One Year Bible.

Temple Destruction and Other Signs

¹As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings.

²“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

³While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you. ⁵For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Witnessing to All Nations

⁹Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another, ¹¹and many false prophets will arise and deceive many.

¹²Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. ¹³But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁵So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), ¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house. ¹⁸And let no one in the field return for his cloak.

¹⁹How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! ²⁰Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹For at that time there will be great tribulation, unseen from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. ²²If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

²³At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. ²⁵See, I have told you in advance.

The Return of the Son of Man

²⁶So if they tell you, ‘There He is, in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Here He is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹Immediately after the tribulation of those days:

‘The sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light;

the stars will fall from the sky,

and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’

³⁰At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

³²Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³So also, when you see all these things, you will know that He is near, right at the door. ³⁴Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

Readiness at Any Hour

³⁶No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. ³⁹And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

⁴²Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come. ⁴³But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁸But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’ ⁴⁹And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. ⁵¹Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.[’’]

The Resurrection of Christ

¹Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, and in which you stand firm. ²By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

³For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. ⁶After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

¹²But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith. ¹⁵In that case, we are also exposed as false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead, but He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised.

¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men.

The Order of Resurrection

²⁰But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²²For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.

²⁴Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. ²⁵For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷For “God has put everything under His feet.” Now when it says that everything has been put under Him, this clearly does not include the One who put everything under Him. ²⁸And when all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all.

²⁹If these things are not so, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? ³⁰And why do we endanger ourselves every hour? ³¹I face death every day, brothers, as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³²If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,

for tomorrow we die.”

³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.” ³⁴Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame.

The Resurrection Body

³⁵But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” ³⁶You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. ³⁸But God gives it a body as He has designed, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body.

³⁹Not all flesh is the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another, and fish another. ⁴⁰There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the splendor of the heavenly bodies is of one degree, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is of another. ⁴¹The sun has one degree of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

⁴²So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. ⁴³It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. ⁴⁸As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.

Where, O Death, Is Your Victory?

⁵⁰Now I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

⁵¹Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — ⁵²in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

⁵⁴When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵“Where, O Death, is your victory?

Where, O Death, is your sting?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

The Collection for the Saints

¹Now about the collection for the saints, you are to do as I directed the churches of Galatia: ²On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a portion of his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will be needed. ³Then, on my arrival, I will send letters with those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem. ⁴And if it is advisable for me to go also, they can travel with me.

Paul’s Travel Plans

⁵After I go through Macedonia, however, I will come to you; for I will be going through Macedonia. ⁶Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. ⁷For I do not want to see you now only in passing; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. ⁸But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, ⁹because a great door for effective work has opened to me, even though many oppose me.

Timothy and Apollos

¹⁰If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am. ¹¹No one, then, should treat him with contempt. Send him on his way in peace so that he can return to me, for I am expecting him along with the brothers.

¹²Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was not at all inclined to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity.

Concluding Exhortations

¹³Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong. ¹⁴Do everything in love.

¹⁵You know that Stephanas and his household were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. Now I urge you, brothers, ¹⁶to submit to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.

¹⁷I am glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you. ¹⁸For they refreshed my spirit and yours as well. Show your appreciation, therefore, to such men.

Signature and Final Greetings

¹⁹The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings.

Aquila and Prisca greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.

²⁰All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

²¹This greeting is in my own hand — Paul.

²²If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be under a curse. Come, O Lord!

²³The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

²⁴My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.

Amen.