6 and ye shall begin to hear of wars, and reports of wars; see, be not troubled, for it behoveth all `these' to come to pass, but the end is not yet.
and when ye may hear of wars and uprisings, be not terrified, for it behoveth these things to happen first, but the end `is' not immediately.'
and when ye may hear of wars and reports of wars, be not troubled, for these behove to be, but the end `is' not yet; for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles; beginnings of sorrows `are' these.
`Ye do not say, A confederacy, To all to whom this people saith, A confederacy, And its fear ye do not fear, Nor declare fearful. Jehovah of Hosts -- Him ye do sanctify, And He `is' your Fear, and He your Dread, And He hath been for a sanctuary, And for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of falling, To the two houses of Israel, For a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
To the Overseer. -- By sons of Korah. `For the Virgins.' -- A song. God `is' to us a refuge and strength, A help in adversities found most surely. Therefore we fear not in the changing of earth, And in the slipping of mountains Into the heart of the seas. Roar -- troubled are its waters, Mountains they shake in its pride. Selah.
but if ye also should suffer because of righteousness, happy `are ye'! and of their fear be not afraid, nor be troubled, and the Lord God sanctify in your hearts. And `be' ready always for defence to every one who is asking of you an account concerning the hope that `is' in you, with meekness and fear;
`Peace I leave to you; my peace I give to you, not according as the world doth give do I give to you; let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid;
`Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God, also in me believe;
and this good news of the reign shall be proclaimed in all the world, for a testimony to all the nations; and then shall the end arrive.
`Son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said, Thus said Jehovah, say: A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also polished. So as to slaughter a slaughter it is sharpened. So as to have brightness it is polished, Desire hath rejoiced the sceptre of my son, It is despising every tree. And he giveth it for polishing, For laying hold of by the hand. It is sharpened -- the sword -- and polished, To give it into the hand of a slayer. Cry and howl, son of man, For it hath been among My people, It `is' among all the princes of Israel, Cast unto the sword have been My people. Therefore strike on thy thigh, Because `it is' a trier, And what if even the sceptre it is despising? It shall not be, an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. And thou, son of man, prophesy, And smite hand on hand, And bent is the sword a third time, The sword of the wounded! It `is' the sword of the wounded -- the great one, That is entering the inner chamber to them. To melt the heart, and to multiply the ruins, By all their gates I have set the point of a sword. Ah, it is made for brightness, Wrapt up for slaughter.
`Or -- a sword I bring in against that land, and I have said: Sword, thou dost pass over through the land, and I have cut off from it man and beast -- and these three men in its midst: I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah -- they deliver not sons and daughters, for they alone are delivered. `Or -- pestilence I send unto that land, and I have poured out My fury against it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast -- and Noah, Daniel, and Job, in its midst: I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah -- neither son nor daughter do they deliver; they, by their righteousness, deliver their own soul. `For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Although My four sore judgments -- sword, and famine, and wild beast, and pestilence -- I have sent unto Jerusalem, to cut off from it man and beast,
And I have brought in the wicked of the nations, And they have possessed their houses, And I have caused to cease the excellency of the strong, And polluted have been those sanctifying them. Destruction hath come, And they have sought peace, and there is none. Mischief on mischief cometh, and report is on report, And they have sought a vision from a prophet, And law doth perish from the priest, And counsel from the elders,
By David. Jehovah `is' my light and my salvation, Whom do I fear? Jehovah `is' the strength of my life, Of whom am I afraid? When evil doers come near to me to eat my flesh, My adversaries and mine enemies to me, They have stumbled and fallen. Though a host doth encamp against me, My heart doth not fear, Though war riseth up against me, In this I `am' confident.
saying, Be not afraid Paul; before Caesar it behoveth thee to stand; and, lo, God hath granted to thee all those sailing with thee; wherefore be of good cheer, men! for I believe God, that so it shall be, even as it hath been spoken to me, and on a certain island it behoveth us to be cast.'
I have heard, and my belly trembleth, At the noise have my lips quivered, Rottenness doth come into my bones, And in my place I do tremble, That I rest for a day of distress, At the coming up of the people, he overcometh it. Though the fig-tree doth not flourish, And there is no produce among vines, Failed hath the work of the olive, And fields have not yielded food, Cut off from the fold hath been the flock, And there is no herd in the stalls. Yet I, in Jehovah I exult, I do joy in the God of my salvation.
