The Destruction of the Temple and Signs before the End

241 And Jesus went forth and went away from the temple, and his disciples came to [him] to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 And he answering said to them, Do ye not see all these things? Verily I say to you, Not a stone shall be left here upon a stone which shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he was sitting upon the mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what is the sign of thy coming and [the] completion of the age?

4 And Jesus answering said to them, See that no one mislead you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they shall mislead many. 6 But ye will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not disturbed; for all [these things] must take place, but it is not yet the end. 7 For nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. 8 But all these [are the] beginning of throes. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to tribulation, and shall kill you; and ye will be hated of all the nations for my name's sake. 10 And then will many be offended, and will deliver one another up, and hate one another; 11 and many false prophets shall arise and shall mislead many; 12 and because lawlessness shall prevail, the love of the most shall grow cold; 13 but he that has endured to the end, he shall be saved. 14 And these glad tidings of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole habitable earth, for a witness to all the nations, and then shall come the end. 15 When therefore ye shall see the abomination of desolation, which is spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in [what is a] holy place, (he that reads let him understand,) 16 then let those who are in Judaea flee to the mountains; 17 let not him that is on the house come down to take the things out of his house; 18 and let not him that is in the field turn back to take his garment. 19 But woe to those that are with child, and those that give suck in those days. 20 But pray that your flight may not be in winter time nor on sabbath: 21 for then shall there be great tribulation, such as has not been from [the] beginning of [the] world until now, nor ever shall be; 22 and if those days had not been cut short, no flesh had been saved; but on account of the elect those days shall be cut short. 23 Then if any one say to you, Behold, here is the Christ, or here, believe [it] not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall give great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you beforehand. 26 If therefore they say to you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, [he is] in the inner chambers, do not believe [it]. 27 For as the lightning goes forth from the east and shines to the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. 28 [For] wherever the carcase is, there will be gathered the eagles.

The Coming of the Son of Man

29 But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the land lament, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from [the one] extremity of [the] heavens to [the other] extremity of them.

32 But learn the parable from the fig-tree: When already its branch becomes tender and produces leaves, ye know that the summer is near. 33 Thus also ye, when ye see all these things, know that it is near, at the doors. 34 Verily I say to you, This generation will not have passed away until all these things shall have taken place. 35 The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall in no wise pass away.

No Man Knoweth the Day and Hour

36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of the heavens, but [my] Father alone. 37 But as the days of Noe, so also shall be the coming of the Son of man. 38 For as they were in the days which were before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day on which Noe entered into the ark, 39 and they knew not till the flood came and took all away; thus also shall be the coming of the Son of man. 40 Then two shall be in the field, one is taken and one is left; 41 two [women] grinding at the mill, one is taken and one is left. 42 Watch therefore, for ye know not in what hour your Lord comes. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and not have suffered his house to be dug through [into]. 44 Wherefore ye also, be ye ready, for in that hour that ye think not the Son of man comes.

The Unfaithful Servant

45 Who then is the faithful and prudent bondman whom his lord has set over his household, to give them food in season? 46 Blessed is that bondman whom his lord on coming shall find doing thus. 47 Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all his substance. 48 But if that evil bondman should say in his heart, My lord delays to come, 49 and begin to beat his fellow-bondmen, and eat and drink with the drunken; 50 the lord of that bondman shall come in a day when he does not expect it, and in an hour he knows not of, 51 and shall cut him in two and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

The Preaching of John the Baptist

31 Now in those days comes John the baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh. 3 For this is he who has been spoken of through Esaias the prophet, saying, Voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: prepare ye the way of [the] Lord, make straight his paths. 4 And John himself had his garment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and his nourishment was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the country round the Jordan, 6 and were baptised by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce therefore fruit worthy of repentance. 9 And do not think to say within yourselves, We have Abraham for [our] father; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 And already the axe is applied to the root of the trees; every tree therefore not producing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. 11 I indeed baptise you with water to repentance, but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not fit to bear; he shall baptise you with [the] Holy Spirit and fire; 12 whose winnowing fan [is] in his hand, and he shall thoroughly purge his threshing-floor, and shall gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

The Baptism of Jesus

13 Then comes Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptised of him; 14 but John urgently forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptised of thee; and comest thou to me? 15 But Jesus answering said to him, Suffer [it] now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffers him. 16 And Jesus, having been baptised, went up straightway from the water, and lo, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him: 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight.