Beginning

Jesus Tells of the House of God ^(A)

24 Jesus went out of the house of God. On the way His followers came to Him to show Him the buildings of the house of God. ² Jesus said to them, “Do you see all these things? For sure, I tell you, all these stones will be thrown down. Not one will be left standing on another.”

Jesus Teaches on the Mount of Olives

³ Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. The followers came to Him when He was alone and said, “Tell us, when will this happen? What can we look for to show us of Your coming and of the end of the world?”

⁴ Jesus said to them, “Be careful that no one leads you the wrong way. ⁵ Many people will come using My name. They will say, ‘I am Christ.’ They will fool many people and will turn them to the wrong way. ⁶ You will hear of wars and lots of talk about wars, but do not be afraid. These things must happen, but it is not the end yet. ⁷ Nations will have wars with other nations. Countries will fight against countries. There will be no food for people. The earth will shake and break apart in different places. ⁸ These things are the beginning of sorrows and pains.

⁹ “Then they will hand you over to be hurt. They will kill you. You will be hated by all the world because of My name. ¹⁰ Many people will give up and turn away at this time. People will hand over each other. They will hate each other. ¹¹ Many false religious teachers will come. They will fool many people and will turn them to the wrong way. ¹² Because of people breaking the laws and sin being everywhere, the love in the hearts of many people will become cold. ¹³ But the one who stays true to the end will be saved.

¹⁴ “This Good News about the holy nation of God must be preached over all the earth. It must be told to all nations and then the end will come.

Days of Trouble and Pain and Sorrow

¹⁵ “You will see a sinful man-made god standing in the house of God in Jerusalem. It was spoken of by the early preacher Daniel. ^(B) The one who reads this should understand it. ¹⁶ Then those in the country of Judea should run to the mountains. ¹⁷ The man who is on the top of his house should not come down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸ The man who is in the field should not go back to get his coat. ¹⁹ It will be hard for a woman who will soon be a mother. It will be hard for the ones feeding babies in those days! ²⁰ Pray that you will not have to go in the winter or on the Day of Rest. ²¹ In those days there will be very much trouble and pain and sorrow. It has never been this bad from the beginning of the world and never will be again. ²² If the time had not been made short, no life would have been saved. Because of God’s people, the time will be made short.

The False Religious Teachers

²³ “If anyone says to you, ‘See! Here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ People who say they are Christ and false preachers will come. They will do special things for people to see. They will do great things, so that if it can be done, God’s people will be fooled to believe something wrong. ²⁵ Listen! I have told you before it comes. ²⁶ If they tell you, ‘See! He is in the desert,’ do not go to see. Or if they say, ‘See! He is in the inside room,’ do not believe them. ²⁷ The Son of Man will come as fast as lightning shines across the sky from east to west. ²⁸ Birds gather wherever there is a dead body.

Jesus Will Come Again in His Shining-Greatness

²⁹ “As soon as those days of trouble and pain and sorrow are over, the sun will get dark. The moon will not give light. The stars will fall from the sky. The powers in the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then something special will be seen in the sky telling of the Son of Man. All nations of the earth will have sorrow. They will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the sky with power and shining-greatness. ³¹ He will send His angels with the loud sound of a horn. They will gather God’s people together from the four winds. They will come from one end of the heavens to the other.

The Picture-Story of the Fig Tree

³² “Now learn something from the fig tree. When the branch begins to grow and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things happen, you know the Son of Man is near, even at the door. ³⁴ For sure, I tell you, the people of this day will not pass away before all these things have happened.

No One Knows When Jesus Will Come Again

³⁵ “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. ³⁶ But no one knows the day or the hour. No! Not even the angels in heaven know. The Son does not know. Only the Father knows.

³⁷ “When the Son of Man comes, it will be the same as when Noah lived. ³⁸ In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking. They were marrying and being given in marriage. This kept on until the day Noah went into the large boat. ³⁹ They did not know what was happening until the flood came and the water carried them all away. It will be like this when the Son of Man comes.

⁴⁰ “Two men will be working in a field. One will be taken and the other will be left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding grain. One will be taken and the other will be left.

⁴² “Because of this, watch! You do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of a house had known when the robber was coming, he would have watched. He would not have allowed his house to have been broken into. ⁴⁴ You must be ready also. The Son of Man is coming at a time when you do not think He will come.

Faithful Servants and Servants Who Are Not Faithful

⁴⁵ “Who is the faithful and wise servant whom his owner has made boss over the other servants? He is to have food ready for them at the right time. ⁴⁶ That servant is happy who is doing what his owner wants him to do when he comes back. ⁴⁷ For sure, I tell you, he will make him boss over all that he has. ⁴⁸ But if that servant is bad, he will think, ‘The owner will not come soon.’ ⁴⁹ He will beat the others. He will eat and drink with those who are drunk. ⁵⁰ The owner will come on a day and at an hour when the servant is not looking for him. ⁵¹ The owner will punish the servant and will give him his place with those who pretend to be someone they are not. There will be loud crying and grinding of teeth.