`And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, my standing `is' for a strengthener, and for a stronghold to him; and, now, truth I declare to thee, Lo, yet three kings are standing for Persia, and the fourth doth become far richer than all, and according to his strength by his riches he stirreth up the whole, with the kingdom of Javan. And a mighty king hath stood, and he hath ruled a great dominion, and hath done according to his will; and according to his standing is his kingdom broken, and divided to the four winds of the heavens, and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion that he ruled, for his kingdom is plucked up -- and for others apart from these. `And a king of the south -- even of his princes -- doth become strong, and doth prevail against him, and hath ruled; a great dominion `is' his dominion. `And at the end of years they do join themselves together, and a daughter of the king of the south doth come in unto the king of the north to do upright things; and she doth not retain the power of the arm; and he doth not stand, nor his arm; and she is given up, she, and those bringing her in, and her child, and he who is strengthening her in `these' times. `And `one' hath stood up from a branch of her roots, `in' his station, and he cometh in unto the bulwark, yea, he cometh into a stronghold of the king of the south, and hath wrought against them, and hath done mightily; and also their gods, with their princes, with their desirable vessels of silver and gold, into captivity he bringeth `into' Egypt; and he doth stand more years than the king of the north. `And the king of the south hath come into the kingdom, and turned back unto his own land; and his sons stir themselves up, and have gathered a multitude of great forces, and he hath certainly come in, and overflowed, and passed through, and he turneth back, and they stir themselves up unto his stronghold. And the king of the south doth become embittered, and hath gone forth and fought with him, with the king of the north, and hath caused a great multitude to stand, and the multitude hath been given into his hand, and he hath carried away the multitude, his heart is high, and he hath caused myriads to fall, and he doth not become strong. `And the king of the north hath turned back, and hath caused a multitude to stand, greater than the first, and at the end of the times a second time he doth certainly come in with a great force, and with much substance; and in those times many do stand up against the king of the south, and sons of the destroyers of thy people do lift themselves up to establish the vision -- and they have stumbled. `And the king of the north cometh in, and poureth out a mount, and hath captured fenced cities; and the arms of the south do not stand, nor the people of his choice, yea, there is no power to stand. And he who is coming unto him doth according to his will, and there is none standing before him; and he standeth in the desirable land, and `it is' wholly in his hand. And he setteth his face to go in with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; and he hath wrought, and the daughter of women he giveth to him, to corrupt her; and she doth not stand, nor is for him. `And he turneth back his face to the isles, and hath captured many; and a prince hath caused his reproach of himself to cease; without his reproach he turneth `it' back to him. And he turneth back his face to the strongholds of his land, and hath stumbled and fallen, and is not found. `And stood up on his station hath `one' causing an exactor to pass over the honour of the kingdom, and in a few days he is destroyed, and not in anger, nor in battle. `And stood up on his station hath a despicable one, and they have not given unto him the honour of the kingdom, and he hath come in quietly, and hath strengthened the kingdom by flatteries. And the arms of the flood are overflowed from before him, and are broken; and also the leader of the covenant. And after they join themselves unto him, he worketh deceit, and hath increased, and hath been strong by a few of the nation. Peaceably even into the fertile places of the province He cometh, and he hath done that which his fathers did not, nor his fathers' fathers; prey, and spoil, and substance, to them he scattereth, and against fenced places he deviseth his devices, even for a time. `And he stirreth up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great force, and the king of the south stirreth himself up to battle with a very great and mighty force, and standeth not, for they devise devices against him, and those eating his portion of food destroy him, and his force overfloweth, and fallen have many wounded. `And both of the kings' hearts `are' to do evil, and at one table they speak lies, and it doth not prosper, for yet the end `is' at a time appointed. And he turneth back `to' his land with great substance, and his heart `is' against the holy covenant, and he hath wrought, and turned back to his land. At the appointed time he turneth back, and hath come against the south, and it is not as the former, and as the latter. And ships of Chittim have come in against him, and he hath been pained, and hath turned back, and hath been insolent toward the holy covenant, and hath wrought, and turned back, and he understandeth concerning those forsaking the holy covenant. And strong ones out of him stand up, and have polluted the sanctuary, the stronghold, and have turned aside the