What the Bible says about the end of the world

the end of the world

The theme of the coming end of the world, when creation will stand forth in the fullness of perfection, is an integral part of many works of biblical literature. Ideas about the end of the world developed and were significantly expanded over the centuries; below are the most important texts that speak about it, arranged in chronological order.

The Bible says that the world in which we live has a beginning, because it was created by God. This world is not eternal; it exists in time, and temporality is one of its inherent properties. For the biblical authors, the existence of the world's beginning naturally implies the existence of its end, because time is a mode of being fundamentally different from eternity and cannot be boundless. This idea of a developing world that has a beginning and an end is also essential for the biblical understanding of history as a directed process in which the Almighty's design for the world and for the human person unfolds.

At the beginning of the history of biblical revelation, the chosen people formed an idea of a mysterious day of God's future victory, a day that would bring human history to completion. This idea rested on the many turns in Israel's history in which the people were delivered from disasters and catastrophes through God's protection. These large events are described in the books of Exodus and Joshua, Judges and Kings. In them the people of God face outside enemies who often far surpass them both militarily and culturally. Yet trust in God leads Him to intervene in events through chosen men - judges, prophets, and kings - and to secure victory over enemies and preserve Israel from destruction. On this historical foundation there formed the idea of the coming Day of the Lord, when Israel would win final victory over all its enemies, who were also regarded as God's enemies.

The Day of Visitation in the Early Prophets

In the following centuries this simplified idea underwent major changes. This happened chiefly through the ministry of the biblical prophets, for whom the Day of the Lord was one of the central themes of their preaching.

In brief, the main points of the prophetic teaching about the end of the world and the Day of the Lord are these. The prophets speak of the end of the world as the Day of Visitation, when God Himself will mysteriously appear in the world and visit His people. This visitation by God will involve the humiliation of the Gentiles and the deliverance of Israel, but also judgment over all nations, including Israel. The prophets portrayed this visitation of God as a cosmic catastrophe in which everything unworthy of the Creator's majesty is destroyed. For this reason they often called the Day of the Lord a day of darkness and a day of wrath, a day of judgment. At the same time, every evil will be driven out of the created world, and even death itself will be defeated.

The prophets connected the coming Day of Visitation with the coming of Christ; for them, the appearing of Christ and the Visitation of God largely coincided. In this way the prophets expressed, in veiled form, the message that Christ the Savior would be not merely a great man, but the incarnate Son of God.

The prophets' words about the end of the world usually combine three key aspects. The prophets speak about events in the history of their own time, in which they see foreshadowings of the coming end of the world. Building on these foreshadowings, the prophets announce the coming of Christ, which is to become the turning point in the history of the world. What is revealed to them about the end times is often joined to the message about the coming of Christ.

The historical sequence of coming events was not as clear to the prophets as their spiritual meaning. Therefore most of the prophets joined the coming of Christ and the completion of history in their preaching. This is not a mistake; on the contrary, in the New Testament the coming of Christ is the beginning of judgment over the world and of God's victory over evil.

These are the general features of the prophetic teaching about the end of the world, which they often called "that day." Yet each prophetic book also has its own distinctive features.

Amos

The prophet Amos is the first to speak clearly of the Day of the Lord as the Day of Visitation: "I will pass through you," God says through the prophet. Amos addresses those who hoped that the Day of the Lord would become a kind of historical "happy ending" for Israel: "Woe to you who desire the Day of the Lord... it is darkness, and not light." That day will be a judgment over all people, including Israel, on whom God, because of its election, places exceptional moral demands. In addition, through Amos the Lord says that on "that day" the fallen booth of the house of David will be restored. This is a prophecy about Christ, who will be a descendant of David.

Hosea

Hosea, a younger contemporary of the prophet Amos, also speaks about God's judgment, which awaits all human deeds at the end of time. But Hosea proclaims that the end of the world will be marked by God's victory over every evil and every sin. The all-conquering mercy of the Creator will triumph, and even the chief, "last" enemy - death - will be defeated.

Micah

The prophet Micah, who lived a little later than Amos and Hosea, sees the coming Day of Visitation as the appearing of God Himself: God "treads" upon the heights of the earth, and the mountains melt before the majesty of His glory. Thus, at the end of time, God, whom all creation cannot contain, will appear to the world in fullness. The words of the Gospel of John speak of the fulfillment of this prophecy: "No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known" (John 1:18).

