Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²³ `If anyone says to you then, "Look, here is the Christ!" or "There he is!" do not believe it.

²⁴ People will come and say they are the Christ. People will come and say they are prophets. But they are not true. They will show big signs and do wonderful things to fool people. They will fool God's chosen people if they can.

²⁵ Watch! I have told you these things before they happen.

²⁶ So if people say to you, "He is in the wilderness," do not go there. If they say, "He is hiding somewhere," do not believe it.

²⁷ When lightning shines in the east, it can be seen in the west. It will be like that when the Son of Man comes.

²⁸ The big birds that eat meat will all go to the place where the dead body is.'

²⁹ `Right after that time of trouble, the sun will be dark. The moon will not shine. The stars will fall from the sky. And the powers in the sky will be shaken.

³⁰ Then people will see the sign of the Son of Man in the sky. Then all the people of the earth will cry. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds in the sky. He will have much power and will be very great.

³¹ He will send his angels to call with a loud trumpet or horn. They will gather his chosen people from everywhere all over the earth.'

³² `Learn a lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its branches begin to grow and the leaves come, then you know it will soon be the warm time of the year.

³³ It is the same when you see all these things. You will know that the time is very near, right at the door.

³⁴ I tell you the truth. The people who are living then, will not die before all these things happen.

³⁵ The sky and the earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.'