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. ²And 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)

³Now 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?”

⁴And Jesus answered and said to them: ^(G)“Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵For ^(H)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ ^(I)and will deceive many. ⁶And 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. ⁷For ^(K)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be ^(L)famines, ^[b]pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All 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. ¹⁰And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹Then ^(N)many false prophets will rise up and ^(O)deceive many. ¹²And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow ^(P)cold. ¹³^(Q)But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴And 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. ¹⁷Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. ¹⁹But ^(X)woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹For ^(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. ²²And 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. ²⁴For ^(AB)false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, ^(AC)if possible, even the elect. ²⁵See, 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. ³³So you also, when you see all these things, know ^(AN)that ^[e]it is near—at the doors! ³⁴Assuredly, 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. ³⁷But 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, ³⁹and 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. ⁴¹Two 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. ⁴⁷Assuredly, I say to you that ^(BB)he will make him ruler over all his goods. ⁴⁸But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master ^(BC)is delaying ^[j]his coming,’ ⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, ⁵⁰the 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, ⁵¹and 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

Joel 2

New King James Version

The Day of the Lord

2 Blow ^(A)the ^[a]trumpet in Zion,
And ^(B)sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For ^(C)the day of the Lord is coming,
For it is at hand:
²^(D)A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
^(E)A people come, great and strong,
^(F)The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.

³A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like ^(G)the Garden of Eden before them,
^(H)And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.
⁴^(I)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like ^[b]swift steeds, so they run.
⁵^(J)With a noise like chariots
Over mountaintops they leap,
Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,
Like a strong people set in battle array.

⁶Before them the people writhe in pain;
^(K)All faces ^[c]are drained of color.
⁷They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like men of war;
Every one marches in formation,
And they do not break ^(L)ranks.
⁸They do not push one another;
Every one marches in his own ^[d]column.
Though they lunge between the weapons,
They are not ^[e]cut down.
⁹They run to and fro in the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They ^(M)enter at the windows ^(N)like a thief.

¹⁰^(O)The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
^(P)The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.
¹¹^(Q)The Lord gives voice before His army,
For His camp is very great;
^(R)For strong is the One who executes His word.
For the ^(S)day of the Lord is great and very terrible;
^(T)Who can endure it?

A Call to Repentance

¹²“Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
^(U)“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
¹³So ^(V)rend your heart, and not ^(W)your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is ^(X)gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
¹⁴^(Y)Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave ^(Z)a blessing behind Him—
^(AA)A grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God?

¹⁵^(AB)Blow the ^[f]trumpet in Zion,
^(AC)Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;
¹⁶Gather the people,
^(AD)Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
^(AE)Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.
¹⁷Let the priests, who minister to the Lord,
Weep ^(AF)between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, ^(AG)“Spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should ^[g]rule over them.
^(AH)Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”

The Land Refreshed^(AI)

¹⁸Then the Lord will ^(AJ)be zealous for His land,
And pity His people.
¹⁹The Lord will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I will send you ^(AK)grain and new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied by them;
I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.

²⁰“But ^(AL)I will remove far from you ^(AM)the northern army,
And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,
With his face toward the eastern sea
And his back ^(AN)toward the western sea;
His stench will come up,
And his foul odor will rise,
Because he has done ^[h]monstrous things.”

²¹Fear not, O land;
Be glad and rejoice,
For the Lord has done ^[i]marvelous things!
²²Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field;
For ^(AO)the open pastures are springing up,
And the tree bears its fruit;
The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
²³Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And ^(AP)rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the ^[j]former rain faithfully,
And He ^(AQ)will cause the rain to come down for you—
The former rain,
And the latter rain in the first month.
²⁴The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

²⁵“So I will restore to you the years ^(AR)that the swarming ^[k]locust has eaten,
The crawling locust,
The consuming locust,
And the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
²⁶You shall ^(AS)eat in plenty and be satisfied,
And praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
And My people shall never be put to ^(AT)shame.
²⁷Then you shall know that I am ^(AU)in the midst of Israel:
^(AV)I am the Lord your God
And there is no other.
My people shall never be put to shame.

God’s Spirit Poured Out

²⁸“And^(AW) it shall come to pass afterward
That ^(AX)I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
^(AY)Your sons and your ^(AZ)daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
²⁹And also on My ^(BA)menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

³⁰“And ^(BB)I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
³¹^(BC)The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
^(BD)Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
³²And it shall come to pass
That ^(BE)whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be ^[l]saved.
For ^(BF)in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be ^[m]deliverance,
As the Lord has said,
Among ^(BG)the remnant whom the Lord calls.

Footnotes

Joel 2:1 ram’s horn
Joel 2:4 Or horsemen
Joel 2:6 LXX, Tg., Vg. gather blackness
Joel 2:8 Lit. highway
Joel 2:8 Halted by losses
Joel 2:15 ram’s horn
Joel 2:17 Or speak a proverb against them
Joel 2:20 Lit. great
Joel 2:21 Lit. great
Joel 2:23 Or teacher of righteousness
Joel 2:25 Exact identity of these locusts unknown
Joel 2:32 Or delivered
Joel 2:32 Or salvation

2 Thessalonians 2

New King James Version

The Great Apostasy

2 Now, brethren, ^(A)concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ^(B)and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ²^(C)not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of ^[a]Christ had come. ³Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come ^(D)unless the falling away comes first, and ^(E)the man of ^[b]sin is revealed, ^(F)the son of perdition, ⁴who opposes and ^(G)exalts himself ^(H)above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits ^[c]as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

⁵Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. ⁷For ^(I)the ^[d]mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^[e]He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. ⁸And then the lawless one will be revealed, ^(J)whom the Lord will consume ^(K)with the breath of His mouth and destroy ^(L)with the brightness of His coming. ⁹The coming of the lawless one is ^(M)according to the working of Satan, with all power, ^(N)signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰and with all unrighteous deception among ^(O)those who perish, because they did not receive ^(P)the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹And ^(Q)for this reason God will send them strong delusion, ^(R)that they should believe the lie, ¹²that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but ^(S)had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Fast

¹³But we are ^[f]bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God ^(T)from the beginning ^(U)chose you for salvation ^(V)through ^[g]sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, ¹⁴to which He called you by our gospel, for ^(W)the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵Therefore, brethren, ^(X)stand fast and hold ^(Y)the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our ^[h]epistle.

¹⁶Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, ^(Z)who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and ^(AA)good hope by grace, ¹⁷comfort your hearts ^(AB)and ^[i]establish you in every good word and work.