Isaiah of Jerusalem

The last prophet of the eighth century B.C., Isaiah of Jerusalem, also portrays the Day of the Lord as a day of judgment and of God's victory. But beyond this, Isaiah speaks of it as a day of salvation, which God will accomplish through Christ, the descendant of David born of the Virgin. "A child is born to us - a Son is given to us," Isaiah says, and in Him God Himself will intervene in the course of history. With the coming of Christ, all creation will be irreversibly changed; evil and violence will be defeated, and they will no longer have a place on the transformed earth. The striking image of the wolf living with the lamb is one of the most famous biblical descriptions of the coming renewal of the world. Isaiah also says that on the Day of the Lord not only the chosen people, but also the Gentiles, will turn to God and receive salvation. But deliverance in the glory of Christ, the peace of God opened to all people in His Kingdom, is at the same time destruction for every sin.

The Day of the Lord in the Pre-Exilic and Exilic Prophets

Zephaniah: a day of trumpet and battle cry

In the prophecy of Zephaniah, who lived at the end of the seventh century B.C., new aspects of the coming end of the world become visible. It appears to the prophet as a feast at which the Lord's sacrifice will be slaughtered. God's chosen children will gather for this feast; for sinners, however, it will be a day of blindness, because a person who has sinned loses the ability to see the world in its true light. Zephaniah calls the end of the world a day of wrath and battle, and says that this day is near. In this case, however, the point is not so much a historical timetable as the inevitability of the Day of Judgment.

Ezekiel

In the first half of the sixth century B.C., the prophet Ezekiel, for whom the destruction of Jerusalem became a foreshadowing of the end of the world, proclaims that the Day of the Lord will be a day of the world's renewal. Ezekiel speaks of a mysterious Shepherd who will come in those days. He will "stand in the breach of the wall" to protect His sheep from disaster. No human being can do this; each person is responsible for his own deeds and only his own. Only Christ, the Shepherd of Israel, will protect people. At the end of his book the prophet Ezekiel describes the end of the world as God's battle against the forces of evil. The defeat of Gog, the northern king who symbolizes the forces of evil, became a characteristic image of biblical apocalyptic writing. The central point in the prophecy of God's cosmic victory over evil and death is the message that at the end of time God will make a New Covenant with people, and the Spirit of God will change people's hearts of stone into hearts of flesh and breathe new life into them.

Isaiah of Babylon (Deutero-Isaiah): in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord

The author of the second half of the book of Isaiah, traditionally called Isaiah of Babylon or Deutero-Isaiah, begins his words with a prophecy of deliverance that God Himself will accomplish. Like other prophets, Deutero-Isaiah combines a vision of three different events. Israel's return from the Babylonian captivity and the restoration of Jerusalem are, for him, a foreshadowing of the coming of the Messiah and of the end of the world, when the glory of God will be revealed to all creation. Five centuries later, John the Baptist will apply Deutero-Isaiah's words about the voice crying out to himself.

Zechariah: salvation for all

The prophet Zechariah, a younger contemporary of Isaiah of Babylon, also sees the exile and the return from it as foreshadowings of the coming judgment. At the end of the first half of the book of Zechariah, which belongs to him, he says that in the last days all nations will turn to the God of Israel, and God will be the salvation of those who take refuge in Him.

The Day of the Lord in the Prophets of the Second Temple Era

In the Second Temple era, prophecies about the Day of the Lord become more concrete; judgment over the nations and the Day of the Lord's wrath move into the background. For the prophets of this period, "that day" is chiefly connected with the coming of Christ and His saving ministry.

Malachi: God will send Elijah

In the middle of the fifth century B.C., the prophet Malachi says that before the Day of the Lord comes, God will send the prophet Elijah to the people, and he will announce the arrival of the last times. This prophecy was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist, whom the Angel of the Lord, speaking to his father Zechariah, calls a "prophet in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17).

Joel: the Day of the outpouring of the Spirit of God

As if continuing Ezekiel's prophecy about the New Covenant, at the turn of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. the prophet Joel says that in the last days God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh, and many people will be able to hear the Word of God as directly as the chosen men of the Lord - the prophets - hear it. These days will be accompanied by signs on a cosmic scale: the sun will be darkened and the moon will turn to blood. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, Joel says. Thus the chosen ones who will be saved on the Day of the Lord are those who turn to the God of Israel and call on the name of the Lord.

