1 And looking up, he saw the rich people dropping their gifts into the treasury.
2 And he saw a poor widow drop in two coppers.
3 And he said, "I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all the rest.
4 For they all gave from what they had to spare, but she in her want has put in all she had to live on."
5 When 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!"
7 Then they asked him, "Master, when will this happen, and what will be the sign that it is going to take place?"
8 And 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.
9 But when you hear of wars and outbreaks, do not be alarmed. These have to come first, but the end does not follow immediately."
10 Then he said to them, "Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
11 There will be great earthquakes, and pestilence and famine here and there. There will be horrors and great signs in the sky.
12 But 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.
13 It will all lead to your testifying.
14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense,
15 for I will give you such wisdom of utterance as none of your opponents will be able to resist or dispute.
16 You will be betrayed even by your parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends and they will put some of you to death,
17 and you will be hated by everyone because you bear my name.
18 Yet not a hair of your head will perish!
19 It is by your endurance that you will win your souls.
20 But when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then you must understand that her devastation is at hand.
21 Then 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,
22 for those are the days of vengeance, when all that is written in the Scriptures will be fulfilled.
23 But 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.
24 They 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.
25 There 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.
26 Men will swoon with fear and foreboding of what is to happen to the world, for the forces in the sky will shake.
27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and glory.
28 But when this begins to happen, look up and raise your heads, for your deliverance will be at hand."
29 And he gave them an illustration: "See the fig tree and all the trees.
30 As soon as they put out their leaves, you see them and you know without being told that summer is coming.
31 So when you see these things happen, you must know that the Kingdom of God is at hand.
32 I tell you, it will all happen before the present generation passes away.
33 Earth and sky will pass away, but my words will not.
34 But 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.
35 For it will come on all who are living anywhere on the face of the earth.
36 But 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."
37 He 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.
38 And in the morning all the people would come to him in the Temple to listen to him.