²⁹ “But immediately after the suffering^[a] of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;Isaiah 13:10; 34:4 ³⁰ and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

³² “Now from the fig tree learn this parable: When its branch has now become tender and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near. ³³ Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that he is near, even at the doors. ³⁴ Most certainly I tell you, this generation^[b] will not pass away until all these things are accomplished. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

³⁶ “But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven,^[c] but my Father only. ³⁷ As the days of Noah were, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸ For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship, ³⁹ and they didn’t know until the flood came and took them all away, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

¹³ Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

²⁸ “Now from the fig tree, learn this parable. When the branch has now become tender, and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near; ²⁹ even so you also, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is near, at the doors. ³⁰ Most certainly I say to you, this generation^[a] will not pass away until all these things happen. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. ³² But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Watch, keep alert, and pray; for you don’t know when the time is.

³⁴ “It is like a man, traveling to another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch. ³⁵ Watch therefore, for you don’t know when the lord of the house is coming, whether at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning; ³⁶ lest coming suddenly he might find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I tell you, I tell all: Watch.”

5 But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. ² For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. ³ For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape. ⁴ But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. ⁵ You are all children of light and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness, ⁶ so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are drunk are drunk in the night. ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let’s be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. ⁹ For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. ¹¹ Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.