Future Destruction of the Temple

13   ¹Jesus was leaving the temple* area. One of his followers said to him, "Look, Teacher! This temple has very beautiful buildings with very big stones." ²Jesus said, "You see these great buildings? All these buildings will be destroyed. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground. Not one stone will be left on another."

³Later, Jesus was sitting at a place on the Mount of Olives.* He was alone with Peter, James, John, and Andrew. They could all see the temple. Those followers asked Jesus, ⁴"Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will show us it is time for these things to happen?"

⁵Jesus said to the followers: "Be careful! Don't let any person fool you. ⁶Many people will come and use my name. They will say, 'I am the One.' And they will fool many people. ⁷You will hear about wars that are being fought. And you will hear stories about other wars beginning. But don't be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes. ⁸Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat. And there will be earthquakes in different places. These things are like the first pains when something new is born.

⁹"You must be careful. People will arrest you and take you to be judged. They will beat you in their synagogues.* You will be forced to stand before kings and governors. You will tell them about me. This will happen to you because you follow me. ¹⁰Before these things happen, the Good News* must be told to all people.

¹¹You will be arrested and judged. But don't worry about what you should say. Say the things God gives you to say at that time. It will not really be you speaking. It will be the Holy Spirit* speaking. ¹²"Brothers will turn against their own brothers and give them to be killed. Fathers will turn against their own children and give them to be killed. Children will fight against their own parents and find ways for their parents to be killed. ¹³All people will hate you because you follow me. But the person that continues strong until the end will be saved.

¹⁴"You will see 'the terrible thing that causes destruction.'* You will see this thing standing in the place where it should not be." (You that read this should understand what it means.) "At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains. ¹⁵People should run away without wasting time to stop for anything. If a person is on the roof of his house, he must not go down to take things out of his house. ¹⁶If a person is in the field, he must not go back to get his coat. ¹⁷At that time, it will be bad for women that are pregnant or have small babies. ¹⁸Pray that these things will not happen in winter. ¹⁹Why? Because those days will be full of much trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning, when God made the world. And nothing as bad as that will ever happen again.

²⁰God has decided to make that terrible time short. If that time were not made short, then no person could continue living. But God will make that time short to help his special people that he has chosen. ²¹At that time, some person might say to you, 'Look, there is the Christ* !' Or another person might say, 'There he is!' But don't believe them. ²²False Christs and false prophets* will come and do great things and miracles. They will do these things to the people God has chosen. They will do these things to try to fool his people, if that is possible. ²³So be careful. Now I have warned you about all this before it happens.

temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. Mount of Olives A hill east of the city of Jerusalem where a person could look down into the temple area. synagogue(s) Synagogues were places where Jews gathered for prayer, study of the Scriptures, and other public meetings. Good News The news that God has made a way for people to have their sins forgiven and live with him forever. Holy Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. Joined with God and Christ, he does God's work among people in the world. 'the terrible thing that causes destruction' See Dan. 9:27; 12:11 (see also Dan. 11:31). Christ The "anointed one" (Messiah) or chosen one of God. false prophets People that say they speak for God but do not really speak God's truth.