Chapter 21

¹And looking up, he saw the rich people dropping their gifts into the treasury. ²And he saw a poor widow drop in two coppers. ³And he said,

“I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all the rest. ⁴For they all gave from what they had to spare, but she in her want has put in all she had to live on.”

⁵When some spoke about the Temple and its decoration with costly stone and votive offerings, he said,

⁶“As for all this that you are looking at, the time is coming when not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down!”

⁷Then they asked him,

“Master, when will this happen, and what will be the sign that it is going to take place?”

⁸And he said,

“Take care not to be misled. For many will come under my name, and say, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is at hand.’ Do not follow them. ⁹But when you hear of wars and outbreaks, do not be alarmed. These have to come first, but the end does not follow immediately.”

¹⁰Then he said to them,

“Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹There will be great earthquakes, and pestilence and famine here and there. There will be horrors and great signs in the sky. ¹²But before all this, men will arrest you and persecute you, and hand you over to synagogues and prisons and have you brought before kings and governors on my account. ¹³It will all lead to your testifying. ¹⁴So make up your minds not to prepare your defense, ¹⁵for I will give you such wisdom of utterance as none of your opponents will be able to resist or dispute. ¹⁶You will be betrayed even by your parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends and they will put some of you to death, ¹⁷and you will be hated by everyone because you bear my name. ¹⁸Yet not a hair of your head will perish! ¹⁹It is by your endurance that you will win your souls. ²⁰But when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then you must understand that her devastation is at hand. ²¹Then those who are in Judea must fly to the hills, those who are in the city must get out of it, and those who are in the country must not go into it, ²²for those are the days of vengeance, when all that is written in the Scriptures will be fulfilled. ²³But alas for women who are with child at that time, or who have babies, for there will be great misery in the land and anger at this people. ²⁴They will fall by the edge of the sword, and be carried off as prisoners among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the heathen, until the time of the heathen comes. ²⁵There will be signs too in sun, moon, and stars, and on earth dismay among the heathen, bewildered at the roar of the sea and the waves. ²⁶Men will swoon with fear and foreboding of what is to happen to the world, for the forces in the sky will shake. ²⁷Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and glory. ²⁸But when this begins to happen, look up and raise your heads, for your deliverance will be at hand.”

²⁹And he gave them an illustration:

“See the fig tree and all the trees. ³⁰As soon as they put out their leaves, you see them and you know without being told that summer is coming. ³¹So when you see these things happen, you must know that the Kingdom of God is at hand. ³²I tell you, it will all happen before the present generation passes away. ³³Earth and sky will pass away, but my words will not. ³⁴But take care that your hearts are not loaded down with self-indulgence and drunkenness and worldly cares, and that day takes you by surprise, like a trap. ³⁵For it will come on all who are living anywhere on the face of the earth. ³⁶But you must be vigilant and always pray that you may succeed in escaping all this that is going to happen, and in standing in the presence of the Son of Man.”

³⁷He would spend the days teaching in the Temple, but at night he would go out of the city and stay on the hill called the Mount of Olives. ³⁸And in the morning all the people would come to him in the Temple to listen to him.