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Mark 13

Jesus answers questions about coming disaster with warnings against deception, promises amid persecution, and a command to keep watch.

A disciple admires the temple’s stones and buildings, and Jesus announces that they will be torn down. Across from the temple on the Mount of Olives, Peter, James, John, and Andrew ask when this will happen and what sign will precede it. Jesus warns of deception, persecution, and devastating trouble in Judea. He speaks of the Son of Man coming in glory, then commands watchfulness. The relationship between Jerusalem’s destruction and his coming remains debated.

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1As he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!”
2Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down.”
3As he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,
4“Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are all about to be fulfilled?”
5Jesus, answering, began to tell them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray.
6For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and will lead many astray.
7“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be troubled. For those must happen, but the end is not yet.
8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines and troubles. These things are the beginning of birth pains.
9“But watch yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them.
10The Good News must first be preached to all the nations.
11When they lead you away and deliver you up, don’t be anxious beforehand or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
12“Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
13You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.
14“But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,
15and let him who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house.
17But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babies in those days!
19For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be.
20Unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the chosen ones, whom he picked out, he shortened the days.
21Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ don’t believe it.
22For false christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.
23But you watch. “Behold, I have told you all things beforehand.
24But in those days, after that oppression, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light,
25the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.
26Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
27Then he will send out his angels, and will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky.
29even so you also, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is near, at the doors.
30Most certainly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen.
31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
32“But of that day or that hour no one knows—not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
33Watch, keep alert, and pray; for you don’t know when the time is.
34“It is like a man traveling to another country, having left his house and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch.
35Watch therefore, for you don’t know when the lord of the house is coming—whether at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning;
36lest, coming suddenly, he might find you sleeping.
37What I tell you, I tell all: Watch!”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Mark 13:33This command draws the discourse toward its closing emphasis: watchfulness and prayer when the time remains unknown.
Mark 13:22Jesus warns that signs and wonders can serve deception, making discernment crucial amid claims about his presence.
Mark 13:13The promise of salvation stands beside hatred for Jesus’ name, placing endurance within the chapter’s account of persecution.
Where this chapter reaches

Matthew and Luke recount the same discourse about the temple’s destruction, persecution, and the coming of the Son of Man. Daniel supplies the desolating abomination and cloud-coming imagery, while Isaiah and Revelation share images of darkened heavenly lights and cosmic upheaval.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

Which warning in Jesus’ answer most challenges what you tend to look for when the future feels uncertain?

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What might keeping watch and doing your assigned work look like in the responsibilities you have now?

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Questions people ask about Mark 13

What is the abomination of desolation in Mark 13?

Jesus draws the phrase from Daniel and describes a desecrating presence standing where it does not belong. Its appearance signals that people in Judea must flee without delay. Interpreters connect it with Jerusalem’s desecration by Roman forces or a future act of desecration; Mark does not name the figure or object.

What does “this generation” mean in Mark 13:30?

The phrase can refer to Jesus’ contemporaries, which connects the saying with the temple’s destruction within their lifetime. Other readings understand it as the generation that witnesses the final events. The main question is how broadly “all these things” reaches across the discourse, especially its description of the Son of Man’s coming.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).