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Matthew 23-24

Matthew 23

1Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,

2saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.

3Therefore, whatever they tell you, do andcomply with it all, but do not doas they do; for they say things and do not do them.

4And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger.

5And they do all their deeds to be noticed by other people; for they broaden theirphylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.

6And they love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues,

7and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being calledRabbi by the people.

8But as for you, do not be calledRabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.

9And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in heaven.

10And do not be calledleaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ.

11But the greatest of you shall be your servant.

12Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

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15“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

16“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’

17You fools and blind men! Which ismore important, the gold or thetemple that sanctified the gold?

18And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by theoffering that is on it is obligated.’

19You blind men, which ismore important, theoffering or the altar that sanctifies theoffering?

20Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both bythe altar and by everything on it.

21And the one who swears by thetemple, swears both bythe temple and by Him who dwells in it.

22And the one who swears byheaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

24You blind guides, whostrain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.

26You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that theoutside of it may also become clean.

27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

28So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,

30and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

31So you testify against yourselves, that you aresons of those who murdered the prophets.

32Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

33You snakes, youoffspring of vipers, howwill you escape thesentence ofhell?

34“Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,

35so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between thetemple and the altar.

36Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

38Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!

39For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’ ”

Matthew 24

1Jesus left the temple area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.

2But He responded and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

3And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came 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?”

4And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no onemisleads you.

5For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am theChrist,’ and they willmislead many people.

6And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.

7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

8But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

9“Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

10And at that time many willfall away, and they willbetray one another and hate one another.

11And many false prophets will rise up andmislead many people.

12And because lawlessness is increased,most people’s love will become cold.

13But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved.

14This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the wholeworld as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

15“Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place— let the reader understand—

16then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

17Whoever is on thehousetop must not go down to get things out of his house.

18Andwhoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.

19But woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days!

20Moreover, pray thatwhen you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.

21For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again.

22And if those days had not been cut short, nolife would have been saved; but for the sake of theelect those days will be cut short.

23Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is theChrist,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him.

24For false christs and false prophets will arise and will provide greatsigns and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even theelect.

25Behold, I have told you in advance.

26So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them.

27For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Manbe.

28Wherever the corpse is, there thevultures will gather.

29“But 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 the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

30And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.

31And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET BLAST, and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER Hiselect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

32“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near;

33so you too, when you see all these things,recognize thatHe is near, right at thedoor.

34Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

36“But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

37Forthe coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.

38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,

39and they did notunderstand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

40At that time there will be two men in the field; onewill be taken and onewill be left.

41Two women will be grinding at themill; onewill be taken and onewill be left.

42“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

43Butbe sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

44For this reason you must be ready as well; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

45“Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time?

46Blessed is that slave whom hismaster finds so doing when he comes.

47Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

48But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘Mymasteris not coming for a long time,’

49and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk;

50then themaster of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know,

51and he willcut him in two and assignhim a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.