Zechariah (Second Zechariah): they will look on Him whom they pierced

The words of an unnamed contemporary of Joel, the author of the second half of the book of Zechariah, occupy a special place in biblical prophecies about the end of the world. In Second Zechariah the Day of Judgment appears as a reckoning between people and God, when people pay God for His benefactions. People weigh out thirty pieces of silver as payment to the Lord; this terrible detail emphasizes that the last times begin in the history of the world with the coming of Christ. But Second Zechariah also speaks of the Day of Judgment as a Day of Salvation, when God will protect people from destruction. In these last times people will look upon the Christ whom they pierced, and a fountain of tears will open in their hearts for washing away sin and impurity. The mourning in Jerusalem reminds Second Zechariah of the ancient battle at Megiddo, or Armageddon. After these words of Second Zechariah, this battle, which historically belongs to about 622 B.C., the time of King Josiah, becomes one of the best-known symbols of the end of the world.

Daniel

In the fourth century B.C., the author of the book of Daniel proclaims that the time of the coming of Christ and the Day of Judgment has been set. The mysterious periods of time Daniel speaks about, which people have never decoded, have already been measured out. Daniel names the death of Christ as the central event of the Day of the Lord; but after this, some time will still pass before the end of the world, and it will be the age of the "covenant for many."

The Gospel

With the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Old Testament prophecies about the last days begin to be fulfilled. Christ tells His disciples that John the Baptist is the very prophet of the last days whom Malachi announced. The judgment over the world, which the prophets awaited with trembling and hope, begins in the days of Christ.

The words about the end of the world that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to His disciples on the Mount of Olives came to be called the "apocalypse of the Synoptics," because they are recorded almost identically in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew gives them in somewhat greater detail.

Here the Lord says that the end of the world will be marked by the coming of Christ in glory; like lightning from one end of the sky to the other, it will be revealed to all people. But before that time humanity will face many disasters and hostility against God's faithful. The most important feature of the last days that Christ names to His disciples is that His Gospel will be preached among all nations, so that all people will hear about Him and receive the opportunity to call on the name of the Lord. False christs and false prophets will try to lead people after themselves; only faithfulness and trust in God will help the chosen endure these terrible times.

Christ tells His disciples that although the time of the end of the world is appointed, no one except the heavenly Father knows that day and hour. Judgment will be a surprise for which no one can prepare in advance. As a thief comes in the night, the last day of the world will draw near to people. Therefore Christ commands His disciples to keep watch and always be ready for the coming of the end.

The evangelist John supplements the apocalypse of the Synoptics with several essential aspects. He records Christ's words that judgment has already begun and that the Word of Christ will judge people until the last day. In addition, Christ says in the Gospel of John that the end of the world will be connected with the resurrection of the dead; for some it will be the doorway into life, and for others into destruction. Christ explains the criteria of this judgment to His disciples in the discourse on the Last Judgment recorded by the evangelist Matthew. People of all nations will be judged by how they acted toward others. "What you did to people," Christ says, "you did to Me." Mercy toward one's neighbor and the good done to people are the chief criterion determining people's eternal destiny.

But Christ also announces to His disciples that for those who believe in Him the path to resurrection and life has already been opened. The Flesh and Blood of Christ become for them the food of eternal life, the Supper of the Lord foretold by the prophet Ezekiel.

The most important revelation in the Gospel about the life of Christians on the threshold of the end is Christ's final words in the Gospel of Matthew: "behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Acts

At the beginning of the book of Acts of the Apostles, the evangelist Luke gives the words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples at the moment of His Ascension. When the disciples ask whether the prophecies about the end times are being fulfilled at that very moment, the Lord says that the disciples are not given to know times and seasons. Instead, in accordance with Joel's prophecy, the Holy Spirit will be given to them, and His gracious action will begin in the disciples the life of the age to come. Thus the possibility revealed in the Gospel of John is affirmed again: Christ's disciples can pass from death into life even now. In the second chapter of Acts, on the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter declares that the miracle that took place among the apostles is the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. Thus, according to ancient Christian tradition, his prophecy about the darkened sun refers to the darkness that covered Golgotha at the moment of Christ's death on the Cross.

The Epistles

The disciples of Christ return many times in their epistles to the theme of the end of the world. The epistles confirm the Gospel message that for believers the Day of the Lord is both future and present. Among the first Christians there was a widespread view that the end of the world would come soon after the Resurrection of Christ. Over time, however, this view ceased to be generally held.

