Matthew 24-25

Evangelical Heritage Version

The Destruction of Jerusalem and the End of the World

24 As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the temple buildings. ² Then he replied to them, “Do you see all of these things? Amen I tell you: Not one stone here will be left on another that will not be thrown down.”

³ While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?”

⁴ Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ Because many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive many people. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because all these things must happen; but that is not yet the end. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ But all these things are only the beginning of birth pains. ⁹ Then they will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will put you to death. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. ¹⁰ Then many will fall away from faith. They will betray each other and hate each other. ¹¹ Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But whoever endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the abomination that causes desolation, that was spoken of through the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place—let the reader understand— ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea should flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ The one on the housetop should not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸ The one who is in the field should not return to get his clothes. ¹⁹ How terrible it will be for those who are pregnant or are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your flight will not take place in the winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For at that time there will be great distress, unlike any that has happened since the beginning of the world until now, and unlike any that will happen again. ²² If those days were not shortened, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.

²³ “At that time if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There he is,’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive even the elect, if it were possible.

²⁵ “See, I have told you in advance. ²⁶ So if they tell you, ‘Look! There he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out there, or ‘Look! Here he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ Just as the lightning flashes from the east and shines as far as the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. ²⁸ Wherever the carcass may be, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹ “Immediately after the misery 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 powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. And at that time all the nations of the earth will mourn. 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 loud trumpet call, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³² “Learn this lesson from the fig tree. When its branch has become tender and produces leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the doors. ³⁴ Amen I tell you: This generation^[a] will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Be Ready!

³⁶ “No one knows when that day and hour will be, not the angels of heaven, not even the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when the Son of Man returns. ³⁸ In fact, in the days before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the very day that Noah entered the ark. ³⁹ And they did not realize what was coming until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man returns.

⁴⁰ “At that time two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴² So be alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But understand this: If the master of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ You also need to be ready for this reason: The Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect him.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master finds doing this when he returns. ⁴⁷ Amen I tell you: He will put him in charge of all that he has. ⁴⁸ But if that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will return on a day when he does not expect it and at an hour he does not know. ⁵¹ The master will cut him in two and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ When the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take any oil with them; ⁴ but the wise took oil in their containers with their lamps. ⁵ While the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. ⁶ But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ ⁷ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, ‘No, there may not be enough for us and for you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ But while they were away buying oil, the bridegroom came. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. ¹¹ Later, the other virgins also came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, let us in.’ ¹² But he answered, ‘Amen I tell you: I do not know you.’ ¹³ Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

The Parable of the Talents

¹⁴ “You see, the kingdom of heaven is like a man going on a journey. He called his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents,^[b] to another two talents, and to still another one talent, each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The servant who had received the five talents immediately put them to work and gained five more talents. ¹⁷ In the same way, the servant who had received the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who had received one talent went away, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The servant who received the five talents came and brought five more talents. He said, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’

²¹ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

²² “The servant who received the two talents came and said, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained two more talents.’

²³ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

²⁴ “Then the servant who received one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter seed. ²⁵ Since I was afraid, I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

²⁶ “His master answered him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers so that when I came I would get my money back with interest. ²⁸ Take the talent away from him and give it to the servant who has the ten talents. ²⁹ Because everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ³⁰ Throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Jesus Will Judge the World

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. ³⁶ I was lacking clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or lacking clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you did not give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink. ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, lacking clothes and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not take care of me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or lacking clothes or sick or in prison and did not serve you?’

⁴⁵ “At that time he will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ ⁴⁶ And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”