continual `sacrifice', and appointed the desolating abomination. And those acting wickedly `against' the covenant, he defileth by flatteries; and the people knowing their God are strong, and have wrought. And the teachers of the people give understanding to many; and they have stumbled by sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil -- days. And in their stumbling, they are helped -- a little help, and joined to them have been many with flatteries. And some of the teachers do stumble for refining by them, and for purifying, and for making white -- till the end of the time, for `it is' yet for a time appointed. `And the king hath done according to his will, and exalteth himself, and magnifieth himself against every god, and against the God of gods he speaketh wonderful things, and hath prospered till the indignation hath been completed, for that which is determined hath been done. And unto the God of his fathers he doth not attend, nor to the desire of women, yea, to any god he doth not attend, for against all he magnifieth himself. And to the god of strongholds, on his station, he giveth honour; yea, to a god whom his fathers knew not he giveth honour, with gold, and with silver, and with precious stone, and with desirable things. And he hath dealt in the fortresses of the strongholds with a strange god whom he hath acknowledged; he multiplieth honour, and hath caused them to rule over many, and the ground he apportioneth at a price. `And at the time of the end, push himself forward with him doth a king of the south, and storm against him doth a king of the north, with chariot, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he hath come in to the lands, and hath overflowed, and passed over, and hath come into the desirable land, and many do stumble, and these escape from his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon. `And he sendeth forth his hand upon the lands, and the land of Egypt is not for an escape; and he hath ruled over treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt, and Lubim and Cushim `are' at his steps. `And reports trouble him out of the east and out of the north, and he hath gone forth in great fury to destroy, and to devote many to destruction; and he planteth the tents of his palace between the seas and the holy desirable mountain, and hath come unto his end, and there is no helper to him.
`Seventy weeks are determined for thy people, and for thy holy city, to shut up the transgression, and to seal up sins, and to cover iniquity, and to bring in righteousness age-during, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies. And thou dost know, and dost consider wisely, from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem till Messiah the Leader `is' seven weeks, and sixty and two weeks: the broad place hath been built again, and the rampart, even in the distress of the times. And after the sixty and two weeks, cut off is Messiah, and the city and the holy place are not his, the Leader who hath come doth destroy the people; and its end `is' with a flood, and till the end `is' war, determined `are' desolations. And he hath strengthened a covenant with many -- one week, and `in' the midst of the week he causeth sacrifice and present to cease, and by the wing of abominations he is making desolate, even till the consummation, and that which is determined is poured on the desolate one.'
Ho, sword of Jehovah, till when art thou not quiet? Be removed unto thy sheath, rest and cease.
Looking for peace -- and there is no good, For a time of healing, and lo, terror. From Dan hath been heard the snorting of his horses, From the voice of the neighings of his mighty ones, Trembled hath all the land, And they come in and consume the land and its fulness, The city and the inhabitants in it.
Thus said Jehovah: Lo, a people hath come from a north country, And a great nation is stirred up from the sides of the earth. Bow and javelin they take hold of, Fierce it `is', and they have no mercy, Their voice as a sea doth sound, And on horses they ride, set in array as a man of war, Against thee, O daughter of Zion. `We have heard its sound, feeble have been our hands, Distress hath seized us, pain as of a travailing woman.
My bowels, my bowels! I am pained `at' the walls of my heart, Make a noise for me doth My heart, I am not silent, For the voice of a trumpet I have heard, O my soul -- a shout of battle! Destruction on destruction is proclaimed, For spoiled hath been all the land, Suddenly spoiled have been my tents, In a moment -- my curtains. Till when do I see an ensign? Do I hear the voice of a trumpet? For my people `are' foolish, me they have not known, Foolish sons `are' they, yea, they `are' not intelligent, Wise `are' they to do evil, And to do good they have not known.
Come, My people, enter into thy inner chambers, And shut thy doors behind thee, Hide thyself shortly a moment till the indignation pass over. For, lo, Jehovah is coming out of His place, To charge the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth upon him, And revealed hath the earth her blood, Nor doth she cover any more her slain!'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Matthew 24
Commentary on Matthew 24 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 24
Mt 24:1-51. Christ's Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Warnings Suggested by It to Prepare for His Second Coming. ( = Mr 13:1-37; Lu 21:5-36).
For the exposition, see on Mr 13:1-37.