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Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away,
21
because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than there has ever been since the beginning of the world until now, and nothing as bad will ever happen again.
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God has decided to make that terrible time short. Otherwise, no one would go on living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen.
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At that time, someone might say to you, 'Look, there is the Christ!' Or another person might say, 'There he is!' But don't believe them.
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False Christs and false prophets will come and perform great wonders and miracles. They will try to fool even the people God has chosen, if that is possible.
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Now I have warned you about this before it happens.
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"If people tell you, 'The Christ is in the desert,' don't go there. If they say, 'The Christ is in the inner room,' don't believe it.
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When the Son of Man comes, he will be seen by everyone, like lightning flashing from the east to the west.
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Wherever the dead body is, there the vultures will gather.
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"Soon after the trouble of those days, 'the sun will grow dark, and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from the sky. And the powers of the heavens will be shaken.'
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"At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the peoples of the world will cry. They will see the Son of Man coming on clouds in the sky with great power and glory.