Beginning
The Temple Will Be Destroyed
24 Jesus left the Temple and was walking away. But his followers came to show him the Temple’s buildings. 2 Jesus asked, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground. Not one stone will be left on another.”
3 Later, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives. His followers came to be alone with him. They said, “Tell us when these things will happen. And what will happen to show us that it is time for you to come again and for the world to end?”
4 Jesus answered: “Be careful that no one fools you. 5 Many people will come in my name. They will say, ‘I am the Christ.’ And they will fool many people. 6 You will hear about wars and stories of wars that are coming. But don’t be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes. 7 Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat. And there will be earthquakes in different places. 8 These things are like the first pains when something new is about to be born.
9 “Then men will arrest you and hand you over to be hurt and kill you. They will hate you because you believe in me. 10 At that time, many who believe will lose their faith. They will turn against each other and hate each other. 11 Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe false things. 12 There will be more and more evil in the world. So most people will stop showing their love for each other. 13 But the person who continues to be strong until the end will be saved. 14 The Good News about God’s kingdom will be preached in all the world, to every nation. Then the end will come.
15 “Daniel the prophet spoke about ‘the horrible thing that destroys.’[a] You will see this terrible thing standing in the holy place.” (You who read this should understand what it means.) 16 “At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains. 17 If a person is on the roof[b] of his house, he must not go down to get anything out of his house. 18 If a person is in the field, he must not go back to get his coat. 19 At that time, it will be hard for women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! 20 Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away. 21 This is because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning of the world. And nothing as bad as that will ever happen again. 22 God has decided to make that terrible time short. If that time were not made short, then no one would go on living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen. 23 At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the Christ!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. 24 False Christs and false prophets will come and perform great things and miracles. They will do these things to the people God has chosen. They will fool them, if that is possible. 25 Now I have warned you about this before it happens.
26 “If people tell you, ‘The Christ is in the desert’—don’t go there. If they say, ‘The Christ is in the inner room’—don’t believe it. 27 When the Son of Man comes, he will be seen by everyone. It will be like lightning flashing in the sky that can be seen everywhere. 28 Wherever there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Soon after the trouble of those days, this will happen:
‘The sun will grow dark.
And the moon will not give its light.
The stars will fall from the sky.
And everything in the sky will be changed.’ Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
30 “At that time, there will be something in the sky that shows the Son of Man is coming. All the peoples of the world will cry. They will see the Son of Man coming on clouds in the sky. He will come with great power and glory. 31 He will use a loud trumpet to send his angels all around the earth. They will gather his chosen people from every part of the world.
32 “The fig tree teaches us a lesson: When its branches become green and soft, and new leaves begin to grow, then you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time is near, ready to come. 34 I tell you the truth. All these things will happen while the people of this time are still living! 35 The whole world, earth and sky, will be destroyed, but the words I have said will never be destroyed!
When Will Jesus Come Again?
36 “No one knows when that day or time will be. Even the Son[c] and the angels in heaven don’t know. Only the Father knows. 37 When the Son of Man comes, it will be the same as what happened during Noah’s time. 38 In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking. They were marrying and giving their children to be married. They were still doing those things until the day Noah entered the boat. 39 They knew nothing about what was happening. But then the flood came, and all those people were destroyed. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. 40 Two men will be working together in the field. One man will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding grain with a hand mill.[d] One woman will be taken and the other will be left.
42 “So always be ready. You don’t know the day your Lord will come. 43 Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time a thief was coming, then the owner would be ready for him. The owner would watch and not let the thief enter his house. 44 So you also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time you don’t expect him.
45 “Who is the wise and trusted servant? The master trusts one servant to give the other servants their food at the right time. 46 When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be very happy. 47 I tell you the truth. The master will choose that servant to take care of everything the master owns. 48 But what will happen if the servant is evil and thinks his master will not come back soon? 49 Then that servant will begin to beat the other servants. He will feast and get drunk with others like him. 50 And the master will come when the servant is not ready and is not expecting him. 51 Then the master will punish that servant. He will send him away to be among the hypocrites. There people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.
A Story About Ten Girls
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten girls who went to wait for the bridegroom. They took their lamps with them. 2 Five of the girls were foolish and five were wise. 3 The five foolish girls took their lamps, but they did not take more oil for the lamps to burn. 4 The wise girls took their lamps and more oil in jars. 5 The bridegroom was very late. All the girls became sleepy and went to sleep.
6 “At midnight someone cried out, ‘The bridegroom is coming! Come and meet him!’ 7 Then all the girls woke up and got their lamps ready. 8 But the foolish girls said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’ 9 The wise girls answered, ‘No! The oil we have might not be enough for all of us. Go to the people who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “So the five foolish girls went to buy oil. While they were gone, the bridegroom came. The girls who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding feast. Then the door was closed and locked.
11 “Later the others came back. They called, ‘Sir, sir, open the door to let us in.’ 12 But the bridegroom answered, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’
13 “So always be ready. You don’t know the day or the time the Son of Man will come.
A Story About Three Servants
14 “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was going to another place for a visit. Before he left, he talked with his servants. The man told them to take care of his things while he was gone. 15 He decided how much each servant would be able to care for. He gave one servant five bags of money. He gave another servant two bags of money. And he gave a third servant one bag of money. Then the man left. 16 The servant who got five bags went quickly to invest the money. The five bags of money earned five more. 17 It was the same with the servant who had two bags of money. He invested the money and earned two more. 18 But the servant who got one bag of money went out and dug a hole in the ground. Then he hid his master’s money in the hole.
19 “After a long time the master came home. He asked the servants what they did with his money. 20 The servant who got five bags of money brought five more bags to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you trusted me to care for five bags of money. So I used your five bags to earn five more.’ 21 The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with small things. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’
22 “Then the servant who got two bags of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of money to care for. So I used your two bags to earn two more.’ 23 The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with small things. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’
24 “Then the servant who got one bag of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a hard man. You harvest things you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not sow any seed. 25 So I was afraid. I went and hid your money in the ground. Here is the bag of money you gave me.’ 26 The master answered, ‘You are a bad and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest things I did not plant, and that I gather crops where I did not sow any seed? 27 So you should have put my money in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would get my money back with interest.’
28 “So the master told his other servants, ‘Take the bag of money from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags of money. 29 Everyone who uses what he has will get more. He will have much more than he needs. But the one who does not use what he has will have everything taken away from him.’ 30 Then the master said, ‘Throw that useless servant outside, into the darkness! There people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’
The King Will Judge All People
31 “The Son of Man will come again in his great glory. All his angels will come with him. He will be King and sit on his great throne. 32 All the people of the world will be gathered before him. Then he will separate them into two groups as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 The Son of Man will put the sheep, the good people, on his right and the goats, the bad people, on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to the good people on his right, ‘Come. My Father has given you his blessing. Come and receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made. 35 I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. 36 I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then the good people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our house? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’
40 “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth. Anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me.’
41 “Then the King will say to those on his left, ‘Go away from me. God has said that you will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever. That fire was prepared for the devil and his helpers. 42 I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
44 “Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? When did we see you alone and away from home? Or when did we see you without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?’
45 “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth. Anything you refused to do for any of my people here, you refused to do for me.’
46 “These people will go off to be punished forever. But the good people will go to live forever.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.