Matthew 24:8-20

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.