Matthew Chapter 24
The Olivet Discourse
1 Jesus was leaving the Temple when his disciples came to show him the buildings of the Temple complex.
2 He responded, “See all this? There won’t be one stone left on another.”
3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came privately, “Tell us, when will that happen, what will be the sign that you’re coming and the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered,
“Make sure nobody deceives you. 5 Many will come, saying, ‘I’m the Messiah,’ and deceive lots of people. 6 You’ll hear about wars and reports of wars. Don’t let it alarm you. They have to happen, but that’s not the end. 7 Nation will attack nation and kingdom attack kingdom. There’ll be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 That’s the beginning of labor pains.
9 “Then they’ll bring distress on you and kill you, and Gentiles will hate you because of me. 10 Many will fall away, betray each other, hate one another. 11 False prophets will rise up and deceive people. 12 Since lawlessness will increase, many people’s love will grow cold; 13 but the one that endures to the end will be saved. 14 The good news about the kingdom will be delivered in the whole empire for a testimony to the nations. Then the end will come.
Mt 24:1-14
15 “When you see ‘the abomination of desolation,’ that Daniel the prophet spoke about, standing in the holy place (reader, understand.), 16 people in Judaea need to flee to the hill country. 17 Nobody on a housetop should go down to pick up things out of the house. 18 Nobody in the field should go back to get a coat. 19 Woe to the ones who are pregnant and nursing babies then! 20 Pray that your flight won’t happen in the winter or on a Sabbath. Great distress will come on the country and wrath on this people. 21 That time will be the worst ever—from the beginning till now or ever again. 22 If the LORD hadn’t shortened those days, nobody would survive. But because of the Chosen, he’ll cut those days short.
Mt 24:15-22
23 “Then if anybody says, ‘Here’s the Messiah,’ or, ‘There’s the Messiah,’ don’t believe it. 24 False Messiahs and false prophets will arise and give great signs and wonders that could deceive, if possible, even the Chosen. [ 25 ] 26 If anybody says, ‘He’s in the desert,’ don’t go out there. ‘He’s in private quarters,’ don’t believe it. 27 The Son of Man will come like lightning flashes from east to west. 28 Vultures will gather where the carcass is,
29 “Immediately after that ordeal,
the sun will grow dark,
the moon won’t shine,
stars will fall,
and the powers in the sky will be shaken.
Mt 24:23-29
30 “Then the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and every tribe on earth will mourn. They’ll see him coming in the clouds [Dan 7:13] with power and great glory. 31 He’ll send out his angels with a loud trumpet blast to gather his Chosen from every direction, from one end of the sky to the other.
32 “Learn a lesson from a fig tree. When its branches get tender and sprout leaves, you know summer’s coming. 33 So too, when you see these things, you’llp know he’s at the door. 34 This generation won’t pass away before it happens. 35 Earth and sky will pass away, but what I say won’t pass away.
36 “But nobody knows about that day and hour, not the angels, not the Son, just the Father. 37 When the Son of Man comes, it will be like it was in Noah’s time. 38 Before the flood came, people were eating and getting married till Noah went into the ark. 39 They didn’t realize what was going to happen till the flood came and swept them all away.
“That’s how the coming of the Son of Man will be. 40 Two men will be in the field; one taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one taken, the other left. 42 So keep watching because you don’t know what day your Lord will come.
Mt 24:30-42
43 “Do know this: if the homeowner had known in which watch the thief would come, he would’ve been on alert and not let the thief ransack his house. 44 So you be ready too; the Son of Man will come when you least expect it.
45 “Who then is a smart, reliable servant that his master has put in charge of feeding his family on time? 46 He’s fortunate whose master finds him doing that when he comes. 47 He’ll put him in charge of everything he owns. 48 But if a sinful servant says to himself, ‘My master won’t be coming for a long time’; 49 and he starts abusing fellow servants, and eating and getting drunk with drunks, 50 his master will come on a day he doesn’t expect at an hour he doesn’t know. 51 He’ll punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites. There’ll be crying and chattering of teeth there.
Mt 24:43-51