Matthew 24:1-28

New English Translation

The Destruction of the Temple

24 Now^[a] as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings.^[b] ²And he said to them,^[c] “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth,^[d] not one stone will be left on another.^[e] All will be torn down!”^[f]

Signs of the End of the Age

³As^[g] he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things^[h] happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” ⁴Jesus answered them,^[i] “Watch out^[j] that no one misleads you. ⁵For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’^[k] and they will mislead many. ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come.^[l] ⁷For nation will rise up in arms^[m] against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes^[n] in various places.^[o] ⁸All^[p] these things are the beginning of birth pains.

Persecution of Disciples

⁹“Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations^[q] because of my name.^[r] ¹⁰Then many will be led into sin,^[s] and they will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹And many false prophets will appear and deceive^[t] many, ¹²and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³But the person who endures to the end will be saved.^[u] ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations,^[v] and then the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁵“So when you see the abomination of desolation^[w]—spoken about by Daniel the prophet—standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand),^[x] ¹⁶“then those in Judea must flee^[y] to the mountains. ¹⁷The one on the roof^[z] must not come down^[aa] to take anything out of his house, ¹⁸and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹Woe^[ab] to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! ²⁰Pray^[ac] that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹For then there will be great suffering^[ad] unlike anything that has happened^[ae] from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. ²²And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. ²³Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’^[af] or ‘There he is!’ do not believe him. ²⁴For false messiahs^[ag] and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵Remember,^[ah] I have told you ahead of time. ²⁶So then, if someone^[ai] says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’^[aj] do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him. ²⁷For just like the lightning^[ak] comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. ²⁸Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures^[al] will gather.^[am]

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Footnotes

Matthew 24:1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
Matthew 24:1 sn The Jerusalem temple was widely admired around the world. See Josephus, Ant. 15.11 [15.380-425]; J. W. 5.5 [5.184-227] and Tacitus, History 5.8, who called it “immensely opulent.” Josephus compared it to a beautiful snowcapped mountain.
Matthew 24:2 tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokritheis) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
Matthew 24:2 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
Matthew 24:2 sn With the statement not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in a.d. 70.
Matthew 24:2 tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on a stone which will not be thrown down.”
Matthew 24:3 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 24:3 sn Because the phrase these things is plural, more than the temple’s destruction is in view. The question may presuppose that such a catastrophe signals the end.
Matthew 24:4 tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
Matthew 24:4 tn Or “Be on guard.”
Matthew 24:5 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.
Matthew 24:6 tn Grk “it is not yet the end.”
Matthew 24:7 tn For the translation “rise up in arms” see L&N 55.2.
Matthew 24:7 tc Most witnesses (C Γ Δ Θ 0102 ƒ^1,13 700 1241 1424 M) have “and plagues” (καὶ λοιμοί, kai loimoi) between “famines” (λιμοί, limoi) and “earthquakes” (σεισμοί, seismoi), while others have “plagues and famines and earthquakes” (L W 33 lat). The similarities between λιμοί and λοιμοί could explain how καὶ λοιμοί might have accidentally dropped out, but since the Lukan parallel (Luke 21:11) has both terms (and W lat have the order λοιμοὶ καὶ λιμοί there too, as they do in Matthew), it seems more likely that scribes added the phrase here. The shorter reading does not enjoy overwhelming support ([א] B D 892 sa, and other Greek and versional witnesses), but it is nevertheless significant; coupled with the internal evidence it should be given preference.
Matthew 24:7 sn See Isa 5:13-14; 13:6-16; Hag 2:6-7; Zech 14:4.
Matthew 24:8 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 24:9 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).
Matthew 24:9 sn See Matt 5:10-12; 1 Cor 1:25-31.
Matthew 24:10 tn Or “many will fall away.” This could also refer to apostasy.
Matthew 24:11 tn Or “and lead many astray.”
Matthew 24:13 sn But the person who endures to the end will be saved. Jesus was not claiming here that salvation is by works. He was simply arguing that genuine faith evidences itself in persistence through even the worst of trials.
Matthew 24:14 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).
Matthew 24:15 sn The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167 b.c., the words of Jesus seem to indicate that Antiochus was not the final fulfillment, but that there was (from Jesus’ perspective) still another fulfillment yet to come. Some argue that this was realized in a.d. 70, while others claim that it refers specifically to Antichrist and will not be fully realized until the period of the great tribulation at the end of the age (cf. Mark 13:14, 19, 24; Rev 3:10).
Matthew 24:15 sn This parenthetical comment is generally regarded as a command by the author made directly to the readers, not as part of Jesus’ original speech. For this reason the statement is not placed within quotation marks.
Matthew 24:16 sn Fleeing to the mountains is a key OT image: Gen 19:17; Judg 6:2; Isa 15:5; Jer 16:16; Zech 14:5.
Matthew 24:17 sn On the roof. Most of the roofs in the NT were flat roofs made of pounded dirt, sometimes mixed with lime or stones, supported by heavy wooden beams. They generally had an easy means of access, either a sturdy wooden ladder or stone stairway, sometimes on the outside of the house.
Matthew 24:17 sn The swiftness and devastation of the judgment will require a swift escape. There will be no time to come down from the roof and pick up anything from inside one’s home.
Matthew 24:19 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 24:20 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Matthew 24:21 tn Traditionally, “great tribulation.”
Matthew 24:21 sn Suffering unlike anything that has happened. Some refer this event to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. While the events of a.d. 70 may reflect somewhat the comments Jesus makes here, the reference to the scope and severity of this judgment strongly suggest that much more is in view. Most likely Jesus is referring to the great end-time judgment on Jerusalem in the great tribulation.
Matthew 24:23 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.
Matthew 24:24 tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
Matthew 24:25 tn Or “Pay attention!” Grk “Behold.”
Matthew 24:26 tn Grk “they say.” The third person plural is used here as an indefinite and translated “someone” (ExSyn 402).
Matthew 24:26 tn Or “in the desert.”
Matthew 24:27 sn The Son of Man’s coming in power will be sudden and obvious like lightning. No one will need to point it out.
Matthew 24:28 tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.sn Jesus’ answer is that when the judgment comes, the scenes of death will be obvious and so will the location of the judgment. See also Luke 17:37.
Matthew 24:28 tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.