New Testament in a Year

Jesus talks about people who give things to God

21 Then Jesus looked up and saw something that was happening in the temple. There was a box for money there. Many rich people were putting their gifts of money into the box.

² Then he saw a woman coming there. Her husband had died and she was very poor. She put two small coins that had only a little value into the box. ³ ‘Let me tell you this,’ Jesus said. ‘This poor woman has put a better gift into the box than all the other people have put in there. ⁴ All those rich people have plenty of money. They only gave a small part of that. But this woman has almost nothing. She put everything that she had into the box. That money was what she needed to live.’

Jesus talks about things that will happen

⁵ Some of Jesus' disciples were talking about the temple. They spoke about the many beautiful stones in the walls. They also spoke about the many gifts to God that people had put there. ⁶ Jesus said to them, ‘You can see all these beautiful things now. But a day is coming when enemies will completely destroy it all. Not even one stone will remain on top of another stone.’

⁷ ‘Teacher,’ they asked, ‘When will all these things happen? What will show us that they will soon happen?’

⁸ Jesus replied. ‘Be careful! Some people will tell you things that are not true. Do not believe them. Many people will say that they have come on my behalf. They will say, “I am the Messiah.” They will say, “Now is the time!” Do not agree with those people. ⁹ You will hear about wars and people fighting each other. Do not be afraid. Those things must happen first, but the end of everything will not happen immediately.’

¹⁰ Jesus then said to them, ‘People from one country will attack the people from another country. Kings and their armies will fight against other kings and their armies. ¹¹ The ground will shake, so that people will be afraid. In many different places, people will be hungry, with no food. Diseases will go from one person to another. Many people will die. Things will also happen in the sky that will frighten people.

¹² But before all those things happen, people will take hold of you. They will do bad things to you and give you pain. They will take you to the leaders in their meeting places and they will keep you in prisons. They will make you stand in front of kings and rulers. All this will happen because you are my disciples. ¹³ This will be the time to tell them the good news about me. ¹⁴ So prepare your minds. You must decide not to think about how to answer the questions of kings and rulers. Wait until that time comes. ¹⁵ I will give you the right words to speak at that time. I will help you to be wise. The people who are against you will not be able to argue with you. They will just be quiet. ¹⁶ Even your parents and other people in your family will take hold of you. They will make you stand in front of kings and rulers. They will even kill some of you. ¹⁷ Everybody will hate you because you are my disciples. ¹⁸ But your life will be safe with me. You will not lose even one hair from your head. ¹⁹ Yes, you will have true life, if you remain strong.