Mark 13 · WEB
The Olivet Discourse
Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.
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As 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.
9But 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.
14But 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.
16Let him who is in the field not return back to take his cloak.
17But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babies in those days!
18Pray that your flight won't be in the winter.
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 there will arise false christs and false prophets, 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.
28"Now from the fig tree, learn this parable. When the branch has now become tender, and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near;
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.
32But 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."
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Summary
As Jesus leaves the temple, he predicts its complete destruction. On the Mount of Olives, four disciples ask him privately about the timing and signs of these events. Jesus describes a sequence of birth pains — wars, persecutions, false messiahs, and the abomination of desolation — climaxing in the cosmic darkening of sun and moon and the visible coming of the Son of Man in glory. Because no one knows the day or hour, the repeated command of the discourse is simple and urgent: watch.
Themes
- The certainty of judgment on the temple
- Endurance and faithfulness under persecution
- The global mission of the gospel
- The unknown timing of Christ's return
- Watchfulness as the proper Christian posture
Key verses
- Mark 13:10 — “The Good News must first be preached to all the nations.”
- Mark 13:13 — “He who endures to the end will be saved.”
- Mark 13:31 — “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
- Mark 13:32 — “But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Context & background
Mark wrote for a Roman audience around AD 60-65, possibly during Nero's persecution and just before the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 — making this prophecy especially urgent for his first readers. Jesus speaks from the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem in modern Israel, which faces the temple mount across the Kidron Valley. Herod's rebuilt temple was one of the wonders of the ancient world; its complete destruction by Titus's legions only forty years later was unthinkable. The "abomination of desolation" recalls Antiochus IV's desecration of the temple in 167 BC and points forward to a similar future profanation.
Cross-references
- 2 Peter 3:10 — the Day of the Lord coming as a thief
- Daniel 9:27; 12:11 — the abomination of desolation
- Isaiah 13:10; 34:4 — cosmic signs in prophetic literature
- Luke 21:5-36 — Luke's version, with explicit reference to Jerusalem surrounded by armies
- Matthew 24:1-44 — the parallel Olivet Discourse