but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, is bound thereby. 19. Ye fools and blind! which is the greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20. Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all things thereon. 21. And whoever swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him that dwelleth therein, (even God himself). 22. And whoever swears by heaven, swears by God's throne, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23. Wo to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithes of mint, anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness: these ye ought to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24. Ye blind guides! who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel, (are strict in small matters, but not in important duties). 25. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26. Thou blind Pharisee! cleanse first the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside may be clean also. 27. Wo to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye resemble whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness. 28. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29. Wo to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the prophets' tombs, and adorn the sepulchres of the righteous, 30. And say! If we had been in our father's days, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31. But ye bear witness to yourselves, (by having the same persecuting spirit), that ye are the children of them who killed the prophets. 32. And ye will add to their iniquity till the measure be full, (and your nation be thus ripe for destruction). 33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers! how can ye escape the damnation of hell. 34. Wherefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and others ye shall Scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city; 35. So that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36. Verily, I tell you, All these things shall come upon this generation, (which adopts their sins by following their example.) 57. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets, and stonest them who are sent to thee, how often would I have gathered thy children, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not! 38. Behold, your habitation shall be left by you desolate. 39. For I tell you, (That after my decease) henceforth ye shall not see me till the millennium, 1 Cor. xv. 8. when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. CHAP. XXIV. THE TEMPLE'S DESTRUCTION FORETOLD. Now Jesus went out from the temple: and his disciples came to him, to show him the buildings of the temple. 2. Then Jesus said to them, Ye see all these things, but, verily I tell you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down. 3. And, as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming (to punish the wicked,) and VOL. III. I 27 of the end (of the Jewish state, and) of the world. 4. Then Jesus answered them, Take heed that no man deceive you: 5. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6. And ye shall soon hear of wars, and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled; for all those things must take place, but the end is not yet. 7. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8. All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10. And then shall many be offended, and betray one another, and hate one another. 11. And many false prophets shall rise, and deceive many. 12. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13. But he that endureth to the end, shall be saved. 14. And these glad tidings of my kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a testimony (of the ruin and recovery of man;) and then shall the end (of the Jewish church and state, Rom. x. 18. Col. i. 6, 23.) come. 15. Therefore, when ye shall see the desolating abomination (of the idolatrous Roman standard,) spoken of by the prophet Daniel, (ix. 27.) standing on the holy land, whoever reads the prophets, let him consider their accomplishment. 16. Then let them who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17. Let him who is on the house top not come down to take any thing out of his house; 18. Neither let him who is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19. And wo to them that are pregnant, and to them that suckle children, in those days (of danger and trouble.) 20. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, (being a bad season for it,) neither on the Sabbath day, (to hinder the duties of it.) 21. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be. 22. And except those days should be shortened, none of the Jews should escape; but for the elect's sake, they shall be shortened. 23. Then if any man say to you, Lo, Christ is here, or there; believe it not. 24. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and make a shew of great (false) signs and (lying) wonders; so that if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect. 25. Lo, I have foretold you. 26. Therefore, if they say to you, Behold he is in the desert; go not out: Lo, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27. For as the light cometh (speedily) out of the east, and shineth even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be (in the light and power of the gospel, and at last to judge the world.) 28. For wherever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered to it; (so will the Roman eagle be to make havock of the Jews.) 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. (All the light, and power, and glory of the Jewish city, and temple, and church, and state, shall be darkened, and shaken, and fall, as those of all nations shall be at Christ's coming at last to judg ment.) 30. And then shall appear the glory of the Son of man in heaven; and all the tribes of the earth (that do wickedly) shall mourn, when they see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory. 31. Then he will send his angels with a loud sounding trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from the one end of the heavens to the other. 32. Now learn a similitude from the fig-tree; When its branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: 33. So likewise, when ye shall see all these things, know that the event is near, even at the doors. 34. Verily I tell you, this generation shall not pass, till. all these things (concerning the destruction of the Jewish church and state, thirty-six years hence) be fulfilled. 35. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words cannot pass away. 36. But the day and the hour (of the Son of man's coming to judge the world) knoweth no man, nor even the angels in heaven, but my Father only. 37. But as it was in Noah's days, so shall it also be at the Son of man's coming. 38. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39. And understood not until the flood came, and destroyed them all; so shall also the Son of man's coming be. 40. Then shall two be in the field; the one (that is, a Christian) shall be saved, and the other left to perish (at the destruction of Jerusalem, and at the last judgment.) 41. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be saved, and the other left to perish. 42. Watch, therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord cometh. 43. But ye know this, that if the householder had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and suffered his house to be broken up. 44. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not of, the Son of man cometh. 45. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, |