Matthew 24

And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

1Jesus left the temple and walked away. His followers came to point out the temple buildings to him.

2And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

2Jesus said, "Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth. Every stone here will be thrown down."

3And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

3Later Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His followers came to him alone. They asked, "When will this happen? What sign will show that you are coming, and that this age is ending?"

NoteThe KJV says "the end of the world." The word means the end of this age, this long stretch of time, not the end of the planet.

4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

4Jesus answered them, "Be careful. Do not let anyone fool you.

5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

5Many people will come using my name. They will say, 'I am the Christ, the king God promised.' They will fool many people.

6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

6You will hear about wars, and stories about more wars. Do not be afraid. These things have to happen. But the end is not here yet.

7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

7Country will fight country, and kingdom will fight kingdom. In many places people will have no food. The ground will shake in many places too.

8All these are the beginning of sorrows.

8All these things are only the beginning of the pain.

9Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

9Then people will hand you over to be hurt. They will kill you. People in every country will hate you because of my name.

10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

10Then many people will turn away from me. They will hand each other over, and they will hate each other.

11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

11Many false prophets will come. A prophet is someone who tells people what God says. These ones will lie and fool many people.

12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

12There will be more and more wrong-doing. So the love in many hearts will grow cold.

13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

13But whoever keeps holding on until the end will be saved.

14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

14The good news about God's kingdom will be told all over the world. Every nation will hear it. Then the end will come.

15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

15The prophet Daniel wrote long ago about a terrible thing that ruins the holy place. When you see it standing there, pay attention. Whoever reads this should try to understand it.

16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

16When that happens, the people in Judea should run away to the hills.

17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

17If you are up on your flat roof, do not go inside to get your things.

18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

18If you are out in the field, do not go back home to get your coat.

19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

19It will be very hard then for women who are having babies. It will be hard for mothers feeding little babies too.

20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

20Pray that you will not have to run away in winter. Pray that it will not be on the Sabbath, the day for resting.

21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

21That will be a time of very great trouble. Nothing that bad has ever happened since the world began. Nothing that bad will happen again.

22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

22If those days went on and on, no one at all would live through it. But God will make those days shorter. He will do it for the people he has chosen.

23Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

23At that time someone may say to you, 'Look, the Christ is here!' or 'He is over there!' Do not believe it.

24For 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.

24False Christs and false prophets will come. They will do big, surprising things to make people believe them. They will try hard to fool even the people God has chosen.

25Behold, I have told you before.

25Listen, I have told you all this before it happens.

26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

26So if someone says, 'Look, he is out in the desert,' do not go out there. If they say, 'Look, he is hiding in that room,' do not believe it.

27For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

27Lightning flashes in the east, and you can see it all the way west. The Son of Man will come like that. Son of Man is the name Jesus used for himself.

28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

28Wherever a dead body lies, the big birds gather over it.

NoteThe KJV says "eagles," but the birds meant here are vultures, the big birds that gather around a dead animal.

29Immediately 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:

29Right after that time of great trouble, the sun will go dark. The moon will not shine. The stars will fall from the sky. Even the strong powers in the heavens will be shaken.

30And 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.

30Then the sign of the Son of Man will show in the sky. All the families of the earth will cry. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds, with great power and shining brightness.

31And 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.

31He will send his angels out with a loud trumpet call. They will gather his chosen people from every direction, from one end of the sky to the other.

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

32Learn this lesson from the fig tree. When its branches get soft and leaves start to grow, you know summer is close.

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

33In the same way, when you see all these things, you will know he is close. He is right at the door.

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

34I tell you the truth. The people living now will not all be gone before these things happen.

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

35The sky and the earth will pass away. But my words will never pass away.

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

36No one knows the day or the hour when this will happen. The angels in heaven do not know. Only my Father knows.

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

37It was a certain way in the days of Noah. It will be like that when the Son of Man comes.

38For 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,

38Before the big flood, people were eating and drinking. They were getting married. They kept doing this until the day Noah went into the boat.

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

39They did not know what was coming. Then the flood came and swept them all away. It will be like that when the Son of Man comes.

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

40At that time two men will be working in a field. One will be taken and one will be left.

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

41Two women will be grinding grain at a mill. One will be taken and one will be left.

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

42So keep watching. You do not know what day your Lord is coming.

43But 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.

43Think about this. Suppose a homeowner knew when at night a thief would come. He would stay awake. He would not let the thief break into his house.

NoteThe KJV calls him "the goodman of the house," which just means the owner. A "watch" was one of the parts the night was split into. And "suffered" in the KJV means allowed.

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

44So you must be ready too. The Son of Man will come at a time you are not expecting.

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

45Who is a servant his master can trust? He is the wise one his master puts in charge of the house. He gives everyone their food at the right time.

Note"Meat" in the KJV means food of any kind, not just meat from animals.

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

46That servant is happy if his master comes home and finds him doing his work.

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

47I tell you the truth. The master will put that servant in charge of everything he owns.

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

48But suppose that servant is bad. He says to himself, 'My master will be gone a long time.'

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

49So he starts hitting the other servants. He eats and drinks with people who get drunk.

50The 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,

50His master will come home on a day he is not expecting. It will be at an hour he does not know about.

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

51The master will cut him to pieces. He will put him with the pretenders, people who only act good. There people cry and grind their teeth.