Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

24 ^(A)Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. ² But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, ^(B)there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Signs of the End of the Age

³ As he sat on ^(C)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him ^(D)privately, saying, “Tell us, ^(E)when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your ^(F)coming and of ^(G)the end of the age?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, ^(H)“See that no one leads you astray. ⁵ For ^(I)many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am ^(J)the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you ^(K)are not alarmed, for this ^(L)must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For ^(M)nation will rise against nation, and ^(N)kingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^(O)famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are but the beginning of ^(P)the birth pains.

⁹ “Then ^(Q)they will deliver you up ^(R)to tribulation and ^(S)put you to death, and ^(T)you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰ And then many will fall away^[a] and ^(U)betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many ^(V)false prophets will arise ^(W)and lead many astray. ¹² And because lawlessness will be increased, ^(X)the love of many will grow cold. ^13 (Y)But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom ^(Z)will be proclaimed throughout the whole world ^(AA)as a testimony ^(AB)to all nations, and ^(AC)then the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁵ “So when you see the abomination of desolation ^(AD)spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in ^(AE)the holy place (^(AF)let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ^17 (AG)Let the one who is on ^(AH)the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, ¹⁸ and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. ¹⁹ And ^(AI)alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be ^(AJ)great tribulation, ^(AK)such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. ²² And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for ^(AL)the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (AM)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For ^(AN)false christs and ^(AO)false prophets will arise and ^(AP)perform great signs and wonders, ^(AQ)so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, ^(AR)I have told you beforehand. ²⁶ So, if they say to you, ‘Look, ^(AS)he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ^27 (AT)For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be ^(AU)the coming of the Son of Man. ^28 (AV)Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁹ “Immediately after ^(AW)the tribulation of those days ^(AX)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(AY)the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then ^(AZ)will appear in heaven ^(BA)the sign of the Son of Man, and then ^(BB)all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and ^(BC)they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven ^(BD)with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(BE)he will send out his angels with a loud ^(BF)trumpet call, and they will ^(BG)gather ^(BH)his elect from ^(BI)the four winds, ^(BJ)from one end of heaven to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

³² “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, ^(BK)at the very gates. ^34 (BL)Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ^35 (BM)Heaven and earth will pass away, but ^(BN)my words will not pass away.

No One Knows That Day and Hour

³⁶ “But concerning that day and hour ^(BO)no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, ^(BP)nor the Son,^{[b] (BQ)}but the Father only. ^37 (BR)For as were the days of Noah, ^(BS)so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ^38 (BT)For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(BU)marrying and giving in marriage, until ^(BV)the day when Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, ^(BW)so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. ^41 (BX)Two women will be grinding ^(BY)at the mill; one will be taken and one left. ⁴² Therefore, ^(BZ)stay awake, for you do not know on what day ^(CA)your Lord is coming. ^43 (CB)But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night ^(CC)the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also must be ^(CD)ready, for ^(CE)the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵ “Who then is ^(CF)the faithful and ^(CG)wise servant,^[c] whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ^46 (CH)Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly, I say to you, ^(CI)he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master ^(CJ)is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants^[d] and eats and drinks with ^(CK)drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come ^(CL)on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place ^(CM)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Good Figs and the Bad Figs

24 ^(A)After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem ^(B)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with ^(C)the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, ^(D)two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. ² One basket had very good figs, ^(E)like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had ^(F)very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. ³ And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁵ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, ^(G)whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. ^6 (H)I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. ^(I)I will build them up, and not tear them down; ^(J)I will plant them, and not pluck them up. ^7 (K)I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, ^(L)and they shall be my people ^(M)and I will be their God, ^(N)for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

⁸ “But thus says the Lord: Like ^(O)the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat ^(P)Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who ^(Q)dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹ I will make them ^(R)a horror^[a] to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be ^(S)a reproach, ^(T)a byword, ^(U)a taunt, and ^(V)a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. ¹⁰ And I will send ^(W)sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”

Seventy Years of Captivity

25 ^(X)The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), ² which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ³ “For twenty-three years, ^(Y)from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken ^(Z)persistently to you, ^(AA)but you have not listened. ^4 (AB)You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord ^(AC)persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, ⁵ saying, ^(AD)‘Turn now, every one of you, ^(AE)from his evil way and evil deeds, and ^(AF)dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. ^6 (AG)Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, ^(AH)or provoke me to anger ^(AI)with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ ^7 (AJ)Yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, ^(AK)that you might provoke me to anger ^(AL)with the work of your hands to your own harm.

⁸ “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, ^9 (AM)behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(AN)my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, ^(AO)and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. ¹⁰ Moreover, ^(AP)I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, ^(AQ)the grinding of the millstones and ^(AR)the light of the lamp. ^11 (AS)This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and ^(AT)these nations shall serve the king of Babylon ^(AU)seventy years. ¹² Then after ^(AV)seventy years are completed, ^(AW)I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, ^(AX)the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, ^(AY)making the land an everlasting waste. ¹³ I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written ^(AZ)in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. ^14 (BA)For many nations ^(BB)and great kings shall make slaves even of them, ^(BC)and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

The Cup of the Lord's Wrath

¹⁵ Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: ^(BD)“Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. ¹⁶ They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of ^(BE)the sword that I am sending among them.”

¹⁷ So I took the cup from the Lord's hand, ^(BF)and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: ^18 (BG)Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, ^(BH)to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; ^19 (BI)Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, ²⁰ and ^(BJ)all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of ^(BK)the land of Uz and all the kings of ^(BL)the land of the Philistines (^(BM)Ashkelon, ^(BN)Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of ^(BO)Ashdod); ^21 (BP)Edom, ^(BQ)Moab, and the sons of ^(BR)Ammon; ²² all the kings of ^(BS)Tyre, all the kings of ^(BT)Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across ^(BU)the sea; ^23 (BV)Dedan, ^(BW)Tema, ^(BX)Buz, and all who cut ^(BY)the corners of their hair; ²⁴ all the ^(BZ)kings of Arabia and all the kings of ^(CA)the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; ²⁵ all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^(CB)Elam, and all the kings of ^(CC)Media; ²⁶ all the kings of ^(CD)the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of ^(CE)Babylon^[b] shall drink.

²⁷ “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(CF)Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of ^(CG)the sword that I am sending among you.’

²⁸ “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(CH)You must drink! ²⁹ For behold, ^(CI)I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, ^(CJ)for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’

³⁰ “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:

^33 (CQ)“And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. ^(CR)They shall not be lamented, ^(CS)or gathered, or buried; ^(CT)they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

Job Continues: Death Comes Soon to All