Future Destruction of the Temple (Mk. 13:1-31; Lk. 21:5-33)

24 ¹Jesus left the temple* area and was walking away. But his followers came to him to show him the temple's buildings. ²Jesus asked the followers, "See all these buildings? I tell you the truth. [All these buildings will be destroyed]. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground. Not one stone will be left on another." ³Later, Jesus was sitting at a place on the Mount of Olives.* The followers came to be alone with Jesus. They said, "Tell us when these things will happen. And what will happen to show us that it is time for you to come again and time for the world* to end?" ⁴Jesus answered: "Be careful! Don't let any person fool you. ⁵Many people will come and use my name. They will say, 'I am the Christ.*' And they will fool many people. ⁶You will hear about wars that are being fought. And you will hear stories about other wars beginning. But don't be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes. ⁷Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat. And there will be earthquakes in different places. ⁸These things are like the first pains when something new is born. ⁹"Then people will treat you badly. People will give you [to the rulers] to be persecuted (hurt) and killed. All people will hate you. All these things will happen to you because you believe in me. ¹⁰At that time, many believers will lose their faith. They will turn against each other and hate each other. ¹¹Many false prophets* will come. They will cause many people to believe wrong things. ¹²There will be more and more evil in the world. So most believers will stop showing love. ¹³But the person that continues strong to the end will be saved. ¹⁴The Good News about [God's] kingdom will be told in the whole world. It will be told to every nation. Then the end will come. ¹⁵"Daniel the prophet* spoke about 'the terrible thing that causes destruction.'* You will see this terrible thing standing in the holy place (the temple)." (You that read this should understand what it means.) ¹⁶"At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains. ¹⁷People should run away without wasting the time to stop for anything. If a person is on the roof of his house, he must not go down to get things out of his house. ¹⁸If a person is in the field, he must not go back to get his coat. ¹⁹At that time, it will be bad for women that are pregnant or have small babies! ²⁰Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day* when these things happen and you have to run away. ²¹Why? Because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning of the world. And nothing as bad as that will ever happen again. ²²God has decided to make that terrible time short. If that time were not made short, then no person would continue living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen. ²³At that time, some person might say to you, 'Look, there is the Christ!*' Or another person might say, 'There he is!' But don't believe them. ²⁴False Christs and false prophets* will come and do great things and miracles.* They will do these things to the people God has chosen. They will do these things to try to fool his people, if that is possible. ²⁵Now I have warned you about this before it happens. ²⁶"Some person might tell you, 'The Christ* is there in the desert!' But don't go into the desert to look for the Christ. Another person might say, 'There is the Christ in that room!' But don't believe that. ²⁷When the Son of Man* comes, he will be seen by all people. It will be like lightning flashing in the sky that can be seen everywhere. ²⁸[My coming will be clear, the same as] any time you see vultures* gathering, you know there is a dead body.

temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. Mount of Olives A hill east of the city of Jerusalem where a person could look down into the temple area. world Literally, "age," or "time." Christ The "anointed one" (Messiah) or chosen one of God. false prophets People that say they speak for God but do not really speak God's truth. prophet(s) People that spoke for God. 'the terrible thing ... destruction' See Dan. 9:27; 12:11 (see also Dan. 11:31). Sabbath day The seventh day of the Jewish week. It was a special religious day for the Jews. miracles Here, powerful acts done by Satan's power. Son of Man A name Jesus used for himself. In Dan. 7:13-14, this is the name for the Messiah, the one God chose to save his people. vultures Or, eagles--birds that eat dead animals.