3 Now while Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, "Tell us, when will these things happen? What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?"
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Jesus replied, “Watch out that no one deceives you.
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Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I'm the Christ.' They will deceive many people.
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You will hear about wars and reports of wars. Don't be alarmed. These things must happen, but this isn't the end yet.
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Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in all sorts of places.
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But all these things are just the beginning of the sufferings associated with the end.
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They will arrest you, abuse you, and they will kill you. All nations will hate you on account of my name.
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At that time many will fall away. They will betray each other and hate each other.
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Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
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Because disobedience will expand, the love of many will grow cold.
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But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.
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This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all the nations. Then the end will come.
The great suffering
15“When you see the disgusting and destructive thing that Daniel talked about standing in the holy place (the reader should understand this),
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then those in Judea must escape to the mountains.
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Those on the roof shouldn't come down to grab things from their houses.
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Those in the field shouldn't come back to grab their clothes.
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How terrible it will be at that time for women who are pregnant and for women who are nursing their children.
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Pray that it doesn't happen in winter or on the Sabbath day.
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There will be great suffering such as the world has never before seen and will never again see.
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If that time weren't shortened, nobody would be rescued. But for the sake of the ones whom God chose, that time will be cut short.
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“Then if somebody says to you, ‘Look, here's the Christ,' or ‘He's over here,' don't believe it.
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False christs and false prophets will appear, and they will offer great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even those whom God has chosen.
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So if they say to you, ‘Look, he's in the desert,' don't go out. And if they say, ‘Look, he's in the rooms deep inside the house,' don't believe it.
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Just as the lightning flashes from the east to the west, so it will be with the coming of the Human One.
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The vultures gather wherever there's a dead body.
Coming of the Human One
29“Now immediately after the suffering of that time the sun will become dark, and the moon won't give its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken.
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Then the sign of the Human One will appear in the sky. At that time all the tribes of the earth will be full of sadness, and they will see the Human One coming in the heavenly clouds with power and great splendor.
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He will send his angels with the sound of a great trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from the four corners of the earth, from one end of the sky to the other.