Mark 13

¹ As he was leaving the Temple one of his disciples said to him, 'Master, look at the size of thosestones! Look at the size of those buildings!'

² And Jesus said to him, 'You see these great buildings? Not a single stone wil be left on another;everything wil be pul ed down.'

³ And while he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, facing the Temple, Peter, James, John and Andrewquestioned him when they were by themselves,

⁴ 'Tel us, when is this going to happen, and what sign wil there be that it is all about to take place?'

⁵ Then Jesus began to tel them, 'Take care that no one deceives you.

⁶ Many wil come using my name and saying, "I am he," and they wil deceive many.

⁷ When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this is something that must happen,but the end wil not be yet.

⁸ For nation wil fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There wil be earthquakes in variousplaces; there wil be famines. This is the beginning of the birth-pangs.

⁹ 'Be on your guard: you wil be handed over to sanhedrins; you wil be beaten in synagogues; and you wil be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as evidence to them,

¹⁰ since the gospel must first be proclaimed to al nations.

¹¹ 'And when you are taken to be handed over, do not worry beforehand about what to say; no, saywhatever is given to you when the time comes, because it is not you who wil be speaking; it is the Holy Spirit.

¹² Brother wil betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will come forward against theirparents and have them put to death.

¹³ You wil be universal y hated on account of my name; but anyone who stands firm to the end wil besaved.

¹⁴ 'When you see the appal ing abomination set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand),then those in Judaea must escape to the mountains;

¹⁵ if a man is on the housetop, he must not come down or go inside to col ect anything from his house;

¹⁶ if a man is in the fields, he must not turn back to fetch his cloak.

¹⁷ Alas for those with child, or with babies at the breast, when those days come!

¹⁸ Pray that this may not be in winter.

¹⁹ For in those days there will be great distress, unparalleled since God created the world, and such aswil never be again.

²⁰ And if the Lord had not shortened that time, no human being would have survived; but he did shortenthe time, for the sake of the elect whom he chose.

²¹ 'And if anyone says to you then, "Look, here is the Christ" or, "Look, he is there," do not believe it;

²² for false Christs and false prophets wil arise and produce signs and portents to deceive the elect, ifthat were possible.

²³ You, therefore, must be on your guard. I have given you full warning.

²⁴ 'But in those days, after that time of distress, the sun wil be darkened, the moon wil not give its light,

²⁵ the stars will come falling out of the sky and the powers in the heavens wil be shaken.

²⁶ And then they wil see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

²⁷ And then he wil send the angels to gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the world tothe ends of the sky.

²⁸ 'Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you knowthat summer is near.

²⁹ So with you when you see these things happening: know that he is near, right at the gates.

³⁰ In truth I tel you, before this generation has passed away al these things will have taken place.

³¹ Sky and earth wil pass away, but my words wil not pass away.

³² 'But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; no one butthe Father.

³³ 'Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time wil come.

³⁴ It is like a man travel ing abroad: he has gone from his home, and left his servants in charge, eachwith his own work to do; and he has told the doorkeeper to stay awake.

³⁵ So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening,midnight, cockcrow or dawn;

³⁶ if he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep.

³⁷ And what I am saying to you I say to al : Stay awake!'