Matthew 24:3-35

3After that, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives. While he was alone, his disciples came to him. They said to him, ‘Please tell us when all these things will happen. Also tell us what will show us that you will soon return? What will show us that the world will soon end?’

4Jesus said, ‘You must be careful! Some people will tell you things that are not true. Do not believe them.

5Many people will say that they have come on my behalf. They will say, “I am the Messiah.” Many people will believe their false words.

6You will hear about wars. You will hear reports about wars in other places. But you must not be afraid. Those things must happen first, but it is not yet the end of everything.

7People in one country will attack the people in another country. Kings and their armies will fight against other kings and their armies. In some places, people will be hungry, with no food. The ground will shake in many different places.

8All those things will be like the first pains that a mother has before her baby is born.

9Then people will take hold of you and they will give you pain. They will even kill some of you. People in every country will hate you because you are my disciples.

10At that time, many people who believe in me will stop believing. They will put some of my disciples in the power of their rulers. They will hate each other.

11Also at that time, many people will say that they are prophets from God. Their message is false, but many people will believe them.

12More and more people everywhere will be doing very bad things. Because of this, many people will no longer love each other in the way that they did before.

13But God will save the person who remains strong until the end.

14People will tell the good news about God's kingdom to people all over the world. People in every country will hear the true message from God. Then God will cause the world to come to an end.

15Long ago, God's prophet Daniel wrote in the Bible about something that would happen. He said that one day people would put a disgusting thing that causes trouble in the temple. You will see it in the holy place. (When you read this, you must understand what it means.)

16At that time, people in Judea must run away to the hills to hide.

17A person who is on the roof of his house must not go down into his house. He must not stop to get anything from his home to take with him.

18People who are outside in their fields must not go back to their homes. They must not even go to fetch their coats.

19That will be a bad time for women who are soon to have a baby! It will also be a bad time for those women who have little babies!

20You must pray to God about this time when you have to run away quickly. Pray that this time of trouble will not happen in winter. Pray that it will not happen on your day of rest.

21Great troubles will happen to people at that time. Nothing as bad has ever happened before, since the beginning of the world. Nothing as bad will ever happen again.

22God will cause those days of great trouble to be not so many. If he did not do that, there would be nobody still alive. But God will cause those days to come to an end. He will do that to help the people that he has chosen.

23At that time, someone may say to you, “Look, here is the Messiah.” Or they may say, “There he is!” When they say that, do not believe them.

24Some people will say to you, “I am the Messiah!” Other people will say, “I am a prophet from God.” But their words will be false. They will do strange and powerful things for people to see. If possible, they would even deceive the people that God has chosen.

25So be careful! I have told you about these things before they happen.

26Some people may say to you, “Look, the Messiah is out there in the wilderness.” But do not go out to see who is there. Some people may say to you, “Look, the Messiah is hiding in that secret room.” You must not believe these people.

27Lightning shines quickly and it lights up the whole of the sky from one side to the other. It will be like that when the Son of Man returns.

28If the dead body of an animal is lying somewhere, vultures will come together in that place.

29Then after all these bad things have happened, “The sun will become dark. The moon will not shine any more. Stars will fall out of the sky. And the powerful things in the sky will shake.”

30Then people will see a powerful thing in the sky. This will show them that the Son of Man is coming. All the families of people in the world will cry because they are very sad. Then they will see the Son of Man. He will be riding on the clouds in the sky. He will have great power and bright glory.

31People will hear the sound of a loud trumpet. The Son of Man will send out his angels. They will go in every direction. They will bring together all the people that God has chosen from every part of the earth and from every part of the sky.’

32‘Here is a lesson for you to learn about the fig tree. When the new branches on the tree start to grow, the leaves appear. Then you know that the summer will come soon.

33In the same way, you will see all these strange things happening. Then you will know that the Son of Man will come very soon. He will be like someone at the door who is ready to come in.

34I tell you this: The people who are alive now will not all die until all these things happen.

35One day, the earth and the sky will have an end. But my words will be there for ever.’