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 ¹ Then he looked up, and saw the rich men putting their gifts into the treasury.

 ² And he also saw a certain poor widow putting in two copper coins.

 ³ And he said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them;

 ⁴ For all these have given their offerings to God out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in all that she had to live on."

 ⁵ And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts to God, he said,

 ⁶ "As for these things that you see here, the days will come when there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down."

 ⁷ And they asked him, saying, "Master, when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"

 ⁸ And he said, "Take heed that you are not deceived; for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am He,' and 'The time draws near.' Do not follow them.¹

 ⁹ But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must first come to pass. But the end does not come immediately."

 ¹⁰ Then said he to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

 ¹¹ And there will be great earthquakes in many places, and famines and plagues; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

 ¹² But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into prisons, and you will be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.

 ¹³ This will be an opportunity for your testimony.

 ¹⁴ Settle it in your minds therefore, not to prepare beforehand what you will answer.

 ¹⁵ For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to refute or resist.

 ¹⁶ And you will be betrayed by even parents and brothers and kinsfolk and friends, and some of you they will put to death.

 ¹⁷ And you will be hated by all men for my name's sake.

 ¹⁸ But not a hair of your head shall perish.

 ¹⁹ By your steadfast endurance do you possess your soul.² [For salvation, (to save your soul), you must patiently endure in waiting, tribulations, suffering, and obedience in order to mortify and crucify your sinful nature on the inward cross of self-denial. From the Word of the Lord within: "To endure on the cross is dying. Salvation comes to those who heed and obey. Salvation comes to those who wait. Be like the early Church, who for inexpressible joy endured to the end."]

 ²⁰ And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that the desolation of it is near.

 ²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the middle of it depart, and let those who are in the country not enter into it.

 ²² For those are the days of vengeance, so that all things that are written may be fulfilled.

 ²³ But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.

 ²⁴ They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

 ²⁵ And there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars; and upon the earth there will distress and perplexity in the nations at the sea and the waves roaring.

 ²⁶ Men's hearts will fail them for fear and the expectation of those things that are coming on the earth; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

 ²⁷ And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. [Heaven appears to our spiritual eye as in a mist or in clouds — so, his coming is on the clouds of heaven, within the hearts of purified believers — just like he ascended: he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. Acts 1:9. Even Daniel in 538 BC saw Jesus coming on the clouds of heaven: I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Dan 7:13.]

 ²⁸ Now when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near."

 ²⁹ Then he spoke a parable to them: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees;

 ³⁰ When they sprout leaves, you see and know for yourselves that summer is near.

 ³¹ So likewise, when you see these things happen, know that the kingdom of God is near.

 ³² Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away, until all is fulfilled.³

 ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

 ³⁴ But take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts become weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and that day come upon you unexpectedly.

 ³⁵ For it will come on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. [The second coming and the day of the Lord are one in the same personal experience, which occurs for all men in every generation. For those who are crucified to spiritually die on the inward cross of self-denial, the second coming occurs as the Lord appears after the baptism of fire has burned all the remaining sin in them. Their body dies in this baptism of fire and death, but the believer is raised (resurrected) with Christ and translated into the kingdom of God. Though raised with Christ to live in the heavens, they still walk the earth as a new creature together, in union with the Lord. From the Word of the Lord within: "The second coming is a personal experience. The second coming is in the hearts of purified believers. You can live in heaven and still walk the earth." For those who physically die without having been purified on the inward cross and who are still slaves to sin, the appearance of the Lord when they physically die is a terror for they will suddenly see how hopelessly evil they are.]

 ³⁶ Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

 ³⁷ Now in the daytime he was teaching in the temple, and at night he went out and stayed on the mount that is called the mount of Olives.

 ³⁸ And all the people came early in the morning to hear him in the temple.