29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

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

36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

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

38 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,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

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

43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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29 (A)[a]And immediately after the tribulations of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

30 And then shall appear the [b]sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the [c]kindreds of the earth [d]mourn, (B)and they shall see the Son of man [e]come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 (C)And he shall send his Angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect, from the [f]four winds, and from the one end of the heavens unto the other.

32 [g]Now learn the parable of the fig tree: when her bough is yet [h]tender, and it putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near.

33 So likewise ye, when ye see all these things, know that the kingdom of God is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, this [i]generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

35 (D)[j]Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

36 [k]But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the Angels of heaven, but my father only.

37 But as the days of Noah were, so likewise shall the coming of the Son of man be.

38 (E)For as in the days before the flood, they did [l]eat and drink, marry, and give in marriage, unto the day that Noah entered into the Ark,

39 And knew nothing, till the flood came, and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

40 (F)[m]Then two shall be in the fields, the one shall be received, and the other shall be refused.

41 [n]Two women shall be grinding at the mill: the one shall be received, and the other shall be refused.

42 (G)[o]Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your master will come.

43 (H)Of this be sure, that if the good man of the house knew at what watch the thief would come, he would surely watch, and not suffer his house to be dug through.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in the hour that ye think not, will the Son of man come.

45 (I)Who then is a faithful servant and wise, whom his master hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in season?

46 Blessed is that servant, whom his master when he cometh, shall find so doing.

47 Verily I say unto you, he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

48 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My master doth defer his coming,

49 And begin to smite his fellows, and to eat, and to drink with the drunken,

50 That servant’s master will come in a day, when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

51 And will [p]cut him off, and give him his portion with hypocrites: (J)there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:29 Everlasting damnation shall be the end of the security of the wicked, and everlasting bliss, of the miseries of the godly.
  2. Matthew 24:30 The exceeding glory and majesty, which shall bear witness, that Christ the Lord of heaven and earth draweth near to judge the world.
  3. Matthew 24:30 All nations: and he alludeth to the dispersion which we read of, Gen. 10 and 11, or to the dividing of the people of Israel.
  4. Matthew 24:30 They shall be in such sorrow, that they shall strike themselves: and it is transferred to the mourning.
  5. Matthew 24:30 Sitting upon the clouds, as he was taken up into heaven.
  6. Matthew 24:31 From the four quarters of the world.
  7. Matthew 24:32 If God hath prescribed a certain order to nature, much more hath he done so to his eternal judgments, but the wicked understand it not, or rather make a mock at it: but the godly do mark it, and wait for it.
  8. Matthew 24:32 When his tenderness showeth that the sap which is the life of the tree, is come from the root into the bark.
  9. Matthew 24:34 This age: this word generation or Age, being used for the men of this age.
  10. Matthew 24:35 The Lord doth now begin the judgment, which he will make an end of in the latter day.
  11. Matthew 24:36 It is sufficient for us to know that God hath appointed a latter day for the restoring of all things, but when it shall be, it is hidden from us all, for our profit, that we may be so much the more watchful, that we be not taken as they were in old time in the flood.
  12. Matthew 24:38 The word which the Evangelist useth, expresseth the matter more fully than ours doth: for it is a word which is proper to brute beasts: and his meaning is, that in those days men shall be given to their bellies like unto brute beasts: for otherwise it is no fault to eat and drink.
  13. Matthew 24:40 Against them that persuade themselves that God will be merciful to all men, and do by that means give over themselves to sin, that they may in the meanwhile live in pleasure void of all care.
  14. Matthew 24:41 The Greek women and the Barbarians did grind and bake. (Plutarch, book Problem)
  15. Matthew 24:42 An example of the horrible carelessness of men in those things whereof they ought to be most careful.
  16. Matthew 24:51 To wit, from the rest, or will cut him into two parts, which was a most cruel kind of punishment, wherewith as Justin Martyr witnesseth, Isaiah the Prophet was executed by the Jews: the like kind of punishment we read of, 1 Sam. 15:33 and Dan. 3:29.

29 “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[a](A)

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[b] will mourn(B) when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,(C) with power and great glory.[c] 31 And he will send his angels(D) with a loud trumpet call,(E) and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[d] is near, right at the door.(F) 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.(G) 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.(H)

The Day and Hour Unknown(I)(J)

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[e] but only the Father.(K) 37 As it was in the days of Noah,(L) so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,(M) up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.(N) 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.(O) 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.(P)

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.(Q) 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming,(R) he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready,(S) because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,(T) whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.(U) 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.(V) 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.(W) 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(X)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:29 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
  2. Matthew 24:30 Or the tribes of the land
  3. Matthew 24:30 See Daniel 7:13-14.
  4. Matthew 24:33 Or he
  5. Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.