t And Jesus left the temple and was going on his way, and his disciples came to him, to show him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them and said: Do you not see all this? Truly I tell you, nothing here shall escape destruction and no stone will be left on another. Then he sat down upon the Mount of Olives, and his disciples came to him privately and said: Tell us, when shall this be, and what is the sign of your presence and the end of the world? Jesus answered and said to them: See to it that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying: I am the Christ. And they will lead many astray. You will hear wars and rumors of wars. Be watchful, do not be frightened. For this must be, but the end is not yet. Nation shall rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and earthquakes, place by place; all these things are the beg^^ings of the agony. Then they will hand you over for persecution, and kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my n^e. And at this time many shall be driven astray and betray and hate each other, and many false prophets shall rise up, and they shall lead many astray; and through abundance of lawlessness the love of many shall grow cold. He who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the inhabited world in testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. Thus when you see the abomination of desolation, that was told by Daniel the prophet, established in the holy place-and let him who reads this take note of it-then let those who are in Judaea flee to the mountains, and let him who is on the housetop not come down to take up what is in his house, and let him who is in the field not tum back to pick up his coat. Woe to the women who are with child and the women who are nursing in those days. Pray that your flight may not come in the wintertime, nor on the sabbath. For at that time there will be great affliction, such as there has not been since the beginning of creation and cannot be again. And if those days had not been cut short, there would be no flesh saved; but because of the chosen, those days will be shortened. Then, if anyone says to you: Here is the Christ, or here; do not believe him. For false Christs will rise up and false prophets, and they will present great signs and portents, so as to mislead even the chosen, if that may be done. See, I have warned you. If then they say to you: See, he is in the desert; do not go out; or, see, he is in the countinghouses; do not believe. For as the lightning goes out from the east and shines as far as the west, thus shall be the coming of the son of man. Where the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered. And at once after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the skies will be shaken. And then will appear the sign of the son of man in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves, and see the son of man coming upon the clouds with power and great glory, and he will send out his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather-the chosen together from the four winds and from end to end of the sky. From the fig tree learn its parable; when its branch is tender and it puts forth leaves, you know that the summer is near; so too when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at your doors. Truly I tell you that this generation will not pass before all these things are done. The sky and the earth will pass away, but my words cannot pass away. But concerning that day and hour none knows, not the angels of heaven nor the son, none but the father alone. For as the days of Noah, thus will be the coming of the son of man. For as in those days before the flood there were people eating and drinking, marrying and making marriages, until the day when Noah went aboard his ark, and they did not know, until the flood came and took them all away; thus also will be the coming of the son of man. Then therewill be two in thefield, and one taken and one left; two women grinding at the mill, and one taken and one left. Be watchful then, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But you know this, that if the master of the house had known the..time when the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore make yourselves also ready, because in the hour when you do not expect him the son of man will come. Who then is the faithful and prudent slave whom the master set over his household, to give them their food when it is due? Blessed is that slave whom his master, when he comes, will find doing so. Truly I tell you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that other, bad slave says in his heart: My master is long coming; and begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eat and drink with the drunkards; the master of that slave will come on the day when he does not expect him and in the hour when he is unaware, and cut him to ribbons, and make his lot one with the hypocrites; and there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
•1 Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten girls who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were thoughtless, and five were thoughtful. For the thoughtless ones, when they took their lamps, did not take oil with them, and the thoughtful ones took oil in their flasks along with their lamps. When the bridegroom was late they all grew sleepy and slept. But in the middle of the night there was a great outcry: Behold, the bridegroom; go out to meet him. Then all those girls woke up and trimmed their lamps, but the thoughtless ones said to those who were thoughtfuclass="underline" Give us some of your oil, since our lamps are going out. But the thoughtful ones answered, saying: There would never be enough for us and for you. Better, go to those who sell it and buy it for yourselves. But while they were gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut. Then later came the other girls, saying: Lord, lord, open to us. But he answered and said: Truly I tell you, I do not know you. Be watchful then, since you do not know the day, or the hour.
For it is like a man who made a journey, and called in his own slaves and handed over to them all his properties. And to one he gave five talents, to one two, to one one, each according to his ability, and went away. At once the one who had received five talents went into business with them, and made five more; so also the one who had received two made another two. But the man who had received one went away and dug a hole in the ground and hid the money of his master in it. Then after a long time the master of those slaves came back and cast up accounts with them. And the one who had received five talents came forward and delivered five talents more, saying: Master, you gave me five talents; see, I have made five talents more. His master said to him: Well done, good and trusty slave; you were trusty in small amounts, I will set you in charge of much. Come in and share your master's festivities. Then he who had received two talents came forward and said: Master, you gave me two talents; see, I have made two talents more. His master said to him: Well done, good and trusty slave; you were trusty in small amounts, I will set you in charge of much. Come in and share your master's festivities. Then he who had received one talent came forward and said: Master, I knew that you were a hard man, that you harvest where you did not sow, that you gather where you did not scatter the seed; and I was afraid and went away and buried your talent in the ground; see, you have what is yours. His master answered and said to him: Wretched timid slave! Did you know that I harvest where I did not sow, that I gather where I did not scatter the seed? You should have put the money out with the bankers, and I could have gone and taken back my own, with interest. Take away his talent and give it to him who has the ten talents; for to everyone who has shall be given, even in excess; but from him who has not, even what he has shall be taken away. And cast this useless slave into the outer darkness; there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.