The poor widow's offering
1Jesus was looking at some rich people who put their offerings in the offering-box at the temple. 2He also saw a poor widow who put in 2 small copper_coins. It was the smallest of all coins. It was very little money. 3Jesus said: ‘I tell you this and it is sure: This poor widow has given more than all the other people. 4The rich people have lots of money to give. This woman is very poor but she gave everything that she had. Now she has no money to buy food.’
Enemies will destroy the temple
5Some of the people talked about how beautiful the temple was, and the beautiful stones that the builders used to build the walls of the temple. Then Jesus said: 6‘There will come a time when the enemies will come and destroy all these buildings. Not one of these stones will stay in its place.’
People will suffer
7The people asked Jesus: ‘When will these things happen that You have told us about? What sign will tell us when these things will happen?’ 8Jesus said to them: ‘You must be careful because people will tell you lies. Many people will use my name. They will say: “I am the Christ.” They will also say: “The end of time has come now.” But you must not believe them. 9Do not be afraid when you hear that there is war near you or war far away from you. These things must happen but that will not be the end of everything.
10Nations will fight against each other. The people of one land will make war_against the people of another land. 11There will be earthquakes in many places and people will have no food to eat. A lot of people will become sick and die. Very bad things will happen and there will be signs in the sky, that will make people afraid.
12But before all these things happen, people will arrest you and take you to court and to their synagogues and they will put you in jail. They will make you stand before kings and governors because you believe in Me. 13And when you stand before them, you can tell them about Me.
14Don't plan what you then want to say in court. Do not prepare for it 15because I will tell you what you must say. You will have wisdom and your enemies will not know what to say or do to show that you are wrong. 16Your parents, your brothers, your family and your friends will take you to court and they will kill some of you. 17Everyone will hate you because you believe in Me. 18But you must not worry. Not one hair on your head will be lost. 19If you keep on believing, you will have eternal_life.’
People will oppress the believers
20Jesus said: ‘When you see the enemy soldiers around Jerusalem, then you must know that it is only a short time before the enemies will destroy Jerusalem. 21When that happens, the people who are in Judea must run away to the mountains. And the people in Jerusalem must flee. The people outside the city must not come into Jerusalem 22because that will be the time when God will punish the people of Jerusalem. All of this will happen because it is written in the Old_Testament. 23Women who are pregnant or mothers with little babies will suffer a lot. Everywhere in the land people will suffer badly when God punishes them. 24The enemies will kill some of the people of Judea and they will arrest the other people and take them away to all the nations of the world. Other people will come and live in Jerusalem and they will make the city impure. And all these things will go on until the time comes when the Lord will punish all the people.’
The Son of man will come again
25‘You will see things happening to the sun, moon and stars that have never happened before. People on earth will become afraid and they will not understand what is happening because the waves of the sea will be so big that they will not know what to do. 26People will faint because they are afraid when they realise what bad things are happening in the world. Yes, God will shake the sky and everything in it. 27Then everyone will see Me, the Son of man. I will come on the clouds and I will do everything that I want to do. I will be the Great_King. 28When these things begin to happen, you must stand up and look up, because you will know that your God is coming soon to save you.’
The parable of the fig tree
29Jesus told his disciples a parable. He said:
‘Look at the fig tree and all the other trees. 30When the leaves of the tree start to grow, you can see and you know that summer is near. 31It will be the same when you see these things happening. You will know then that the time is near when God will be King over all. 32I tell you this and it is sure: Some people who are alive now will still be alive when these things happen. 33Heaven and earth will disappear one day, but my words will always be true. They will not disappear.’
People must be ready before the Son of man comes again
34‘You must be careful of how you live. Don't waste your money on wine and don't worry about the things of this_life, because then you will not think about God and when that day comes it will surprise you. 35It will be like a trap that catches a bird quickly. Yes, everyone on earth will be surprised. 36You must always be ready. You must pray that you will be able to escape from all these bad things and pray that you will be ready when the Son of man comes to judge everyone.’
37Every day Jesus taught the people in the temple and every evening He went out of the city and stayed on the Mount_of_Olives. 38In the mornings all the people came back to the temple to listen to Him.
