Coming of the Human One

²⁹ “Now immediately after the suffering of that time the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken. ³⁰ Then the sign of the Human One^[a] will appear in the sky. At that time all the tribes of the earth will be full of sadness, and they will see the Human One^[b] coming in the heavenly clouds^[c] with power and great splendor. ³¹ He will send his angels with the sound of a great trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from the four corners of the earth, from one end of the sky to the other.

A lesson from the fig tree

³² “Learn this parable from the fig tree. After its branch becomes tender and it sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things, you know that the Human One^[d] is near, at the door. ³⁴ I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.

Day and hour

³⁶ “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the heavenly angels and not the Son. Only the Father knows. ³⁷ As it was in the time of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Human One.^{[e] 38} In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. ³⁹ They didn’t know what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. The coming of the Human One^[f] will be like that. ⁴⁰ At that time there will be two men in the field. One will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and the other left. ⁴² Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know what day the Lord is coming. ⁴³ But you understand that if the head of the house knew at what time the thief would come, he would keep alert and wouldn’t allow the thief to break into his house. ⁴⁴ Therefore, you also should be prepared, because the Human One^[g] will come at a time you don’t know.

Faithful and unfaithful servants

⁴⁵ “Who then are the faithful and wise servants whom their master puts in charge of giving food at the right time to those who live in his house? ⁴⁶ Happy are those servants whom the master finds fulfilling their responsibilities when he comes. ⁴⁷ I assure you that he will put them in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But suppose those bad servants should say to themselves, My master won’t come until later. ⁴⁹ And suppose they began to beat their fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunks? ⁵⁰ The master of those servants will come on a day when they are not expecting him, at a time they couldn’t predict. ⁵¹ He will cut them in pieces and put them in a place with the hypocrites. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.