Matthew 24 - Lexham English Bible (LEB)

The Destruction of the Temple Predicted

24 And as Jesus went out of the temple courts^[a] he was going along, and his disciples came up to point out to him the buildings of the temple. ² But he answered and^[b] said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone will be left here on another stone that will not be thrown down!”

Signs of the End of the Age

³ And as^[c] he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” ⁴ And Jesus answered and^[d] said to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you! ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive many. ⁶ And you are going to hear about wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.^{[e] 8} But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.

Persecution of Disciples Predicted

⁹ “Then they will hand you over to persecution and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations^[f] because of my name. ¹⁰ And then many will be led into sin and will betray one another and will hate one another, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and will deceive many, ¹² and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end—this person will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations,^[g] and then the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁵ “So when you see the abomination of desolation^[h] spoken about by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place” (let the one who reads understand), ¹⁶ “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains! ¹⁷ The one who is on his^[i] housetop must not come down to take things out of his house, ¹⁸ and the one who is in the field must not turn back to pick up his cloak. ¹⁹ And woe to those who are pregnant^[j] and to those who are nursing their babies^[k] in those days! ²⁰ But pray that your flight may not happen in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will happen. ²² And unless those days had been shortened, no human being would be saved.^[l] But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.

²³ “At that time if anyone should say to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘Here he is,’ do not believe him!^{[m] 24} For false messiahs and false prophets will appear, and will produce great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you ahead of time! ²⁶ Therefore if they say to you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or^[n] ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it!^{[o] 27} For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. ²⁸ Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Arrival of the Son of Man

²⁹ “And immediately after the tribulation of those days,

‘the sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will fall from heaven,
and the powers of heaven will be shaken.’^[p]

³⁰ And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,^[q] and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven^[r] with power and great glory. ³¹ And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect together from the four winds, from one end of heaven^[s] to the other end of it.

The Parable of the Fig Tree

³² “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch has already become tender and puts forth its^[t] leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ So also you, when you see all these things, know^[u] that he is near, at the door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you that this generation will never pass away until all these things take place! ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Unknown Day and Hour

³⁶ “But concerning that day and hour no one knows—not even the angels of heaven nor the Son—except the Father alone. ³⁷ For just as the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. ³⁸ For as in the days^[v] before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark. ³⁹ And they did not know anything^[w] until the deluge came and swept them^[x] all away. So also the coming of the Son of Man will be. ⁴⁰ Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. ⁴² Therefore be on the alert, because you do not know what day your Lord is coming! ⁴³ But understand this: that if the master of the house had known what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ For this reason you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think he will come.^[y]

A Faithful Slave and an Unfaithful Slave

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise slave whom the master has put in charge of his household slaves to give them their^[z] food at the right time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave whom his master will find so doing when he^[aa] comes back. ⁴⁷ Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that evil slave should say to himself,^[ab] ‘My master is staying away for a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and at an hour that he does not know, ⁵¹ and will cut him in two and assign his place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!

Footnotes

1. Matthew 24:1 Here “courts” is supplied to distinguish this area from the interior of the temple building itself
2. Matthew 24:2 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
3. Matthew 24:3 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“was sitting”)
4. Matthew 24:4 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
5. Matthew 24:7 Or “in place after place”
6. Matthew 24:9 Or “Gentiles”; the same Greek word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context
7. Matthew 24:14 Or “Gentiles”; the same Greek word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context
8. Matthew 24:15 An allusion to Dan 9:27
9. Matthew 24:17 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
10. Matthew 24:19 Literally “who have in the womb”
11. Matthew 24:19 The words “their babies” are not in the Greek text but are supplied as a necessary clarification
12. Matthew 24:22 Literally “every flesh would not be saved”
13. Matthew 24:23 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
14. Matthew 24:26 Here “or” is supplied because of English style
15. Matthew 24:26 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
16. Matthew 24:29 A quotation from Isa 13:10; 34:4
17. Matthew 24:30 Or “the sky”
18. Matthew 24:30 Or “the sky”
19. Matthew 24:31 Or “of the sky”
20. Matthew 24:32 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
21. Matthew 24:33 Or “you know”
22. Matthew 24:38 Some manuscripts have “those days”
23. Matthew 24:39 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
24. Matthew 24:39 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
25. Matthew 24:44 *The words “he will come” are not in the Greek text but are implied
26. Matthew 24:45 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
27. Matthew 24:46 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“comes back”) which is understood as temporal
28. Matthew 24:48 Literally “in his heart”