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.’[a](A)

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[b] will mourn(B) when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,(C) with power and great glory.[c] 31 And he will send his angels(D) with a loud trumpet call,(E) 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[d] is near, right at the door.(F) 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.(G) 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.(H)

The Day and Hour Unknown(I)(J)

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[e] but only the Father.(K) 37 As it was in the days of Noah,(L) 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,(M) 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.(N) 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.(O) 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.(P)

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.(Q) 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming,(R) he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready,(S) 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,(T) 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.(U) 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.(V) 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.(W) 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.(X)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:29 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
  2. Matthew 24:30 Or the tribes of the land
  3. Matthew 24:30 See Daniel 7:13-14.
  4. Matthew 24:33 Or he
  5. Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.

The Coming of the Son of Man(A)

29 (B)“Soon after the trouble of those days, the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 30 (C)Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 The great trumpet will sound, and he will send out his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from one end of the world to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree(D)

32 “Let the fig tree teach you a lesson. When its branches become green and tender and it starts putting out leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you will know that the time is near, ready to begin.[a] 34 Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

No One Knows the Day and Hour(E)

36 “No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son;[b] the Father alone knows. 37 (F)The coming of the Son of Man will be like what happened in the time of Noah. 38 In the days before the flood people ate and drank, men and women married, up to the very day Noah went into the boat; 39 (G)yet they did not realize what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes. 40 At that time two men will be working in a field: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. 41 Two women will be at a mill grinding meal: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. 42 Watch out, then, because you do not know what day your Lord will come. 43 (H)If the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, you can be sure that he would stay awake and not let the thief break into his house. 44 So then, you also must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.

The Faithful or the Unfaithful Servant(I)

45 “Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant? It is the one that his master has placed in charge of the other servants to give them their food at the proper time. 46 How happy that servant is if his master finds him doing this when he comes home! 47 Indeed, I tell you, the master will put that servant in charge of all his property. 48 But if he is a bad servant, he will tell himself that his master will not come back for a long time, 49 and he will begin to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 Then that servant's master will come back one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know. 51 The master will cut him in pieces[c] and make him share the fate of the hypocrites. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:33 the time is near, ready to begin; or he is near, ready to come.
  2. Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.
  3. Matthew 24:51 cut him in pieces; or throw him out.

The Coming of the Son of Man

29 “Immediately after the suffering of those days

the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from heaven,
    and the powers of heaven will be shaken.(A)

30 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory.(B) 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.(C)

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he[a] is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.(D) 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.(E)

The Necessity for Watchfulness

36 “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son,[b] but only the Father. 37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.(F) 38 For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39 and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.(G) 41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken, and one will be left. 42 Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day[c] your Lord is coming.(H) 43 But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.(I) 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.(J)

The Faithful or the Unfaithful Slave

45 “Who, then, is the faithful and wise slave whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves[d] their allowance of food at the proper time?(K) 46 Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives.(L) 47 Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions.(M) 48 But if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. 51 He will cut him in pieces[e] and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. 24.33 Or it
  2. 24.36 Other ancient authorities lack nor the Son
  3. 24.42 Other ancient authorities read at what hour
  4. 24.45 Gk to give them
  5. 24.51 Or cut him off

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.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:30 Or Son of Man
  2. Matthew 24:30 Or Son of Man
  3. Matthew 24:30 Dan 7:13 I suddenly saw one like a human being (Aram kebar enash) coming with the heavenly clouds.
  4. Matthew 24:33 Or Son of Man
  5. Matthew 24:37 Or Son of Man
  6. Matthew 24:39 Or Son of Man
  7. Matthew 24:44 Or Son of Man