The apostles mainly speak about the end of the world as the Coming of Christ in glory; in the apostolic community, the first day of the week is more often called the Lord's Day, when Christians celebrate the Resurrection and the Lord remains with them in the mystery of the Eucharist. The Coming of Christ will bring with it the resurrection of the dead and new life in a renewed world, delivered from evil and transfigured.

In the epistles the apostles view the time after the Resurrection of Christ as the "last times," because with the coming of Christ all the appointed times have been fulfilled and the "fullness of time" has come. This time, whose duration is unknown, is to be used to actively bring God's love into the world and do good, following the example of Christ. Waiting for the Day of the Lord also requires watchfulness from Christians, an inner readiness to stand before the Savior. In this way the Kingdom of Heaven is realized in the Church, though it still has to appear in fullness. Thus the Christian's life takes place in the Kingdom of Heaven even before its final victory.

Continuing what Christ said about the signs of the approaching end of the world, the apostle Paul adds several important things. First, he says that in the last times the enemy of God, Antichrist, will appear in the world in human form and will try to lead people after himself. Second, the apostle Paul holds that before the end of the world the chosen people, last among the nations, will turn to Christ, thereby sealing the full number of those who have believed. The apostle also proclaims that on the Day of the Lord not only will the dead rise, but those still alive will also, "being changed," meet the Lord.

The apostle Peter, confirming the words of the apostle Paul, speaks about the end of the world as a cosmic catastrophe. Peter regards the delay in the time of the end as a manifestation of God's mercy and patience, giving people the opportunity to turn and believe.

Apocalypse: a new heaven and a new earth

The final book of the Bible, the Revelation of John the Theologian, or the Apocalypse, is devoted specifically to the destinies of the world and the Church. Revelation sums up everything that has been said about this in the biblical tradition. In it the apostle John uses images borrowed from Old Testament prophecies, thereby emphasizing the continuity between Old Testament and New Testament revelation. The book of Revelation ends with a prophecy that God's victory over sin will crown the hard struggle. In the renewed creation - "a new heaven and a new earth" - God will dwell among people in the eternal heavenly Jerusalem. The book of Revelation ends with the words "Come, Lord Jesus," which have forever become for Christ's disciples the expression of a fervent desire to bring this coming victory near.

Related quotes:

John ch. 1, verse 18

¹⁸No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Luke ch. 1, verse 17

¹⁷And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Psalms ch. 102, verse 26-28

²⁶They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:

²⁷But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

²⁸The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.

Wisdom of Solomon ch. 7, verse 16-18

¹⁶For in his hand are both we and our words; all wisdom also, and knowledge of workmanship.

¹⁷For he hath given me certain knowledge of the things that are, namely, to know how the world was made, and the operation of the elements:

¹⁸The beginning, ending, and midst of the times: the alterations of the turning of the sun, and the change of seasons:

Amos ch. 5, verse 17-20

¹⁷And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.

¹⁸Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.

¹⁹As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

²⁰Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Amos ch. 9, verse 11

¹¹In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

Hosea ch. 13, verse 14

¹⁴I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

Micah ch. 1, verse 3-4

³For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

⁴And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.

Isaiah ch. 2, verse 12

¹²For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

Isaiah ch. 9, verse 5-8

⁵For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

⁶For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

⁷Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

⁸The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.

Isaiah ch. 10, verse 17

¹⁷And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

Isaiah ch. 10, verse 20

²⁰And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

Isaiah ch. 11, verse 1-10

¹And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

²And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

³And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

⁴But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

⁵And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

⁶The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

⁷And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

⁸And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.

⁹They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Isaiah ch. 13, verse 6

⁶Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

Zephaniah ch. 1, verse 7

⁷Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.

Zephaniah ch. 1, verse 14-17

¹⁴The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

¹⁵That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

¹⁶A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.

¹⁷And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

Ezekiel ch. 13, verse 5

⁵Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.

Ezekiel ch. 22, verse 30

³⁰And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Ezekiel ch. 30, verse 3

³For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.

Ezekiel ch. 37, verse 26

²⁶Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

Ezekiel ch. 39, verse 7-8

⁷So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

⁸Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

Ezekiel ch. 39, verse 29

²⁹Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

Isaiah ch. 40, verse 3-5

³The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

⁴Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

⁵And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Zechariah ch. 8, verse 23

²³Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

Zechariah ch. 9, verse 16

¹⁶And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.

Malachi ch. 4, verse 5

⁵Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

Joel ch. 1, verse 15

¹⁵Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

Joel ch. 2, verse 1

¹Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

Joel ch. 2, verse 11

¹¹And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Joel ch. 2, verse 27-32

²⁷And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

²⁸And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

²⁹And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

³⁰And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

³¹The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

³²And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Zechariah ch. 11, verse 10-13

¹⁰And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it assunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

¹¹And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.

¹²And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.

¹³And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

Zechariah ch. 12, verse 8-14

⁸In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.

⁹And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

¹⁰And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

¹¹In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

¹²And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

¹³The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;

¹⁴All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

Zechariah ch. 13, verse 1-2

¹In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

²And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

Daniel ch. 9, verse 24-27

²⁴Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

²⁵Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

²⁶And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

²⁷And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Daniel ch. 10, verse 14

¹⁴Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

Matthew ch. 17, verse 10-13

¹⁰And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

¹¹And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

¹²But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

¹³Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

Matthew ch. 24, verse 3-42

³And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

⁴And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

⁵For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

⁶And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

⁷For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

⁸All these are the beginning of sorrows.

⁹Then 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.

¹⁰And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

¹¹And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

¹²And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

¹³But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

¹⁵When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

¹⁶Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

¹⁷Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

¹⁸Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

¹⁹And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

²⁰But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

²¹For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

²²And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

²³Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

²⁴For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

²⁵Behold, I have told you before.

²⁶Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

²⁷For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

²⁸For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

²⁹Immediately 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 the heavens shall be shaken:

³⁰And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

³¹And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

³²Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

³³So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

³⁴Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

³⁵Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

³⁶But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

³⁷But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

³⁸For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

³⁹And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

⁴⁰Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

⁴¹Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

⁴²Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Luke ch. 17, verse 20-37

²⁰And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

²¹Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

²²And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.

²³And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.

²⁴For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

²⁵But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

²⁶And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

²⁷They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

²⁸Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

²⁹But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

³⁰Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

³¹In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.

³²Remember Lot's wife.

³³Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

³⁴I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

³⁵Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

³⁶Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

³⁷And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

Matthew ch. 25, verse 31-46

³¹When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

³²And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

³³And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

³⁴Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

³⁵For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

³⁶Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

³⁷Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

³⁸When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

³⁹Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

⁴⁰And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

⁴¹Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

⁴²For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

⁴³I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

⁴⁴Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

⁴⁵Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

⁴⁶And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

John ch. 3, verse 19

¹⁹And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

John ch. 8, verse 12

¹²Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John ch. 5, verse 28-29

²⁸Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

²⁹And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

John ch. 6, verse 39-40

³⁹And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

⁴⁰And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

John ch. 6, verse 44

⁴⁴No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

John ch. 6, verse 54-55

⁵⁴Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

⁵⁵For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

John ch. 12, verse 31

³¹Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

John ch. 12, verse 48

⁴⁸He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Matthew ch. 28, verse 20

²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Acts of the Apostles ch. 1, verse 6-8

⁶When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

⁷And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

⁸But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts of the Apostles ch. 2, verse 14-17

¹⁴But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

¹⁵For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

¹⁶But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

¹⁷And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

1 John ch. 2, verse 28

²⁸And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Romans ch. 2, verse 16

¹⁶In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

1 Corinthians ch. 15, verse 22-23

²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

²³But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

1 Corinthians ch. 11, verse 26

²⁶For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Galatians ch. 4, verse 4-5

⁴But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

⁵To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Hebrews ch. 1, verse 1-2

¹God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

²Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Galatians ch. 6, verse 10

¹⁰As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Philippians ch. 1, verse 9-11

⁹And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;

¹⁰That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

¹¹Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Philippians ch. 3, verse 20

²⁰For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

1 Thessalonians ch. 5, verse 1-4

¹But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

²For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

³For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

⁴But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

2 Thessalonians ch. 2, verse 1-4

¹Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

²That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

³Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

⁴Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Romans ch. 11, verse 25-26

²⁵For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

²⁶And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

1 Thessalonians ch. 4, verse 13-18

¹³But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

¹⁵For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

¹⁶For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

¹⁷Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

¹⁸Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

2 Peter ch. 3, verse 9-15

⁹The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

¹¹Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

¹²Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

¹³Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

¹⁴Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

¹⁵And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

Revelations ch. 16, verse 15-16

¹⁵Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

¹⁶And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

Revelations ch. 21, verse 1-7

¹And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

²And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

³And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

⁴And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

⁵And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

⁶And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

⁷He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Revelations ch. 22, verse 6-7

⁶And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

⁷Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Revelations ch. 22, verse 20

²⁰He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.


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