Matthew 24

New International Version

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times^(A)

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;^(B) every one will be thrown down.”

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

⁴Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.^(F) ⁵For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.^(G) ⁶You 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. ⁷Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.^(H) There will be famines^(I) and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.

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

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

²²“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect^(W) those days will be shortened. ²³At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.^(X) ²⁴For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders^(Y) to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵See, 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. ²⁷For as lightning^(Z) that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming^(AA) of the Son of Man.^(AB) ²⁸Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.^(AC)

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.’^[b]^(AD)

³⁰“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth^[c] will mourn^(AE) when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,^(AF) with power and great glory.^[d] ³¹And he will send his angels^(AG) with a loud trumpet call,^(AH) 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. ³³Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it^[e] is near, right at the door.^(AI) ³⁴Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.^(AJ) ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.^(AK)

The Day and Hour Unknown^(AL)^(AM)

³⁶“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[f] but only the Father.^(AN) ³⁷As it was in the days of Noah,^(AO) so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,^(AP) up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹and 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.^(AQ) ⁴⁰Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.^(AR) ⁴¹Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.^(AS)

⁴²“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.^(AT) ⁴³But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming,^(AU) he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴So you also must be ready,^(AV) 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,^(AW) whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.^(AX) ⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.^(AY) ⁴⁸But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.^(AZ) ⁵⁰The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.^(BA)

Footnotes

Matthew 24:15 Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11
Matthew 24:29 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
Matthew 24:30 Or the tribes of the land
Matthew 24:30 See Daniel 7:13-14.
Matthew 24:33 Or he
Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.

Psalm 78

New International Version

Psalm 78

A maskil^[a] of Asaph.

¹My people, hear my teaching;^(A)
    listen to the words of my mouth.
²I will open my mouth with a parable;^(B)
    I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
³things we have heard and known,
    things our ancestors have told us.^(C)
⁴We will not hide them from their descendants;^(D)
    we will tell the next generation^(E)
the praiseworthy deeds^(F) of the Lord,
    his power, and the wonders^(G) he has done.
⁵He decreed statutes^(H) for Jacob^(I)
    and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
    to teach their children,
⁶so the next generation would know them,
    even the children yet to be born,^(J)
    and they in turn would tell their children.
⁷Then they would put their trust in God
    and would not forget^(K) his deeds
    but would keep his commands.^(L)
⁸They would not be like their ancestors^(M)—
    a stubborn^(N) and rebellious^(O) generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
    whose spirits were not faithful to him.

⁹The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,^(P)
    turned back on the day of battle;^(Q)
¹⁰they did not keep God’s covenant^(R)
    and refused to live by his law.^(S)
¹¹They forgot what he had done,^(T)
    the wonders he had shown them.
¹²He did miracles^(U) in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt,^(V) in the region of Zoan.^(W)
¹³He divided the sea^(X) and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.^(Y)
¹⁴He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.^(Z)
¹⁵He split the rocks^(AA) in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷But they continued to sin^(AB) against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
¹⁸They willfully put God to the test^(AC)
    by demanding the food they craved.^(AD)
¹⁹They spoke against God;^(AE)
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?
²⁰True, he struck the rock,
    and water gushed out,^(AF)
    streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
    Can he supply meat^(AG) for his people?”
²¹When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out^(AH) against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
²²for they did not believe in God
    or trust^(AI) in his deliverance.
²³Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;^(AJ)
²⁴he rained down manna^(AK) for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
²⁵Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat.
²⁶He let loose the east wind^(AL) from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
²⁷He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds^(AM) like sand on the seashore.
²⁸He made them come down inside their camp,
    all around their tents.
²⁹They ate till they were gorged—^(AN)
    he had given them what they craved.
³⁰But before they turned from what they craved,
    even while the food was still in their mouths,^(AO)
³¹God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest^(AP) among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.

³²In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;^(AQ)
    in spite of his wonders,^(AR) they did not believe.^(AS)
³³So he ended their days in futility^(AT)
    and their years in terror.
³⁴Whenever God slew them, they would seek^(AU) him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
³⁵They remembered that God was their Rock,^(AV)
    that God Most High was their Redeemer.^(AW)
³⁶But then they would flatter him with their mouths,^(AX)
    lying to him with their tongues;
³⁷their hearts were not loyal^(AY) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
³⁸Yet he was merciful;^(AZ)
    he forgave^(BA) their iniquities^(BB)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger^(BC)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
³⁹He remembered that they were but flesh,^(BD)
    a passing breeze^(BE) that does not return.

⁴⁰How often they rebelled^(BF) against him in the wilderness^(BG)
    and grieved him^(BH) in the wasteland!
⁴¹Again and again they put God to the test;^(BI)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.^(BJ)
⁴²They did not remember^(BK) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,^(BL)
⁴³the day he displayed his signs^(BM) in Egypt,
    his wonders^(BN) in the region of Zoan.
⁴⁴He turned their river into blood;^(BO)
    they could not drink from their streams.
⁴⁵He sent swarms of flies^(BP) that devoured them,
    and frogs^(BQ) that devastated them.
⁴⁶He gave their crops to the grasshopper,^(BR)
    their produce to the locust.^(BS)
⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail^(BT)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
⁴⁸He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock^(BU) to bolts of lightning.
⁴⁹He unleashed against them his hot anger,^(BV)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.^(BW)
⁵⁰He prepared a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death
    but gave them over to the plague.
⁵¹He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,^(BX)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.^(BY)
⁵²But he brought his people out like a flock;^(BZ)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
⁵³He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed^(CA) their enemies.^(CB)
⁵⁴And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand^(CC) had taken.
⁵⁵He drove out nations^(CD) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;^(CE)
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

⁵⁶But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.
⁵⁷Like their ancestors^(CF) they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.^(CG)
⁵⁸They angered him^(CH) with their high places;^(CI)
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.^(CJ)
⁵⁹When God heard^(CK) them, he was furious;^(CL)
    he rejected Israel^(CM) completely.
⁶⁰He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,^(CN)
    the tent he had set up among humans.^(CO)
⁶¹He sent the ark of his might^(CP) into captivity,^(CQ)
    his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
⁶²He gave his people over to the sword;^(CR)
    he was furious with his inheritance.^(CS)
⁶³Fire consumed^(CT) their young men,
    and their young women had no wedding songs;^(CU)
⁶⁴their priests were put to the sword,^(CV)
    and their widows could not weep.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,^(CW)
    as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
⁶⁶He beat back his enemies;
    he put them to everlasting shame.^(CX)
⁶⁷Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;^(CY)
⁶⁸but he chose the tribe of Judah,^(CZ)
    Mount Zion,^(DA) which he loved.
⁶⁹He built his sanctuary^(DB) like the heights,
    like the earth that he established forever.
⁷⁰He chose David^(DC) his servant
    and took him from the sheep pens;
⁷¹from tending the sheep^(DD) he brought him
    to be the shepherd^(DE) of his people Jacob,
    of Israel his inheritance.
⁷²And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;^(DF)
    with skillful hands he led them.