14 There will be a time when you will see in the temple a disgusting thing that causes trouble. You will see it in a place where it should not be. (When you read this, you must understand what it means.) At that time, people in Judea must run away to the hills to hide. 15 A person who is on the roof of his house must not go down into the house. He must not stop to get anything from his home. 16 A person who is outside in his field must not go back to his home. He must not return even to fetch his coat.
13:14Jesus was talking about a disgusting idol in the temple. See Daniel 9:27. 13:15At that time, people often sat on the roof of their house after they had finished their work. The roof was flat, and it was cool there. There were steps outside the house up to the roof.
17 That will be a bad time for women who are soon to have a baby. It will also be a bad time for those women who have little babies. 18 You must pray to God that this time of trouble will not happen in winter. 19 Very bad troubles will happen to people at that time and cause them a lot of pain. Nothing as bad has ever happened before, since God created the world. Nothing as bad will ever happen again. 20 The Lord God will cause those days of very bad trouble to come to an end. If he did not do that, there would be nobody still alive. But God will cause those days to be not too many. He will do that to help the people that he has chosen. 21 At that time, someone may say to you, “Look, here is the Messiah!” Or they may say, “Look, he is there!” If they say that, do not believe them. 22 Some people will even say, “I am the Messiah.” Other people will say, “I am a prophet from God.” But their words will be false. They will do strange and powerful things for people to see. If possible, they would even deceive the people that God has chosen. 23 So watch out! I have told you about all these things before they happen.
