The Destruction of the Temple Foretold

⁵ When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said,^{(A) 6} “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”^(B)

Signs and Persecutions

⁷ They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” ⁸ And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’^[a] and, ‘The time is near!’^[b] Do not go after them.^(C)

⁹ “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom;^{(D) 11} there will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

¹² “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.^{(E) 13} This will give you an opportunity to testify.^{(F) 14} So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance,^{(G) 15} for I will give you words^[c] and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.^{(H) 16} You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.^{(I) 17} You will be hated by all because of my name.^{(J) 18} But not a hair of your head will perish.^{(K) 19} By your endurance you will gain your souls.^(L)

The Destruction of Jerusalem Foretold

²⁰ “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.^{[d](M) 21} Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it,^{(N) 22} for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written.^{(O) 23} Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; ²⁴ they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the times of the nations are fulfilled.^(P)

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁵ “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.^{(Q) 26} People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.^{(R) 28} Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”^[e](S)

¹⁶ Where a will^[a] is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. ¹⁷ For a will^[b] takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. ¹⁸ Hence not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.^{(A) 19} For when every commandment had been told to all the people by Moses in accordance with the law, he took the blood of calves and goats,^[c] with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people,^{(B) 20} saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you.” ²¹ And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent^[d] and all the vessels used in worship.^{(C) 22} Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.^(D)

Christ’s Sacrifice Takes Away Sin

²³ Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.^{(E) 25} Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the holy place year after year with blood that is not his own, ²⁶ for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.^{(F) 27} And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once and after that the judgment,^{(G) 28} so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.^(H)