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10 The stars of the heavens and their constellations
    will send forth no light;
The sun will be dark at its rising,
    and the moon will not give its light.(A)

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23 Then the moon will blush
    and the sun be ashamed,(A)
For the Lord of hosts will reign
    on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
    glorious in the sight of the elders.[a](B)

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Footnotes

  1. 24:23 The elders: the tradition in Ex 24:9–11 suggests that this refers to the people of God who are to share in the banquet on Mount Zion (Is 25:6–8).

When I extinguish you,
    I will cover the heavens
    and darken all its stars.
The sun I will cover with clouds;
    the moon will not give light.(A)

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I will set signs in the heavens and on the earth,
    blood, fire, and columns of smoke;
The sun will darken,
    the moon turn blood-red,
Before the day of the Lord arrives,
    that great and terrible day.(A)

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The Coming of the Son of Man. 29 [a](A)“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 the sky,
    and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

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Footnotes

  1. 24:29 The answer to the question of Mt 24:3b, “What will be the sign of your coming?” Immediately after…those days: the shortening of time between the preceding tribulation and the parousia has been explained as Matthew’s use of a supposed device of Old Testament prophecy whereby certainty that a predicted event will occur is expressed by depicting it as imminent. While it is questionable that that is an acceptable understanding of the Old Testament predictions, it may be applicable here, for Matthew knew that the parousia had not come immediately after the fall of Jerusalem, and it is unlikely that he is attributing a mistaken calculation of time to Jesus. The sun…be shaken: cf. Is 13:10, 13.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief,[a] and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.(A)

Exhortation to Preparedness.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 3:10 Like a thief: Mt 24:43; 1 Thes 5:2; Rev 3:3. Will be found out: cf. 1 Cor 3:13–15. Some few versions read, as the sense may demand, “will not be found out”; many manuscripts read “will be burned up”; there are further variants in other manuscripts, versions, and Fathers. Total destruction is assumed (2 Pt 3:11).
  2. 3:11–16 The second coming of Christ and the judgment of the world are the doctrinal bases for the moral exhortation to readiness through vigilance and a virtuous life; cf. Mt 24:42, 50–51; Lk 12:40; 1 Thes 5:1–11; Jude 20–21.

12 [a]Then I watched while he broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; the sun turned as black as dark sackcloth[b] and the whole moon became like blood.(A) 13 The stars in the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs[c] shaken loose from the tree in a strong wind. 14 Then the sky was divided[d] like a torn scroll curling up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 6:12–14 Symbolic rather than literal description of the cosmic upheavals attending the day of the Lord when the martyrs’ prayer for vindication (Rev 6:10) would be answered; cf. Am 8:8–9; Is 34:4; 50:3; Jl 2:10; 3:3–4; Mt 24:4–36; Mk 13:5–37; Lk 21:8–36.
  2. 6:12 Dark sackcloth: for mourning, sackcloth was made from the skin of a black goat.
  3. 6:13 Unripe figs: literally, “summer (or winter) fruit.”
  4. 6:14 Was divided: literally, “was split,” like a broken papyrus roll torn in two, each half then curling up to form a roll on either side.