Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

so that on you will come the guilt of all the blood of the righteous shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah [the priest], the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Jesus left the temple area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to the [magnificent and massive] buildings of the temple.

But, he, answering, said unto them - Are ye not beholding all these things? Verily, I say unto you - in no wise, shall there be left here, stone upon stone, which shall not be thrown down.

While Jesus was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, and said, “Tell us, when will this [destruction of the temple] take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end (completion, consummation) of the age?”

And Jesus said to them in answer, Take care that you are not tricked.

You will continually hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end [of the age].

For nations will wage war against one another, and kingdoms will attack one another. And famines and earthquakes will occur at various places [in the world].

All these are the beginning of sorrows.

"At that time they will deliver you up to punishment and will put you to death; and you will be objects of hatred to all the nations because you are called by my name.

"Therefore, when you see that disgusting thing which causes total destruction [i.e., the Roman armies. See Luke 21:20], which Daniel the prophet spoke about [Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11], standing in the sacred place [i.e., Jerusalem and especially the Temple area], (let the reader understand [what is meant by this]),

then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains:

let him that is on the housetop not go down to take out things that are in his house:

And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

Because in those days there will be great sorrow, such as there has not been from the start of the world till now, or ever will be.

And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but because of the chosen, shall those days be shortened.

Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

So if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out there, or, ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms [of a house],’ do not believe it.

Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will flock together.

Now take an example from the fig-tree: when her branch has become soft and puts out its leaves, you are certain that the summer is near;

So you also, when you see all these signs, may be sure that He is near--at your very door.

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

But of that day and hour no one has knowledge, not even the angels in heaven, or the Son, but the Father only.

But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

and they did not know or understand until the flood came and swept them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be [unexpected judgment].

Two women will be grinding grain at a millstone [Note: This was a hand-operated device where two persons sat across from each other and rotated a circular stone over kernels of grain]; one will be taken, while the other one will be left.

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

But understand this: If the head of the house had known what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

Wherefore, ye also, be getting ready, because, in what hour ye are, not thinking, The Son of Man doth come.

Now where is the trusty and thoughtful servant, whom his lord and master has set over his household to assign them their supplies at the proper time?

But if that wicked servant say in his heart, My master will be a long while ere he comes;

And is cruel to the other servants, taking his pleasure with those who are overcome with wine;

and will cut him in pieces, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.

"Then the kingdom of heaven will be similar to ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the [bride and] groom. [Note: The picture here is that of a newly married couple returning from a festive reception to the groom's home where they continued celebrating and were welcomed by a late evening wedding party]

And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

'And the bridegroom tarrying, they all nodded and were sleeping,

Then at midnight someone shouted, 'Look, the [bride and] groom are here. Come on, let us go out and meet them.'

Then all these virgins were aroused, and put their lanterns in order.

And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

But the wise answered, saying: Lest there may not be enough for us and you, go rather to those who sell, and buy for your selves.

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

Therefore be on the alert, because you do not know the day or the hour!

He gave one servant five talents [Note: This 'talent' was a large sum of money in the form of a certain weight of silver. It was the equivalent of sixty years of a farm laborer's wages, or about $750,000 in income]. He gave two talents to another servant and one talent to another. He gave to each one an amount in keeping with his ability [to invest it wisely], and then left on his trip.

The man who had received the five thousand dollars came up and brought him five thousand more, saying, 'You turned over to me five thousand dollars; here are five thousand more I made.'

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, I will put you in charge of many things; share in the joy of your master.’

Then the man who had received the two thousand came up and said, 'Master, you turned over to me two thousand dollars; here are two thousand more I made.'

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, I will put you in charge of many things; share in the joy of your master.’

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

So I was afraid [to lose the talent], and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is your own.’

His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

Your duty then was to deposit my money in some bank, and so when I came I should have got back my property with interest.

(for to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound; but from him that hath not, even what he hath, or seemeth to have, shall be taken away:)

Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels are with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.

And before him all the nations will come together; and they will be parted one from another, as the sheep are parted from the goats by the keeper.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father [you favored of God, appointed to eternal salvation], inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave- me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me to your houses;

I had no clothing, and you gave it to me: when I was ill, or in prison, you came to me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the king will answer them, 'I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.'

Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!

when homeless, you gave me no welcome; ill-clad, you clothed me not; sick or in prison, you visited me not.'

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Then he will answer, 'I tell you, in so far as you failed to do it for one of these people who are humblest, you failed to do it for me.'

Then these [unbelieving people] will go away into eternal (unending) punishment, but those who are righteous and in right standing with God [will go, by His remarkable grace] into eternal (unending) life.”

Then were gathered together the chief priests, and the elders of the people, unto the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas;

They were taking counsel together as to how they might take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.

But they were saying, "Not during the feast, so that there will not be an uproar among the people."

And having seen it, his disciples were much displeased, saying, 'To what purpose is this waste?

But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for Me.

and said, What are ye willing to give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they weighed unto him thirty pieces of silver.

Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?

He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time [to suffer and atone for sin] is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’”

and as they were eating, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

The Son of man goeth, even as it is written of him: but woe unto that man through whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had not been born.

Judas, who betrayed him, said, "Can it be I, Master?" He said to him, "You are right!"

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

And He took a cup [i.e., probably wine made from fresh or possibly preserved grape juice], gave thanks to God, then passed it to them, saying, "All of you, drink from it;

Then said Jesus, "This night all of you will stumble and fail in your fidelity to me; for it is written, 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered in all directions.'

Peter replied to Him, “Though they all fall away because of You [and doubt and disown You], I will never fall away!”

Peter said to Jesus, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And all the disciples said the same thing.

Then He said to them, "My soul is extremely grieved, even to [the point where I could] die. Stay here and be alert with me [i.e., in prayer]."

And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them sleeping, and he saith to Peter, 'So! ye were not able one hour to watch with me!

You must all watch, and pray that you may not be exposed to trial! One's spirit is eager, but flesh and blood are weak!"

He went away a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Just then, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. A large crowd armed with swords and clubs was with him. They were from the high priests and elders of the people.

Jesus said to Judas, “Friend, do what you came for.” Then they came and seized Jesus and arrested Him.

And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back in its place; for all those who habitually draw the sword will die by the sword.