Matthew 24:3

New Testament

3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these things are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. 10 Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, 12 and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

4 Ezra 6:18

2 Esdras
Pseudepigrapha

18 The voice said: ‘The time draws near when I shall come to judge those who live on the earth, 19 the time when I shall inquire into the wickedness of wrong-doers the time when Zion’s humiliation will be over, 20 the time when a seal will be set on the age about to pass away. Then I will perform these signs: the books shall be opened in the sight of heaven, and all shall see them at the same moment. 21 Children only one year old shall be able to talk, and pregnant women shall give birth to premature babes of three and four months, who shall live and leap about. 22 Fields that were sown shall suddenly prove unsown, and barns that were full shall suddenly be found empty. 23 There shall be a loud trumpet-blast and it shall strike terror into all who hear it. 24 At that time friends shall make war on friends as though they were enemies, and the earth and all its inhabitants shall be terrified. Running streams shall stand still; for three hours they shall cease to flow. 25 ‘Whoever is left after all that I have foretold, he shall be preserved, and shall see the deliverance that I bring and the end of this world of mine. 26 They shall all see the men who were taken up into heaven without ever knowing death. Then shall men on earth feel a change of heart and come to a better mind. 27 Wickedness shall be blotted out and deceit destroyed, 28 but faith shall flourish, corruption be overcome, and truth, so long unfruitful, be brought to light. 29 While the voice was speaking to me, the ground under me began to quake.

 Notes and References

"... In 4 Ezra, a Jewish work completed around 120 C.E., one finds this picture of the End Times (compare Matthew 24): 'When the age about to pass away is sealed, then the books will be opened before the firmament, and all will see it together... and the shofar will sound, at which all men, when they hear it, will be struck with sudden fear ..."

Stern, David H. Jewish New Testament Commentary (p. 490) Jewish New Testament Publications, 1994

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