What signs should we look for before Jesus returns?

¹Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple.

²But he answered them, “You see all of these things, don’t you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.”

³As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”

⁴Jesus answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray.

⁵For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray.

⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.

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

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

⁹Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake.

¹⁰Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.

¹¹Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray.

¹²Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.

¹³But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.

¹⁴This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵“When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

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

¹⁷Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out things that are in his house.

¹⁸Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes.

¹⁹But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days!

²⁰Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on a Sabbath,

²¹for then there will be great oppression, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.

²²Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.

²³“Then if any man tells you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There,’ don’t believe it.

²⁴For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.

²⁵“Behold, I have told you beforehand.

²⁶If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ don’t go out; ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it.

²⁷For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

²⁸For wherever the carcass is, there is where the vultures gather together.

²⁹But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, 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. 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.

³¹He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

³²“Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near.

³³Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

³⁴Most certainly I tell you, this generationwill not pass away, until all these things are accomplished.

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

³⁶But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven,but my Father only.

³⁷“As the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

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

³⁹and they didn’t know until the flood came, and took them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left;

⁴¹two women grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one will be left.

⁴²Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes.

⁴³But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

⁴⁴Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.

¹As he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!”

²Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down.”

³As he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,

⁴“Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are all about to be fulfilled?”

⁵Jesus, answering, began to tell them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray.

⁶For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and will lead many astray.

⁷“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be troubled. For those must happen, but the end is not yet.

⁸For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines and troubles. These things are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹But watch yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them.

¹⁰The Good News must first be preached to all the nations.

¹¹When they lead you away and deliver you up, don’t be anxious beforehand, or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

¹²“Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.

¹³You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.

¹But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you.

²For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.

³For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.

⁴But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief.

⁵You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness,

⁶so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober.

⁷For those who sleep, sleep in the night, and those who are drunk are drunk in the night.

⁸But let us, since we belong to the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.

⁹For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁰who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

¹¹Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.

¹Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him, we ask you

²not to be quickly shaken in your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by letter as from us, saying that the day of Christ had come.

³Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction,

⁴he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.

⁵Don’t you remember that, when I was still with you, I told you these things?

⁶Now you know what is restraining him, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season.

⁷For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is one who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way.

⁸Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming;

⁹even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

¹⁰and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

¹¹Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie;

¹²that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

⁶Therefore when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.

⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

⁹When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

¹⁰While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing,

¹¹who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”