Ezekiel 37:1-28

(1)  The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.

(2)  And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.

(3)  And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know."

(4)  Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

(5)  Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.

(6)  And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD."

(7)  So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

(8)  And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.

(9)  Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."

(10)  So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

(11)  Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.'

(12)  Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.

(13)  And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.

(14)  And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD."

(15)  The word of the LORD came to me:

(16)  "Son of man, take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him'; then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.'

(17)  And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.

(18)  And when your people say to you, 'Will you not tell us what you mean by these?'

(19)  say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand.

(20)  When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes,

(21)  then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land.

(22)  And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.

(23)  They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

(24)  "My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.

(25)  They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever.

(26)  I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.

(27)  My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

(28)  Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore."

Matthew 24:1-51

(1)  Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.

(2)  But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."

(3)  As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?"

(4)  And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray.

(5)  For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.

(6)  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

(7)  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

(8)  All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

(9)  "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

(10)  And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

(11)  And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

(12)  And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

(13)  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

(14)  And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

(15)  "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

(16)  then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

(17)  Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house,

(18)  and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.

(19)  And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!

(20)  Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

(21)  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

(22)  And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

(23)  Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it.

(24)  For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

(25)  See, I have told you beforehand.

(26)  So, if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.

(27)  For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

(28)  Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

(29)  "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

(30)  Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

(31)  And 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 heaven to the other.

(32)  "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.

(33)  So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.

(34)  Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

(35)  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

(36)  "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

(37)  As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

(38)  For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,

(39)  and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

(40)  Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.

(41)  Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.

(42)  Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

(43)  But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.

(44)  Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

(45)  "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?

(46)  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

(47)  Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

(48)  But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,'

(49)  and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,

(50)  the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know

(51)  and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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