Signs of the End of the Age
1
Jesus left the temple and was walking away
when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.
2
"Do you see all these things? he asked.
"I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another;
everyone will be thrown down."
3
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,
the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said,
"when will this happen and what will be the sign of
your coming and of the end of the age?"
4
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you.
5
For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,'
and will deceive many.
6
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars,
but see to it that you are not alarmed.
Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
7
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdoim against kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various places
8
All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9
"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death,
and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
10
At that time many will turn away from the faith
and will betray and hate each other,
11
and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
12
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
13
but he who stand firm to the end will be saved.
14
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world
as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come.
15
"So when you see standing in the holy place
'the abomination that a causes desolation,'
spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand -
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then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17
Let no one on the roof of his house go down
to take anything out of the house.
18
Let no one in the field go back to get is cloak.
19
How dreadful it will be in those days
for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
20
Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
21
For then there will be great distress,
unequaled from the beginning of the world until now
- and never to be equaled again.
22
If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive,
but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
23
At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!'
or 'There he is!' do not believe it.
24
For false Christs and false prophets will appear
and perform great signs and miracles to deceive eevn the elect -
if that were possible.
25
See, I have told you ahead of time.
26
"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out;
or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
27
Foir as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in tthe west,
so sill be the coming of the Son of Man.
28
Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29
"Immediately after the distress of those days
" 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its ight;
the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'
30
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky,
and all the nations of the earth will mourn.
They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky,
with power and great glory.
31
And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call,
and they will gather his elect from the four winds,
from one end of the heavens to the other.
32
"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree:
As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out,
you know that summer is near.
33
Even so, when you see all these things,
you know tht it is near, right at the door.
34
I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away
until all these things have happened.
35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The Day and Hour Unknown
36
"No one knows about that day or hour,
no teven the angels in heaven , nor the Son, but only the Father.
37
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
38
For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
39
and they knew nothing about what would happen
until the flood came and took them all away.
That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
40
Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
41
Two women will be grinding with a hand mill
one will taken and the other left.
42
"Therefore keep watch because you do not know
on what day our Lord will come.
43
But understand this: If the owner of the house had known
at what time of night the thief was coming,
he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
44
So you also must be ready,
because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expet him.
45
"Who then is the faithful and wise servant,
whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his
household to give them their food at the proper time?
46
It will be good for that servant
whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
47
I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
48
But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himsef,
'My master is staying away a long time,'
49
and he then begins to beat his fellow servants
and to eat and ddrink with drunkards.
50
The master of that servant will come on a day
when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.
51
He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