The Picture-Story of Ten Young Women

25 “At that time the holy nation of heaven will be like ten women who have never had men. They took their lamps and went out to meet the man soon to be married. ² Five of them were wise and five were foolish. ³ The foolish women took their lamps but did not take oil with them. ⁴ The wise women took oil in a jar with their lamps. ⁵ They all went to sleep because the man to be married did not come for a long time.

⁶ “At twelve o’clock in the night there was a loud call, ‘See! The man soon to be married is coming! Go out to meet him!’ ⁷ Then all the women got up and made their lamps brighter. ⁸ The foolish women said to the wise women, ‘Give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise women said, ‘No! There will not be enough for us and you. Go to the store and buy oil for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ While they were gone to buy oil, the man soon to be married came. Those who were ready went in with him to the marriage. The door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the foolish women came. They said, ‘Sir, Sir, open the door for us!’ ¹² But he said to them, ‘For sure, I tell you, I do not know you!’ ¹³ So watch! You do not know what day or what hour the Son of Man is coming.

The Picture-Story of the Three Servants and the Money

¹⁴ “For the holy nation of heaven is like a man who was going to a country far away. He called together the servants he owned and gave them his money to use. ¹⁵ He gave to one servant five pieces of money worth much. He gave to another servant two pieces of money worth much. He gave to another servant one piece of money worth much. He gave to each one as he was able to use it. Then he went on his trip. ¹⁶ The servant who had the five pieces of money went out to the stores and traded until he made five more pieces. ¹⁷ The servant who had two pieces of money did the same thing. He made two more pieces. ¹⁸ The servant who had received the one piece of money went and hid the money in a hole in the ground. He hid his owner’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time the owner of those servants came back. He wanted to know what had been done with his money. ²⁰ The one who had received the five pieces of money worth much came and handed him five pieces more. He said, ‘Sir, you gave me five pieces of money. See! I used it and made five more pieces.’ ²¹ His owner said to him, ‘You have done well. You are a good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will put many things in your care. Come and share my joy.’ ²² The one who received two pieces of money worth much came also. He said, ‘Sir, you gave me two pieces of money. See! I used it and made two more pieces.’ ²³ His owner said to him, ‘You have done well. You are a good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will put many things in your care. Come and share my joy.’ ²⁴ The one who had received one piece of money worth much came. He said, ‘Sir, I know that you are a hard man. You gather grain where you have not planted. You take up where you have not spread out. ²⁵ I was afraid and I hid your money in the ground. See! Here is your money.’ ²⁶ His owner said to him, ‘You bad and lazy servant. You knew that I gather grain where I have not planted. You knew that I take up where I have not spread out. ²⁷ You should have taken my money to the bank. When I came back, I could have had my own money and what the bank paid for using it. ²⁸ Take the one piece of money from him. Give it to the one who has ten pieces of money.’ ²⁹ For the man who has will have more given to him. He will have more than enough. The man who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ Throw the bad servant out into the darkness. There will be loud crying and grinding of teeth.

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in His shining-greatness, He will sit down on His throne of greatness. All the angels will be with Him. ³² All the nations of the earth will be gathered before Him. He will divide them from each other as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on His right side, but the goats He will put on His left side.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on His right side, ‘Come, you who have been called by My Father. Come into the holy nation that has been made ready for you before the world was made. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave Me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave Me water to drink. I was a stranger and you gave Me a room. ³⁶ I had no clothes and you gave Me clothes to wear. I was sick and you cared for Me. I was in prison and you came to see Me.’

³⁷ “Then those that are right with God will say, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You? When did we see You thirsty and give You a drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and give You a room? When did we see You had no clothes and we gave You clothes? ³⁹ And when did we see You sick or in prison and we came to You?’ ⁴⁰ Then the King will say, ‘For sure, I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of My brothers, you have done it to Me.’

⁴¹ “Then the King will say to those on His left side, ‘Go away from Me! You are guilty! Go into the fire that lasts forever. It has been made ready for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry but you did not give Me food to eat. I was thirsty but you did not give Me water to drink. ⁴³ I was a stranger but you did not give Me a room. I had no clothes but you did not give Me clothes. I was sick and in prison but you did not come to see Me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger? When did we see You without clothes or sick or in prison and did not care for You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will say to them, ‘For sure, I tell you, because you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ These will go to the place where they will be punished forever. But those right with God will have life that lasts forever.”