24 2 The destruction of the Temple. 4 The signs of Christ’s coming. 12 Iniquity. 23 False Christs. 29 The signs of the end of the world. 31 The Angels. 32 The fig tree. 37 The days of Noah. 42 We must watch. 45 The servant.

And (A)Jesus went out, and departed from the Temple, and his disciples came to him, to show him the building of the Temple.

[a]And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, (B)there shall not be here left a stone upon a stone, that shall not be cast down.

And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, his disciples came unto him apart, saying, Tell us when these things shall be, and what sign shall be of thy coming, and of the end of the world.

[b]And Jesus answered, and said unto them, (C)Take heed that no man deceive you.

For many shall come in my Name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.

And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars: see that ye be not (D)troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the [c]end is not yet.

For nation shall rise against nation, and realm against realm, and there shall be famine, and pestilence, and earthquakes in [d]divers places.

All these are but the beginning of [e]sorrows.

(E)Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my Name’s sake.

10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many.

12 And because iniquity shall be increased, the love of many shall be cold.

13 (F)[f]But he that endureth to the end, he shall be saved.

14 And this [g]Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached through the whole [h]world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come.

15 [i]When ye (G)therefore shall see the [j]abomination of desolation spoken of by (H)Daniel the Prophet, set in the holy place (let him that readeth consider it.)

16 Then let them which be in Judea, flee into the mountains.

17 Let him which is on the housetop, not come down to fetch anything out of his house.

18 And he that is in the field, let not him return back to fetch his [k]clothes.

19 And woe shall be to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days.

20 But pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the (I)[l]Sabbath day.

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world to this time, nor shall be.

22 And except [m]those days should be shortened, there should no [n]flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

23 (J)Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not.

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and [o]shall show great signs and wonders, so that if it were possible, they should deceive the very elect.

25 Behold, I have told you before.

26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth: Behold, he is in the secret places, believe it not.

27 For as the lightning cometh out of the East, and is seen into the West, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

28 (K)[p]For wheresoever a dead [q]carcass is, thither will the Eagles be gathered together.

29 (L)[r]And immediately after the tribulations of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

30 And then shall appear the [s]sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the [t]kindreds of the earth [u]mourn, (M)and they shall see the Son of man [v]come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 (N)And he shall send his Angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect, from the [w]four winds, and from the one end of the heavens unto the other.

32 [x]Now learn the parable of the fig tree: when her bough is yet [y]tender, and it putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near.

33 So likewise ye, when ye see all these things, know that the kingdom of God is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, this [z]generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

35 (O)[aa]Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

36 [ab]But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the Angels of heaven, but my father only.

37 But as the days of Noah were, so likewise shall the coming of the Son of man be.

38 (P)For as in the days before the flood, they did [ac]eat and drink, marry, and give in marriage, unto the day that Noah entered into the Ark,

39 And knew nothing, till the flood came, and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

40 (Q)[ad]Then two shall be in the fields, the one shall be received, and the other shall be refused.

41 [ae]Two women shall be grinding at the mill: the one shall be received, and the other shall be refused.

42 (R)[af]Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your master will come.

43 (S)Of this be sure, that if the good man of the house knew at what watch the thief would come, he would surely watch, and not suffer his house to be dug through.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in the hour that ye think not, will the Son of man come.

45 (T)Who then is a faithful servant and wise, whom his master hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in season?

46 Blessed is that servant, whom his master when he cometh, shall find so doing.

47 Verily I say unto you, he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

48 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My master doth defer his coming,

