Discovery BoxMatthew 24:29-31 
Context24:29 “Immediately 1 after the suffering 2 of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 3 24:30 Then 4 the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 5 and 6 all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They 7 will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven 8 with power and great glory. 24:31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven 9 to the other.
1 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
2 tn Traditionally, “tribulation.”
3 sn An allusion to Isa 13:10, 34:4 (LXX); Joel 2:10. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.
4 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
5 tn Or “in the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
6 tn Here τότε (tote, “then”) has not been translated to avoid redundancy in English.
7 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
8 sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full authority to judge.
9 tn Or “of the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
