¹ And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.

² Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel your father:

³ Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.

⁴ Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not: because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, and didst defile his couch.

⁵ Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity, waging war.

⁶ Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: "be- cause in their fury they slew a man, and in their selfwill they undermined a wall.

⁷ Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath because it was cruel: I Will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.

⁸ Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hands shall be on the necks of thy enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.

⁹ Juda is a lion's whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him?

¹⁰ The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.

¹¹ Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, 0 my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.

¹² His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

¹³ Zabulon shall dwell on the sea shore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.

¹⁴ Issachar shall be a strong ass lying down between the borders.

¹⁵ He saw rest that it was good: and the land that it was excellent: and he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant under tribute.

¹⁶ Dan shall judge his people like an- other tribe in Israel.

¹⁷ Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse's heels that his rider may fall backward.

¹⁸ I will look for thy salvation, 0 Lord.

¹⁹ Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward.

²⁰ Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.

²¹ Nephtali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.

²² Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold; the daughters run to and fro upon the wall.

²³ But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.

²⁴ His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.

²⁵ The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth be- neath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

²⁶ The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come; may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.

²⁷ Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil.

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father spoke to them, and he blessed every one, with their proper blessings.

²⁹ And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my people : bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite,

³⁰ Over against Mambre in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought to- gather with the field of Ephron the Hethite for a possession to bury in.

³¹ There they buried him, and Sara his wife: there was Isaac buried with Rebecca his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried.

³² And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he was gathered to his people."

¹ Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple.

² But he answered them, "You see all of these things, don't you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on 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? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?"

⁴ Jesus answered them, "Be careful that no one leads you astray.

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

⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren't troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.

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

⁸ But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name's sake.

¹⁰ Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.

¹¹ Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray.

¹² Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.

¹³ But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.

¹⁴ This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵ "When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

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

¹⁷ Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out things that are in his house.

¹⁸ Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes.

¹⁹ But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days!

²⁰ Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on a Sabbath,

²¹ for then there will be great oppression, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.

²² Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.

²³ "Then if any man tells you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or, 'There,' don't believe it.

²⁴ For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.

²⁵ "Behold, I have told you beforehand.

²⁶ If therefore they tell you, 'Behold, he is in the wilderness,' don't go out; 'Behold, he is in the inner rooms,' don't believe it.

²⁷ For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

²⁸ For wherever the carcass is, there is where the vultures gather together.

²⁹ But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;

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

³¹ He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

³² "Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near.

³³ Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

³⁴ Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all these things are accomplished.

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

³⁶ But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

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

³⁸ For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship,

³⁹ and they didn't know until the flood came, and took 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 will be left;

⁴¹ two women grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one will be left.

⁴² Watch therefore, for you don't know in what hour your Lord comes.

⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

⁴⁴ Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don't expect, the Son of Man will come.

⁴⁵ "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them their food in due season?

⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his lord finds doing so when he comes.

⁴⁷ Most certainly I tell you that he will set him over all that he has.

⁴⁸ But if that evil servant should say in his heart, 'My lord is delaying his coming,'

⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with the drunkards,

⁵⁰ the lord of that servant will come in a day when he doesn't expect it, and in an hour when he doesn't know it,

⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.