Jesus Warns About the Future^(A)

24 Jesus left the Temple area and was walking away. But his followers came to him to show him the Temple’s buildings. ² He asked them, “Are you looking at these buildings? The fact is, they will be destroyed. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground. Not one stone will be left on another.”

³ Later, Jesus was sitting at a place on the Mount of Olives. The followers came to be alone with him. They said, “Tell us when these things will happen. And what will happen to prepare us for your coming and the end of time?”

⁴ Jesus answered, “Be careful! Don’t let anyone fool you. ⁵ Many people will come and use my name. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah.’ And they will fool many people. ⁶ You will hear about wars that are being fought. And you will hear stories about other wars beginning. But don’t be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes. ⁷ Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat. And there will be earthquakes in different places. ⁸ These things are only the beginning of troubles, like the first pains of a woman giving birth.

⁹ “Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and killed. People all over the world will hate you because you believe in me. ¹⁰ During that time many believers will lose their faith. They will turn against each other and hate each other. ¹¹ Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe things that are wrong. ¹² There will be so much more evil in the world that the love of most believers will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who remains faithful to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And the Good News I have shared about God’s kingdom will be told throughout the world. It will be spread to every nation. Then the end will come.

¹⁵ “Daniel the prophet spoke about ‘the terrible thing that causes destruction.’^[a] You will see this terrible thing standing in the holy place.” (You who read this should understand what it means.) ¹⁶ “The people in Judea at that time should run away to the mountains. ¹⁷ They should run away without wasting time to stop for anything. If they are on the roof of their house, they must not go down to get anything out of the house. ¹⁸ If they are in the field, they must not go back to get a coat.

¹⁹ “During that time it will be hard for women who are pregnant or have small babies! ²⁰ Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away, ²¹ because it will be a time of great trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning of the world. And nothing as bad as that will ever happen again.

²² “But God has decided to make that terrible time short. If it were not made short, no one would continue living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen.

²³ “Someone might say to you at that time, ‘Look, there is the Messiah!’ Or someone else might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. ²⁴ False messiahs and false prophets will come and do great miracles and wonders,^[b] trying to fool the people God has chosen, if that is possible. ²⁵ Now I have warned you about this before it happens.

Jesus Warns About the Future^(A)

⁵ Some of the followers were talking about the Temple. They said, “This is a beautiful Temple, built with the best stones. Look at the many good gifts that have been offered to God.”

⁶ But Jesus said, “The time will come when all that you see here will be destroyed. Every stone of these buildings will be thrown down to the ground. Not one stone will be left on another.”

⁷ Some followers asked Jesus, “Teacher, when will these things happen? What will show us that it is time for these things to happen?”

⁸ Jesus said, “Be careful! Don’t be fooled. Many people will come using my name. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah^[a]’ and ‘The right time has come!’ But don’t follow them. ⁹ When you hear about wars and riots, don’t be afraid. These things must happen first. Then the end will come later.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. ¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, sicknesses, and other bad things in many places. In some places there will be no food for the people to eat. Terrible things will happen, and amazing things will come from heaven to warn people.

¹² “But before all these things happen, people will arrest you and do bad things to you. They will judge you in their synagogues and put you in jail. You will be forced to stand before kings and governors. They will do all these things to you because you follow me. ¹³ But this will give you an opportunity to tell about me. ¹⁴ Decide now not to worry about what you will say. ¹⁵ I will give you the wisdom to say things that none of your enemies can answer. ¹⁶ Even your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends will turn against you. They will have some of you killed. ¹⁷ Everyone will hate you because you follow me. ¹⁸ But none of these things can really harm you. ¹⁹ You will save yourselves by continuing strong in your faith through all these things.

The Destruction of Jerusalem^(B)

²⁰ “You will see armies all around Jerusalem. Then you will know that the time for its destruction has come. ²¹ The people in Judea at that time should run away to the mountains. The people in Jerusalem must leave quickly. If you are near the city, don’t go in! ²² The prophets wrote many things about the time when God will punish his people. The time I am talking about is when all these things must happen. ²³ During that time it will be hard for women who are pregnant or have small babies, because very bad times will come to this land. God will be angry with these people. ²⁴ Some of the people will be killed by soldiers. Others will be made prisoners and taken to all the different countries. The holy city of Jerusalem will be under the control of foreigners until their time is completed.