?”

18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s,(N) and to God what is God’s.”

22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.(O)

Marriage at the Resurrection(P)

23 That same day the Sadducees,(Q) who say there is no resurrection,(R) came to him with a question. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.(S) 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”

29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures(T) or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage;(U) they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’[b]?(V) He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.(W)

The Greatest Commandment(X)

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,(Y) the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law,(Z) tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c](AA) 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d](AB) 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”(AC)

Whose Son Is the Messiah?(AD)

41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,”(AE) they replied.

43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,

44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
    under your feet.”’[e](AF)

45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.(AG)

A Warning Against Hypocrisy(AH)(AI)

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law(AJ) and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.(AK)

5 “Everything they do is done for people to see:(AL) They make their phylacteries[f](AM) wide and the tassels on their garments(AN) long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;(AO) 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.(AP)

8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father,(AQ) and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant.(AR) 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.(AS)

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!(AT) You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.(AU) [14] [g]

15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,(AV) and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell(AW) as you are.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides!(AX) You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’(AY) 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?(AZ) 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?(BA) 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells(BB) in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.(BC)

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth(BD) of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.(BE) You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides!(BF) You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,(BG) but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.(BH) 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,(BI) which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets(BJ) and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.(BK) 32 Go ahead, then, and complete(BL) what your ancestors started!(BM)

33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers!(BN) How will you escape being condemned to hell?(BO) 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;(BP) others you will flog in your synagogues(BQ) and pursue from town to town.(BR) 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel(BS) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,(BT) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.(BU) 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.(BV)

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,(BW) how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,(BX) and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.(BY) 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[h]”(BZ)

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times(CA)

24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another;(CB) every one will be thrown down.”

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,(CC) the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming(CD) and of the end of the age?”(CE)

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.(CF) 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.(CG) 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.(CH) There will be famines(CI) and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted(CJ) and put to death,(CK) and you will be hated by all nations because of me.(CL) 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets(CM) will appear and deceive many people.(CN) 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.(CO) 14 And this gospel of the kingdom(CP) will be preached in the whole world(CQ) as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15 “So when you see standing in the holy place(CR) ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[i](CS) spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop(CT) go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!(CU) 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.(CV)

22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect(CW) those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.(CX) 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders(CY) to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning(CZ) that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming(DA) of the Son of Man.(DB) 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.(DC)

29 “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[j](DD)

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[k] will mourn(DE) when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,(DF) with power and great glory.[l] 31 And he will send his angels(DG) with a loud trumpet call,(DH) and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[m] is near, right at the door.(DI) 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.(DJ) 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.(DK)

The Day and Hour Unknown(DL)(DM)

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[n] but only the Father.(DN) 37 As it was in the days of Noah,(DO) so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,(DP) up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.(DQ) 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.(DR) 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.(DS)

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.(DT) 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming,(DU) he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready,(DV) because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,(DW) whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.(DX) 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.(DY) 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.(DZ) 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(EA)

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 22:17 A special tax levied on subject peoples, not on Roman citizens
  2. Matthew 22:32 Exodus 3:6
  3. Matthew 22:37 Deut. 6:5
  4. Matthew 22:39 Lev. 19:18
  5. Matthew 22:44 Psalm 110:1
  6. Matthew 23:5 That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm
  7. Matthew 23:14 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.
  8. Matthew 23:39 Psalm 118:26
  9. Matthew 24:15 Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11
  10. Matthew 24:29 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
  11. Matthew 24:30 Or the tribes of the land
  12. Matthew 24:30 See Daniel 7:13-14.
  13. Matthew 24:33 Or he
  14. Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.
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