Matthew 24
24
1 And Jesus departed from the temple and went away. And his disciples approached him, so as to show him the buildings of the temple.
2 But he said to them in response: "Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you, there shall not remain here stone upon stone, which is not torn down."
3 Then, when he was seated at the Mount of Olives, the disciples drew near to him privately, saying: "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your advent and of the consummation of the age?"
4 And answering, Jesus said to them: "Pay attention, lest someone lead you astray.
5 For many will come in my name saying, 'I am the Christ.' And they will lead many astray.
6 For you will hear of battles and rumors of battles. Take care not to be disturbed. For these things must be, but the end is not so soon.
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places.
8 But all these things are just the beginning of the sorrows.
9 Then they will hand you over to tribulation, and they will kill you. And you will be hated by all nations for the sake of my name.
10 And then many will be led into sin, and will betray one another, and will have hatred for one another.
11 And many false prophets will arise, and they will lead many astray.
12 And because iniquity has abounded, the charity of many will grow cold.
13 But whoever will have persevered until the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached throughout the entire world, as a testimony to all nations. And then the consummation will occur.
15 Therefore, when you will have seen the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, may he who reads understand,
16 then those who are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains.
17 And whoever is on the roof, let him not descend to take anything from his house.
18 And whoever is in the field, let him not turn back to take his tunic.
19 So then, woe to those who are pregnant or nursing in those days.
20 But pray that your flight may not be in winter, or on the Sabbath.
21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until the present, and such as will not be.
22 And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if anyone will have said to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'he is there,' do not be willing to believe it.
24 For there will arise false Christs and false prophets. And they will produce great signs and wonders, so much so as to lead into error even the elect (if this could be).
25 Behold, I have warned you beforehand.
26 Therefore, if they will have said to you, 'Behold, he is in the desert,' do not choose to go out, or, 'Behold, he is in the inner rooms,' do not be willing to believe it.
27 For just as lightning goes out from the east, and appears even in the west, so shall it be also at the advent of the Son of man.
28 Wherever the body shall be, there also will the eagles be gathered together.
29 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 And then the sign of the Son of man shall appear in heaven. And then all tribes of the earth shall mourn. And they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven, with great power and majesty.
31 And he shall send out his Angels with a trumpet and a great voice. And they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the heights of the heavens, even to their furthest limits.
32 So, from the fig tree learn a parable. When its branch has now become tender and the leaves have sprung forth, you know that summer is near.
33 So also, when you will have seen all these things, know that it is near, even at the threshold.
34 Amen I say to you, that this lineage shall not pass away, until all these things have been done.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the Angels of the heavens, but only the Father.
37 And just as in the days of Noah, so also will be the advent of the Son of man.
38 For it will be just as it was in the days before the flood: eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, even until that day when Noah entered into the ark.
39 And they did not realize it, until the flood came and took them all away. So also will the advent of the Son of man be.
40 Then two men will be in a field: one will be taken up, and one will be left behind.
41 Two women will be grinding at a millstone: one will be taken up, and one will be left behind.
42 Therefore, be vigilant. For you do not know at what hour your Lord will return.
43 But know this: if only the father of the family knew at what hour the thief would arrive, he would certainly keep vigil and not permit his house to be broken into.
44 For this reason, you also must be prepared, for you do not know at what hour the Son of man will return.
45 Consider this: who is a faithful and prudent servant, who has been appointed by his lord over his family, to give them their portion in due time?
46 Blessed is that servant, if, when his lord has arrived, he shall find him doing so.
47 Amen I say to you, he shall appoint him over all of his goods.
48 But if that evil servant has said in his heart, 'My lord has been delayed in returning,'
49 and so, he begins to strike his fellow servants, and he eats and drinks with the inebriated:
50 then the lord of that servant will arrive on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know.
51 And he shall separate him, and he shall place his portion with the hypocrites, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
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Matthew 24: CPDV
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Matthew 24
24
Routine History
1-2Jesus then left the Temple. As he walked away, his disciples pointed out how very impressive the Temple architecture was. Jesus said, “You’re not impressed by all this sheer size, are you? The truth of the matter is that there’s not a stone in that building that is not going to end up in a pile of rubble.”
