As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look — what massive stones! What incredible buildings!”[1]
2 Jesus said to him, “You see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left on top of another. Every one will be thrown down.”
3 Later, as he sat on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,[2] 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that all of this is about to be completed?”
5 Jesus began to tell them, “Watch out that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will lead many astray. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is not yet. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. These are the beginning of the birth pains.
9 “But watch yourselves. They will hand you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them. 10 And the good news must first be proclaimed to all the nations. 11 When they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry ahead of time about what you will say. Whatever is given to you in that hour, speak that. For it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
12 “Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 13 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who holds on to the end will be saved.
14 “When you see the abomination that causes desolation standing where it should not be — let the reader understand — then those in Judea must run for the mountains.[3] 15 The one on the rooftop must not go down or go inside to take anything from the house.[4] 16 The one in the field must not turn back to get his coat. 17 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days! 18 Pray that it won’t happen in winter. 19 For those days will be a time of trouble such as has never happened from the beginning of the creation God made until now — and never will happen again. 20 If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would survive. But for the sake of the chosen ones he has chosen, he has shortened the days.
21 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Anointed One!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ — don’t believe it. 22 False anointed ones and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the chosen ones. 23 But you, watch out. I have told you everything ahead of time.
24 “But in those days, after that trouble,
the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels and gather his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
28 “Learn this lesson from the fig tree: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near — right at the door. 30 Amen, I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
32 “But about that day or hour, no one knows — not the angels in heaven, not the Son — only the Father. 33 Watch out. Stay awake. For you don’t know when the time is.
34 “It’s like a man going on a journey. He leaves his house and gives authority to his slaves, each one his own work, and he commands the doorkeeper to stay alert. 35 So stay alert, because you don’t know when the master of the house is coming — whether evening, or midnight, or at the rooster’s crow, or early morning.[5] 36 Don’t let him come suddenly and find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: stay alert.”
Notes
Note 1. Herod’s Temple platform was built from limestone blocks of enormous size — the largest exceeding forty feet in length and weighing hundreds of tons, far bigger than ordinary ancient masonry. ↩
Note 2. The ridge sits just east of Jerusalem, facing the temple across the Kidron valley. Zechariah 14:4 says that on the day of the Lord his feet would stand on the Mount of Olives. ↩
Note 3. The phrase comes from the book of Daniel. In 167 BC the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrated the Jerusalem temple — halting the daily sacrifices and setting up a pagan altar — an act Daniel calls the “abomination of desolation.” ↩
Note 4. Houses here had flat roofs of clay packed over wooden beams, reached by an outside stair or ladder. ↩
Note 5. These four terms are not random times but the four Roman watches into which the night was divided — evening, midnight, cockcrow, and dawn. “Rooster’s crow” (Greek alektorophōnia) named the third watch, running roughly midnight to 3 a.m. The list means simply: at any hour of the night. ↩