October 9, 2009

Matthew 23:1-24:51

1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses;3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.4 “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.5 “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.6 “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues,7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.8 “But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.9 “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.10 “Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
14 [“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’17 “You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?18 “And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’19 “You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?20 “Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.21 “And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it.
22 “And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
24 “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
26 “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
28 “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’31 “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.32 “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.
33 “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
34 “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.38 “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!39 “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD !’”

Matthew 24

1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.
2 And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”
3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.5 “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.6 “You will be hearing 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.7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
8 “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.10 “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.11 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.12 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.13 “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
15 “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.17 “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house.18 “Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.19 “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!20 “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.21 “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.22 “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him.24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.25 “Behold, I have told you in advance.26 “So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them.27 “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
28 “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
29 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED , AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT , AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.30 “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and 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.
31 “And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
32 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.40 “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.
41 “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.
42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.43 “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at 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.
44 “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
45 “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?46 “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.47 “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.48 “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards;50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.