3Later as he was sitting on Mount Olives, his disciples approached and asked him, “Tell us, when are these things going to happen? What will be the sign of your coming, that the time’s up?”
4-8Jesus said, “Watch out for doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities, claiming, ‘I am Christ, the Messiah.’ They will deceive a lot of people. When reports come in of wars and rumored wars, keep your head and don’t panic. This is routine history; this is no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Famines and earthquakes will occur in various places. This is nothing compared to what is coming.
9-10“They are going to throw you to the wolves and kill you, everyone hating you because you carry my name. And then, going from bad to worse, it will be dog-eat-dog, everyone at each other’s throat, everyone hating each other.
11-12“In the confusion, lying preachers will come forward and deceive a lot of people. For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in—nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes.
13-14“Staying with it—that’s what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry, and you’ll be saved. All during this time, the good news—the Message of the kingdom—will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country. And then the end will come.
The Monster of Desecration
15-20“But be ready to run for it when you see the monster of desecration set up in the Temple sanctuary. The prophet Daniel described this. If you’ve read Daniel, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you’re living in Judea at the time, run for the hills; if you’re working in the yard, don’t return to the house to get anything; if you’re out in the field, don’t go back and get your coat. Pregnant and nursing mothers will have it especially hard. Hope and pray this won’t happen during the winter or on a Sabbath.
21-22“This is going to be trouble on a scale beyond what the world has ever seen, or will see again. If these days of trouble were left to run their course, nobody would make it. But on account of God’s chosen people, the trouble will be cut short.
The Arrival of the Son of Man
23-25“If anyone tries to flag you down, calling out, ‘Here’s the Messiah!’ or points, ‘There he is!’ don’t fall for it. Fake Messiahs and lying preachers are going to pop up everywhere. Their impressive credentials and bewitching performances will pull the wool over the eyes of even those who ought to know better. But I’ve given you fair warning.
26-28“So if they say, ‘Run to the country and see him arrive!’ or, ‘Quick, get downtown, see him come!’ don’t give them the time of day. The Arrival of the Son of Man isn’t something you go to see. He comes like swift lightning to you! Whenever you see crowds gathering, think of carrion vultures circling, moving in, hovering over a rotting carcass. You can be quite sure that it’s not the living Son of Man pulling in those crowds.
29“Following those hard times,
Sun will fade out,
moon cloud over,
Stars fall out of the sky,
cosmic powers tremble.
30-31“Then, the Arrival of the Son of Man! It will fill the skies—no one will miss it. Unready people all over the world, outsiders to the splendor and power, will raise a huge lament as they watch the Son of Man blazing out of heaven. At that same moment, he’ll dispatch his angels with a trumpet-blast summons, pulling in God’s chosen from the four winds, from pole to pole.
32-35“Take a lesson from the fig tree. From the moment you notice its buds form, the merest hint of green, you know summer’s just around the corner. So it is with you: When you see all these things, you’ll know he’s at the door. Don’t take this lightly. I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for all of you. This age continues until all these things take place. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out.
36“But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven’s angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.
37-39a “The Arrival of the Son of Man will take place in times like Noah’s. Before the great flood everyone was carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ark. They knew nothing—until the flood hit and swept everything away.
39b-44 “The Son of Man’s Arrival will be like that: Two men will be working in the field—one will be taken, one left behind; two women will be grinding at the mill—one will be taken, one left behind. So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up. But you do know this: You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.
45-47“Who here qualifies for the job of overseeing the kitchen? A person the Master can depend on to feed the workers on time each day. Someone the Master can drop in on unannounced and always find him doing his job. A God-blessed man or woman, I tell you. It won’t be long before the Master will put this person in charge of the whole operation.
48-51“But if that person only looks out for himself, and the minute the Master is away does what he pleases—abusing the help and throwing drunken parties for his friends—the Master is going to show up when he least expects it, and it won’t be pretty. He’ll end up in the dump with the hypocrites, out in the cold shivering, teeth chattering.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.