1 As Yeshua left the Temple and was
going away, his talmidim came and called his attention to its buildings.
2 But he answered them, "You
see all these? Yes! I tell you, they will be totally destroyed -- not a single
stone will be left standing!"
3 When he was sitting on the Mount of
Olives, the talmidim came to him privately. "Tell us," they said,
"when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that you are
coming, and that the `olam hazeh is ending?"
4 Yeshua replied: "Watch
out! Don't let anyone fool you!
5 For many will
come in my name, saying, `I am the Messiah!' and they will lead many
astray.
6 You will hear
the noise of wars nearby and the news of wars far off; see to it that you
don't become frightened. Such things must happen, but the end is yet to
come.
7 For peoples
will fight each other, nations will fight each other, and there will be
famines and earthquakes in various parts of the world;
8 all this is but
the beginning of the `birth pains.'
9 At that time
you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and put to death, and all
peoples will hate you because of me.
10 At that time
many will be trapped into betraying and hating each other,
11 many false
prophets will appear and fool many people;
12 and many
people's love will grow cold because of increased distance from Torah.
13 But whoever
holds out till the end will be delivered.
14 And this Good
News about the Kingdom will be announced throughout the whole world as a
witness to all the Goyim. It is then that the end will come.
15 "So when
you see the abomination that causes devastation spoken about through the
prophet Dani'el standing in the Holy Place" (let the reader understand
the allusion),
16 "that
will be the time for those in Y'hudah to escape to the hills.
17 If someone is
on the roof, he must not go down to gather his belongings from his
house;
18 if someone is
in the field, he must not turn back to get his coat.
19 What a
terrible time it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
20 Pray that you
will not have to escape in winter or on Shabbat.
21 For there will
be trouble then worse than there has ever been from the beginning of the world
until now, and there will be nothing like it again!
22 Indeed, if the
length of this time had not been limited, no one would survive; but for the
sake of those who have been chosen, its length will be limited.
23 "At that
time, if someone says to you, `Look! Here's the Messiah!' or, `There he is!'
don't believe him.
24 For there will
appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing great miracles -- amazing
things! -- so as to fool even the chosen, if possible.
25 There! I have
told you in advance!
26 So if people
say to you, `Listen! He's out in the desert!' don't go; or, `Look! He's hidden
away in a secret room!' don't believe it.
27 For when the
Son of Man does come, it will be like lightning that flashes out of the east
and fills the sky to the western horizon.
28 Wherever
there's a dead body, that's where you find the vultures.
29 "But
immediately following the trouble of those times, the sun will grow dark, the
moon will stop shining, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in
heaven will be shaken.
30 "Then the
sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, all the tribes of the Land will
mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with
tremendous power and glory.
31 He will send
out his angels with a great shofar and they will gather together his chosen
people from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 "Now let
the fig tree teach you its lesson: when its branches begin to sprout and
leaves appear, you know that summer is approaching.
33 In the same
way, when you see all these things, you are to know that the time is near,
right at the door.
34 Yes! I tell
you that this people will certainly not pass away before all these things
happen.
35 Heaven and
earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
36 "But when
that day and hour will come, no one knows -- not the angels in heaven, not the
Son, only the Father.
37 For the Son of
Man's coming will be just as it was in the days of Noach.
38 Back then,
before the Flood, people went on eating and drinking, taking wives and
becoming wives, right up till the day Noach entered the ark;
39 and they
didn't know what was happening until the Flood came and swept them all away.
It will be just like that when the Son of Man comes.
40 Then there
will be two men in a field -- one will be taken and the other left
behind.
41 There will be
two women grinding flour at the mill -- one will be taken and the other left
behind.
42 So stay alert,
because you don't know on what day your Lord will come.
43 But you do
know this: had the owner of the house known when the thief was coming, he
would have stayed awake and not allowed his house to be broken into.
44 Therefore you
too must always be ready, for the Son of Man will come when you are not
expecting him.
45 "Who is
the faithful and sensible servant whose master puts him in charge of the
household staff, to give them their food at the proper time?
46 It will go
well with that servant if he is found doing his job when his master
comes.
47 Yes, I tell
you that he will put him in charge of all he owns.
48 But if that
servant is wicked and says to himself, `My master is taking his time';
49 and he starts
beating up his fellow servants and spends his time eating and drinking with
drunkards;
50 then his
master will come on a day the servant does not expect, at a time he doesn't
know;
51 and he will
cut him in two and put him with the hypocrites, where people will wail and
grind their teeth!