Matthew 24
New King James Version
Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple(A)
24 Then (B)Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, (C)not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age(D)
3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, (E)the disciples came to Him privately, saying, (F)“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: (G)“Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For (H)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ (I)and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of (J)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for [a]all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For (K)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be (L)famines, [b]pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 (M)“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then (N)many false prophets will rise up and (O)deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow (P)cold. 13 (Q)But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this (R)gospel of the kingdom (S)will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
The Great Tribulation(T)
15 (U)“Therefore when you see the (V)‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (W)(whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But (X)woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For (Y)then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; (Z)but for the [c]elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
23 (AA)“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For (AB)false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, (AC)if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 (AD)For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 (AE)For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
The Coming of the Son of Man(AF)
29 (AG)“Immediately after the tribulation of those days (AH)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 (AI)Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, (AJ)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. 31 (AK)And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His [d]elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The Parable of the Fig Tree(AL)
32 “Now learn (AM)this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know (AN)that [e]it is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, (AO)this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 (AP)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
No One Knows the Day or Hour(AQ)
36 (AR)“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of [f]heaven, (AS)but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 (AT)For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 (AU)Then two men will be 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 (AV)Watch therefore, for you do not know what [g]hour your Lord is coming. 43 (AW)But know this, that if the master of the house had known what [h]hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 (AX)Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant(AY)
45 (AZ)“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food [i]in due season? 46 (BA)Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that (BB)he will make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master (BC)is delaying [j]his coming,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is (BD)not aware of, 51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. (BE)There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Footnotes
- Matthew 24:6 NU omits all
- Matthew 24:7 NU omits pestilences
- Matthew 24:22 chosen ones’
- Matthew 24:31 chosen ones
- Matthew 24:33 Or He
- Matthew 24:36 NU adds nor the Son
- Matthew 24:42 NU day
- Matthew 24:43 Lit. watch of the night
- Matthew 24:45 at the right time
- Matthew 24:48 NU omits his coming
Matthew 24
J.B. Phillips New Testament
24 1-2 Then Jesus went out of the Temple, and was walking away when his disciples came up and drew his attention to its buildings. “You see all these?” replied Jesus. “I tell you every stone will be thrown down till there is not a single one left standing upon another.”
3 And as he was sitting on the slope of the Mount of Olives his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will this happen? What will be the signal for your coming and the end of this world?”
4-14 “Be careful that no one misleads you,” returned Jesus, “for many men will come in my name saying ‘I am christ’, and they will mislead many. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars—but don’t be alarmed. Such things must indeed happen, but that is not the end. For one nation will rise in arms against another, and one kingdom against another, and there will be famines and earthquakes in different parts of the world. But all that is only the beginning of the birth-pangs. For then comes the time when men will hand you over to persecution, and kill you. And all nations will hate you because you bear my name. Then comes the time when many will lose their faith, and will betray and hate each other. Yes, and many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many people. Because of the spread of wickedness the love of most men will grow cold, though the man who holds out to the end will be saved. This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed to men all over the world as a witness to all the nations, and the end will come.
Jesus prophesies a future of suffering
15-22 “When the time comes, then, that you see the ‘abomination of desolation’ prophesied by Daniel ‘standing in the sacred place’—the reader should note this—then is the time for those in Judea to escape to the hills. A man on his house-top must not waste time going into his house to collect anything; a man at work in the fields must not go back home to fetch his clothes. Alas for the pregnant, alas for those with tiny babies at that time! Pray God that you may not have to make your escape in the winter or on the Sabbath day, for then there will be great misery, such as has never happened from the beginning of the world until now, and will never happen again! Yes, if those days had not been cut short no human being would survive. But for the sake of God’s people those days are to be shortened.
23-28 “If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ don’t believe it. False christs and false prophets are going to appear and will produce great signs and wonders to mislead, if it were possible, even God’s own people. Listen, I am warning you. So that if people say to you, ‘There he is, in the desert!’ you are not to go out there. If they say, ‘Here he is, in this inner room!’ don’t believe it. For as lightning flashes across from east to west so will the Son of Man’s coming be. ‘Wherever there is a dead body, there the vultures will flock.’
At the end of time the Son of Man will return
29-31 “Immediately after the misery of those days ‘the sun will be darkened, the moon will fail to give her light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken’. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will wring their hands as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky in power and great splendour. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet-call and they will gather his chosen from the four winds—from one end of the heavens to the other.
32-41 “Learn what the fig-tree can teach you. As soon as its branches grow full of sap and produce leaves you know that summer is near. So when you see all these things happening you may know that he is near, at your very door! Believe me, this generation will not disappear till all this has taken place. Earth and sky will pass away, but my words will never pass away! But about that actual day and time no one knows—not even the angels of Heaven, nor the Son, only the Father. For just as life went on in the days of Noah so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood people were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage until the very day that Noah went into the ark, and knew nothing about the flood until it came and destroyed them all. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left behind. Two women will be grinding at the hand-mill; one is taken and one is left behind.
42-44 “You must be on the alert then, for you do not know when your master is coming. You can be sure of this, however, that if the householder had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been ready for him and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. That is why you must always be ready, for you do not know what time the Son of Man will arrive.”
Vigilance is essential
45-51 “Who then is the faithful and sensible servant whom his master put in charge of his household to give others their food at the proper time? Well, he is fortunate if his master finds him doing that duty on his return! Believe me, he will promote him to look after all his property. But if he should be a bad servant who says to himself, ‘My master takes his time about returning’, and should begin to beat his fellow-servants and eat and drink with drunkards, that servant’s master will return suddenly and unexpectedly, and will punish him severely and send him off to share the penalty of the unfaithful—to his bitter sorrow and regret!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission.