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Signs of Christ's Return

^1 (C1)And as He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples ^(*)said to Him, "Teacher, behold ^(F1)what wonderful stones and ^(F1)what wonderful buildings!"² And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? ^(C1)Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down."

³ And as He was sitting on ^(C1)the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, ^(C2)Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately,⁴ "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the ^(F1)sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?"⁵ And Jesus began to say to them, "See to it that no one deceives you.⁶ "Many will come in My name, saying, '^(C1)I am He!' and will mislead many.⁷ "And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.⁸ "For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ "But see to yourselves; for they will ^(C1)deliver you to the ^(F1)courts, and you will be beaten ^(C1)in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a witness to them.¹⁰ "^(C1)And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations.¹¹ "^(C1)And when they lead you away, delivering you up, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.¹² "And brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and ^(F1)have them put to death.¹³ "^(C1)And you will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

The Abomination of Desolation and the Tribulation

¹⁴ "But ^(C1)when you see the ^(C2)ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.¹⁵ "^(C1)And the one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house;¹⁶ and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his garment.¹⁷ "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!¹⁸ "But pray that it may not happen in the winter.¹⁹ "For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred ^(C1)since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will.²⁰ "And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no ^(F1)life would have been saved; but for the sake of the ^(F2)elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.²¹ "And then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the ^(F1)Christ'; or, 'Behold, He is there'; do not believe him;²² for false christs and ^(C1)false prophets will arise, and will show ^(F1)(C2)signs and ^(C2)wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect.²³ "But as for you, see! I have told you everything in advance.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁴ "But in those days, after that tribulation, ^(C1)THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT,^25 (C1)AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, AND THE POWERS THAT ARE IN ^(F1)THE HEAVENS will be shaken.²⁶ "And then they will see ^(C1)THE SON OF MAN ^(C2)COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.²⁷ "And then He will send forth the angels, and ^(C1)will gather together His ^(F1)elect from the four winds, ^(C2)from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

The Parable of the Fig Tree

²⁸ "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.²⁹ "Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, ^(F1)recognize that ^(F2)He is near, right at the ^(F3)door.³⁰ "Truly I say to you, this ^(F1)generation will not pass away until all these things take place.³¹ "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.³² "^(C1)But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

³³ "See to it, ^(C1)keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time ^(F1)will come.³⁴ "^(C1)It is like a man away on a journey, who, leaving his house and giving authority to his slaves—each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay awake.³⁵ "Therefore, ^(C1)stay awake—for you do not know when the ^(F1)master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or ^(C2)when the rooster crows, or ^(C3)in the morning—³⁶ lest he come suddenly and find you ^(C1)sleeping.³⁷ "And what I say to you I say to all, '^(C1)Stay awake!'"