Matthew 24  Legacy Standard Bible

Signs of Christ’s Return

24 ^(A)And coming ^(B)out from the temple, Jesus was going along, and His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. ² And He answered and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, ^(C)not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³ Now as He was sitting on ^(D)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of ^(E)Your coming and of the ^[a]end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(F)See to it that no one deceives you. ⁵ For ^(G)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the ^[b]Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ And you are going to hear of ^(H)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷ For ^(I)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be ^(J)famines and earthquakes. ^8 (K)But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “^(L)Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and ^(M)you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ And at that time many will ^[c](N)fall away and will ^[d]betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ Many ^(O)false prophets will arise and will deceive many. ¹² And because lawlessness is multiplied, ^[e]most people’s love will grow cold. ^13 (P)But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. ¹⁴ And this ^(Q)gospel of the kingdom ^(R)shall be proclaimed in the whole ^[f](S)world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Abomination of Desolation and the Tribulation

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the ^(T)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in ^(U)the holy place (^(V)let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^17 [g]Whoever is on ^(W)the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. ¹⁸ And ^[h]whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his garment. ¹⁹ But ^(X)woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be a ^(Y)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. ²² And unless those days had been cut short, no ^[i]life would have been saved; but for ^(Z)the sake of the ^[j]elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (AA)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ^[k]Christ,’ or ‘^[l]There He is,’ do not believe him. ²⁴ For false christs and ^(AB)false prophets will arise and will ^[m]show great ^[n](AC)signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even ^(AD)the ^[o]elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you in advance. ²⁶ Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. ^27 (AE)For just as the lightning comes from the east and appears even to the west, so will the ^(AF)coming of the ^(AG)Son of Man be. ^28 (AH)Wherever the corpse is, there the ^[p]vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁹ “But immediately after the ^(AI)tribulation of those days ^(AJ)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(AK)the stars will fall from ^[q]the sky, and the powers of ^[r]the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then ^(AL)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ^(AM)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(AN)He will send forth His angels with ^(AO)a great trumpet and they will gather together His ^[s](AP)elect from ^(AQ)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the ^[t]other.

The Parable of the Fig Tree

³² “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³ so, you too, when you see all these things, ^[u]recognize that ^[v]He is near, right ^(AR)at the ^[w]door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you, ^(AS)this ^[x]generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ^35 (AT)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶ “But ^(AU)of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For ^(AV)just as the days of Noah were, so the ^(AW)coming of the Son of Man will be. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(AX)marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that ^(AY)Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not ^[y]understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the ^(AZ)coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ Then there will be two in the field; one ^[z]will be taken, and one ^[aa]will be left. ^41 (BA)Two women will be grinding grain at the ^[ab](BB)mill; one ^[ac]will be taken and one ^[ad]will be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

⁴² “Therefore ^(BC)stay awake, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But ^[ae]be sure of this, that ^(BD)if the head of the house had known ^(BE)at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed his house to be ^[af]broken into. ⁴⁴ For this reason ^(BF)you also must be ready; for ^(BG)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵ “^(BH)Who then is the ^(BI)faithful and ^(BJ)prudent slave whom his ^[ag]master ^(BK)put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave whom his ^[ah]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I say to you that ^(BL)he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My ^[ai]master ^[aj]is not coming for a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; ⁵⁰ the ^[ak]master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, ⁵¹ and will ^[al]cut him in pieces and ^[am]assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be ^(BM)weeping and gnashing of teeth.