19. because those days will be full of trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning, when God made the world. And nothing that bad will ever happen again.
20. But the Lord has decided to make that terrible time short. If it were not made short, no one could survive. But the Lord will make that time short to help the special people he has chosen.
21. “Someone might say to you at that time, ‘Look, there is the Messiah!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them.
22. False messiahs and false prophets will come and do miracles and wonders, trying to fool the people God has chosen, if that is possible.
23. So be careful. Now I have warned you about all this before it happens.
24. “During the days following that time of trouble, ‘The sun will become dark, and the moon will not give light.
25. The stars will fall from the sky, and everything in the sky will be changed.’
26. “Then people will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27. He will send his angels all around the earth. They will gather his chosen people from every part of the earth.
28. “The fig tree teaches us a lesson: When its branches become green and soft, and new leaves begin to grow, then you know that summer is very near.
29. In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time is very near, already present.
30. I assure you that all these things will happen while some of the people of this time are still living.
31. The whole world, earth and sky, will be destroyed, but my words will last forever.
32. “No one knows when that day or time will be. The Son and the angels in heaven don’t know when that day or time will be. Only the Father knows.
33. Be careful! Always be ready. You don’t know when that time will be.