49 And begin to smite his fellows, and to eat, and to drink with the drunken,

50 That servant’s master will come in a day, when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

51 And will [ag]cut him off, and give him his portion with hypocrites: (U)there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:2 The destruction of the city, and especially of the Temple is foretold.
  2. Matthew 24:4 The Church shall have a continual conflict with infinite miseries and offences, and that more is, with false prophets, until the day of victory and triumph cometh.
  3. Matthew 24:6 That is, when those things are fulfilled, yet the end shall not come.
  4. Matthew 24:7 Everywhere.
  5. Matthew 24:8 Word for word, of great torments, like unto women in travail.
  6. Matthew 24:13 The Gospel shall be spread abroad, rage the devil never so much: and they which do constantly believe, shall be saved.
  7. Matthew 24:14 Joyful tidings of the kingdom of heaven.
  8. Matthew 24:14 Through all that part that is dwelt in.
  9. Matthew 24:15 The Kingdom of Christ shall not be abolished when the city of Jerusalem is utterly destroyed, but shall be stretched out even to the end of the world.
  10. Matthew 24:15 The abomination of desolation, that is to say, which all men detest and cannot abide, by reason of the foul and shameful filthiness of it: and he speaketh of the idols that were set up in the Temple, or as others think, he meant the morning of the doctrine in the Church.
  11. Matthew 24:18 This betokeneth the great fear that shall be.
  12. Matthew 24:20 It was not lawful to take a journey on the Sabbath day; Josephus, book 13.
  13. Matthew 24:22 Those things which befell the people of the Jews, in the 34 years, when as the whole land was wasted, and at length the city of Jerusalem taken, and both it and their Temple destroyed, are mixed with those which shall come to pass before the last coming of our Lord.
  14. Matthew 24:22 The whole nation should utterly be destroyed: and this word Flesh is by a figure taken for man, as the Hebrews used to speak.
  15. Matthew 24:24 Shall openly lay forth great signs for men to behold.
  16. Matthew 24:28 The only remedy against the furious rage of the world, is to be gathered and joined to Christ.
  17. Matthew 24:28 Christ, who will come with speed and his presence will be with a majesty to whom all shall flock even as Eagles.
  18. Matthew 24:29 Everlasting damnation shall be the end of the security of the wicked, and everlasting bliss, of the miseries of the godly.
  19. Matthew 24:30 The exceeding glory and majesty, which shall bear witness, that Christ the Lord of heaven and earth draweth near to judge the world.
  20. Matthew 24:30 All nations: and he alludeth to the dispersion which we read of, Gen. 10 and 11, or to the dividing of the people of Israel.
  21. Matthew 24:30 They shall be in such sorrow, that they shall strike themselves: and it is transferred to the mourning.
  22. Matthew 24:30 Sitting upon the clouds, as he was taken up into heaven.
  23. Matthew 24:31 From the four quarters of the world.
  24. Matthew 24:32 If God hath prescribed a certain order to nature, much more hath he done so to his eternal judgments, but the wicked understand it not, or rather make a mock at it: but the godly do mark it, and wait for it.
  25. Matthew 24:32 When his tenderness showeth that the sap which is the life of the tree, is come from the root into the bark.
  26. Matthew 24:34 This age: this word generation or Age, being used for the men of this age.
  27. Matthew 24:35 The Lord doth now begin the judgment, which he will make an end of in the latter day.
  28. Matthew 24:36 It is sufficient for us to know that God hath appointed a latter day for the restoring of all things, but when it shall be, it is hidden from us all, for our profit, that we may be so much the more watchful, that we be not taken as they were in old time in the flood.
  29. Matthew 24:38 The word which the Evangelist useth, expresseth the matter more fully than ours doth: for it is a word which is proper to brute beasts: and his meaning is, that in those days men shall be given to their bellies like unto brute beasts: for otherwise it is no fault to eat and drink.
  30. Matthew 24:40 Against them that persuade themselves that God will be merciful to all men, and do by that means give over themselves to sin, that they may in the meanwhile live in pleasure void of all care.
  31. Matthew 24:41 The Greek women and the Barbarians did grind and bake. (Plutarch, book Problem)
  32. Matthew 24:42 An example of the horrible carelessness of men in those things whereof they ought to be most careful.
  33. Matthew 24:51 To wit, from the rest, or will cut him into two parts, which was a most cruel kind of punishment, wherewith as Justin Martyr witnesseth, Isaiah the Prophet was executed by the Jews: the like kind of punishment we read of, 1 Sam. 15:33 and Dan. 3:29.

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times(A)

24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another;(B) every one will be thrown down.”

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,(C) the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming(D) and of the end of the age?”(E)

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.(F) For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.(G) You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.(H) There will be famines(I) and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted(J) and put to death,(K) and you will be hated by all nations because of me.(L) 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets(M) will appear and deceive many people.(N) 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.(O) 14 And this gospel of the kingdom(P) will be preached in the whole world(Q) as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15 “So when you see standing in the holy place(R) ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a](S) spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop(T) go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!(U) 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.(V)

22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect(W) those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.(X) 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders(Y) to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning(Z) that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming(AA) of the Son of Man.(AB) 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.(AC)

29 “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[b](AD)

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn(AE) when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,(AF) with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels(AG) with a loud trumpet call,(AH) and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door.(AI) 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.(AJ) 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.(AK)

The Day and Hour Unknown(AL)(AM)

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father.(AN) 37 As it was in the days of Noah,(AO) so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,(AP) up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.(AQ) 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.(AR) 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.(AS)

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.(AT) 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming,(AU) he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready,(AV) because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,(AW) whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.(AX) 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.(AY) 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.(AZ) 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(BA)

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:15 Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11
  2. Matthew 24:29 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
  3. Matthew 24:30 Or the tribes of the land
  4. Matthew 24:30 See Daniel 7:13-14.
  5. Matthew 24:33 Or he
  6. Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.