Study Desk

"Immediately after the tribulation^(x) of those days: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the celestial powers will be shaken.

"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth^[m] will mourn;^[n] and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.^(y)

He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet,^(z) and they will gather His elect from the four winds,^(aa) from one end of the sky to the other.

"Now learn this parable^(ab) from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.

In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize^[o] that He^[p] is near—at the door!^(ac)

I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.^(ad)

Heaven and earth will pass away,^(ae) but My words will never pass away. ^(af)

"Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son^[q] —except the Father only.^(ag)

As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.

For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.^(ah)

They didn't know^[r] until the flood came and swept them all away. So this is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be:

Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one left.

Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one left.^(ai)

Therefore be alert, since you don't know what day^[s] your Lord is coming.^(aj)

But know this: If the homeowner had known what time^[t] the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into.^(ak)

This is why you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. ^(al)

"Who then is a faithful and sensible slave,^(am) whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time?^(an)

That slave whose master finds him working^(ao) when he comes will be rewarded.

I assure you: He will put him in charge of all his possessions.

But if that wicked slave says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed,'

and starts to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards,^(ap)

that slave's master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know.

He will cut him to pieces^[u] and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.