Matthew 24 (New American Standard)

Signs of Christ's Return

1 ¹Jesus ²came out from the temple and was going away ^awhen His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He said to them, "Do you not see all these things ? Truly I say to you, ³not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down." 3 As He was sitting on ⁴the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately , saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of ⁵Your coming, and of the ^bend of the age ?" 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, "⁶See to it that no one misleads you. 5 "For ⁷many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the ^cChrist,' and will mislead many. 6 "You will be hearing of ⁸wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 "For ⁹nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be ¹⁰famines and earthquakes. 8 "¹¹But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. 9 "¹²Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and ¹³you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 "At that time many will ^d14fall away and will ^ebetray one another and hate one another. 11 "Many ¹⁵false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 "Because lawlessness is increased, ^fmost people's love will grow cold. 13 "¹⁶But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 "This ¹⁷gospel of the kingdom ¹⁸shall be preached in the whole ^g19world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Perilous Times

15 "Therefore when you see the ²⁰ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in ²¹the holy place (²²let the reader understand ), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 "^hWhoever is on ²³the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 "ⁱWhoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 "But ²⁴woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days ! 20 "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 "For then there will be a ²⁵great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 "Unless those days had been cut short, no ^jlife would have been saved ; but for ²⁶the sake of the ^kelect those days will be cut short. 23 "²⁷Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the ^lChrist,' or '^mThere He is,' do not believe him. 24 "For false Christs and ²⁸false prophets will arise and will ⁿshow great ^o29signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even ³⁰the ^pelect. 25 "Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them. 27 "³¹For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the ³²coming of the ³³Son of Man be. 28 "³⁴Wherever the corpse is, there the ^qvultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

29 "But immediately after the ³⁵tribulation of those days ³⁶THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND ³⁷THE STARS WILL FALL from ^rthe sky, and the powers of ^sthe heavens will be shaken. 30 "And then ³⁸the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ³⁹the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. 31 "And ⁴⁰He will send forth His angels with ⁴¹A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His ^t42elect from ⁴³the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Parable of the Fig Tree

32 "Now learn the parable from the fig tree : when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near ; 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, ^urecognize that ^vHe is near, right ⁴⁴at the ^wdoor. 34 "Truly I say to you, ⁴⁵this ^xgeneration will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 "⁴⁶Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36 "But ⁴⁷of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 "For ^ythe ⁴⁸coming of the Son of Man will be ⁴⁹just like the days of Noah. 38 "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ⁵⁰marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that ⁵¹Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not ^zunderstand until the flood came and took them all away ; so will the ⁵²coming of the Son of Man be. 40 "Then there will be two men in the field ; one ^aawill be taken and one ^bbwill be left. 41 "⁵³Two women will be grinding at the ^cc54mill ; one ^ddwill be taken and one ^eewill be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

42 "Therefore ⁵⁵be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 "But ^ffbe sure of this, that ⁵⁶if the head of the house had known ⁵⁷at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be ^ggbroken into. 44 "For this reason ⁵⁸you also must be ready ; for ⁵⁹the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. 45 "⁶⁰Who then is the ⁶¹faithful and ⁶²sensible slave whom his ^hhmaster ⁶³put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time ? 46 "Blessed is that slave whom his ⁱⁱmaster finds so doing when he comes. 47 "Truly I say to you that ⁶⁴he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 "But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My ^jjmaster ^kkis not coming for a long time,' 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards ; 50 the ^llmaster of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will ^mmcut him in pieces and ⁿⁿassign him a place with the hypocrites ; in that place there will be ⁶⁵weeping and gnashing of teeth.