Matius 24:8-14

24:8 All ¹  these things are the beginning of birth pains.

Persecution of Disciples

24:9 “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations ²  because of my name. ³  24:10 Then many will be led into sin, ⁴  and they will betray one another and hate one another. 24:11 And many false prophets will appear and deceive ⁵  many, 24:12 and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. 24:13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved. ⁶  24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, ⁷  and then the end will come.

Matius 24:21-22

24:21 For then there will be great suffering ⁸  unlike anything that has happened ⁹  from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. 24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

[24:8]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:9]  ² tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).

[24:9]  ³ sn See Matt 5:10-12; 1 Cor 1:25-31.

[24:10]  ⁴ tn Or “many will fall away.” This could also refer to apostasy.

[24:11]  ⁵ tn Or “and lead many astray.”

[24:13]  ⁶ sn But the person who endures to the end will be saved. Jesus was not claiming here that salvation is by works. He was simply arguing that genuine faith evidences itself in persistence through even the worst of trials.

[24:14]  ⁷ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).

[24:21]  ⁸ tn Traditionally, “great tribulation.”

[24:21]  ⁹ sn Suffering unlike anything that has happened. Some refer this event to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. While the events of a.d. 70 may reflect somewhat the comments Jesus makes here, the reference to the scope and severity of this judgment strongly suggest that much more is in view. Most likely Jesus is referring to the great end-time judgment on Jerusalem in the great tribulation.