Matthew 24; Matthew 25

Matthew 24

1 Jesus left and was going away from the Temple when his disciples came to him to call his attention to its buildings.

2 "Yes," he said, "you may well look at all these. I tell you this: not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down."

3 As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him in private. "Tell us when all this will be," they asked, "and what will happen to show that it is the time for your coming and the end of the age."

4 Jesus answered, "Watch out, and do not let anyone fool you.

5 Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, "I am the Messiah!' and they will fool many people.

6 You are going to hear the noise of battles close by and the news of battles far away; but do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come.

7 Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere.

8 All these things are like the first pains of childbirth.

9 "Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and be put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me.

10 Many will give up their faith at that time; they will betray one another and hate one another.

11 Then many false prophets will appear and fool many people.

12 Such will be the spread of evil that many people's love will grow cold.

13 But whoever holds out to the end will be saved.

14 And this Good News about the Kingdom will be preached through all the world for a witness to all people; and then the end will come.

15 "You will see "The Awful Horror' of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place." (Note to the reader: understand what this means!)

16 "Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills.

17 Someone who is on the roof of a house must not take the time to go down and get any belongings from the house.

18 Someone who is in the field must not go back to get a cloak.

19 How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies!

20 Pray to God that you will not have to run away during the winter or on a Sabbath!

21 For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again.

22 But God has already reduced the number of days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, God will reduce the days.

23 "Then, if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Messiah!' or "There he is!' - do not believe it.

24 For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible.

25 Listen! I have told you this ahead of time.

26 "Or, if people should tell you, "Look, he is out in the desert!' - don't go there; or if they say, "Look, he is hiding here!' - don't believe it.

27 For the Son of Man will come like the lightning which flashes across the whole sky from the east to the west.

28 "Wherever there is a dead body, the vultures will gather.

29 "Soon after the trouble of those days, the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses.

30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 The great trumpet will sound, and he will send out his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from one end of the world to the other.

32 "Let the fig tree teach you a lesson. When its branches become green and tender and it starts putting out leaves, you know that summer is near.

33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you will know that the time is near, ready to begin.

34 Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died.

35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

36 "No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come - neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows.

37 The coming of the Son of Man will be like what happened in the time of Noah.

38 In the days before the flood people ate and drank, men and women married, up to the very day Noah went into the boat;

39 yet they did not realize what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes.

40 At that time two men will be working in a field: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind.

41 Two women will be at a mill grinding meal: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind.

42 Watch out, then, because you do not know what day your Lord will come.

43 If the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, you can be sure that he would stay awake and not let the thief break into his house.

44 So then, you also must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.

45 "Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant? It is the one that his master has placed in charge of the other servants to give them their food at the proper time.

46 How happy that servant is if his master finds him doing this when he comes home!

47 Indeed, I tell you, the master will put that servant in charge of all his property.

48 But if he is a bad servant, he will tell himself that his master will not come back for a long time,

49 and he will begin to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.

50 Then that servant's master will come back one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know.

51 The master will cut him in pieces and make him share the fate of the hypocrites. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.

Matthew 25

1 "At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. Once there were ten young women who took their oil lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

2 Five of them were foolish, and the other five were wise.

3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any extra oil with them,

4 while the wise ones took containers full of oil for their lamps.

5 The bridegroom was late in coming, so they began to nod and fall asleep.

6 "It was already midnight when the cry rang out, "Here is the bridegroom! Come and meet him!'

7 The ten young women woke up and trimmed their lamps.

8 Then the foolish ones said to the wise ones, "Let us have some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.'

9 "No, indeed,' the wise ones answered, "there is not enough for you and for us. Go to the store and buy some for yourselves.'

10 So the foolish ones went off to buy some oil; and while they were gone, the bridegroom arrived. The five who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was closed.

11 "Later the others arrived. "Sir, sir! Let us in!' they cried out.

12 "Certainly not! I don't know you,' the bridegroom answered."

13 And Jesus concluded, "Watch out, then, because you do not know the day or the hour.

14 "At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. Once there was a man who was about to leave home on a trip; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property.

15 He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave five thousand gold coins, to another he gave two thousand, and to another he gave one thousand. Then he left on his trip.

16 The servant who had received five thousand coins went at once and invested his money and earned another five thousand.

17 In the same way the servant who had received two thousand coins earned another two thousand.

18 But the servant who had received one thousand coins went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.

19 "After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them.

20 The servant who had received five thousand coins came in and handed over the other five thousand. "You gave me five thousand coins, sir,' he said. "Look! Here are another five thousand that I have earned.'

21 "Well done, you good and faithful servant!' said his master. "You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!'

22 Then the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, "You gave me two thousand coins, sir. Look! Here are another two thousand that I have earned.'

23 "Well done, you good and faithful servant!' said his master. "You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!'

24 Then the servant who had received one thousand coins came in and said, "Sir, I know you are a hard man; you reap harvests where you did not plant, and you gather crops where you did not scatter seed.

25 I was afraid, so I went off and hid your money in the ground. Look! Here is what belongs to you.'

26 "You bad and lazy servant!' his master said. "You knew, did you, that I reap harvests where I did not plant, and gather crops where I did not scatter seed?

27 Well, then, you should have deposited my money in the bank, and I would have received it all back with interest when I returned.

28 Now, take the money away from him and give it to the one who has ten thousand coins.

29 For to every person who has something, even more will be given, and he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him.

30 As for this useless servant - throw him outside in the darkness; there he will cry and gnash his teeth.'

31 "When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on his royal throne,

32 and the people of all the nations will be gathered before him. Then he will divide them into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

33 He will put the righteous people at his right and the others at his left.

34 Then the King will say to the people on his right, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world.

35 I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes,

36 naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.'

37 The righteous will then answer him, "When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?

38 When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you?

39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?'

40 The King will reply, "I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!'

41 "Then he will say to those on his left, "Away from me, you that are under God's curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels!

42 I was hungry but you would not feed me, thirsty but you would not give me a drink;

43 I was a stranger but you would not welcome me in your homes, naked but you would not clothe me; I was sick and in prison but you would not take care of me.'

44 Then they will answer him, "When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we would not help you?'

45 The King will reply, "I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me.'

46 These, then, will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life."