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  • The Presbyter to the beloved Gaius whom I love in truth.
  • Beloved, I hope you are prospering in every respect and are in good health, just as your soul is prospering.
  • I rejoiced greatly when some of the brothers* came and testified to how truly you walk in the truth.
  • Nothing gives me greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
  • Beloved, you are faithful in all you do for the brothers, especially for strangers;
  • they have testified to your love before the church. Please help them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey
  • For they have set out for the sake of the Name* and are accepting nothing from the pagans.
  • Therefore, we ought to support such persons, so that we may be co-workers in the truth.
  • I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to dominate,* does not acknowledge us.
  • Therefore, if I come, I will draw attention to what he is doing, spreading evil nonsense about us. And not content with that, he will not receive the brothers, hindering those who wish to do so and expelling them from the church.
  • Beloved, do not imitate evil* but imitate good. Whoever does what is good is of God; whoever does what is evil has never seen God.
  • Demetrius* receives a good report from all, even from the truth itself. We give our testimonial as well, and you know our testimony is true.
  • I have much to write to you, but I do not wish to write with pen and ink.
  • Instead, I hope to see you soon, when we can talk face to face.
  • Peace be with you. The friends greet you; greet the friends* there each by name.

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  • Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept safe for Jesus Christ:
  • may mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.
  • Beloved, although I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I now feel a need to write to encourage you to contend for the faith that was once for all handed down to the holy ones.
  • For there have been some intruders, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, godless persons, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
  • I wish to remind you, although you know all things, that [the] Lord who once saved a people from the land of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe.
  • The angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgment of the great day.
  • Likewise, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice,* serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
  • Similarly, these dreamers* nevertheless also defile the flesh, scorn lordship, and revile glorious beings.
  • Yet the archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil in a dispute over the body of Moses, did not venture to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”
  • But these people revile what they do not understand and are destroyed by what they know by nature like irrational animals.
  • Woe to them!j They followed the way of Cain, abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
  • These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they carouse fearlessly and look after themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead and uprooted.
  • They are like wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameless deeds, wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.
  • Enoch, of the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied also about them when he said,l “Behold, the Lord has come with his countless holy ones
  • to execute judgment on all and to convict everyone for all the godless deeds that they committed and for all the harsh words godless sinners have uttered against him.
  • These people are complainers, disgruntled ones who live by their desires; their mouths utter bombast as they fawn over people to gain advantage.
  • But you, beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,
  • for they told you, “In [the] last time there will be scoffers who will live according to their own godless desires.”
  • These are the ones who cause divisions; they live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit.
  • But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit.
  • Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
  • On those who waver, have mercy;
  • save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear, abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.
  • To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished and exultant, in the presence of his glory,
  • to the only God, our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, power, and authority from ages past, now, and for ages to come. Amen.

1

  • The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show his servants what must happen soon. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
  • who gives witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ by reporting what he saw.
  • Blessed is the one who reads aloud and blessed are those who listen to this prophetic message and heed what is written in it, for the appointed time is near.
  • John, to the seven churches in Asia:* grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,
  • and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us* from our sins by his blood,
  • who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever [and ever]. Amen.
  • Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him. Yes. Amen.
  • “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.”
  • I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus.
  • I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day* and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet,
  • which said, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
  • Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands
  • and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest.
  • The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame.
  • His feet were like polished brass refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing water.
  • In his right hand he held seven stars. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest.
  • When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last,
  • the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.
  • Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.
  • This is the secret meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

2

  • To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write this: The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks in the midst of the seven gold lampstands says this:
  • I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate the wicked; you have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not, and discovered that they are impostors.
  • Moreover, you have endurance and have suffered for my name, and you have not grown weary.
  • Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first.
  • Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
  • But you have this in your favor: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans,* which I also hate.
  • Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the victor I will give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the garden of God.
  • To the angel of the church in Smyrna, write this: The first and the last, who once died but came to life, says this
  • I know your tribulation and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who claim to be Jews and are not, but rather are members of the assembly of Satan.
  • Do not be afraid of anything that you are going to suffer. Indeed, the devil will throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will face an ordeal for ten days. Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
  • Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The victor shall not be harmed by the second death.
  • To the angel of the church in Pergamum, write this: The one with the sharp two-edged sword says this:
  • I know that you live where Satan’s throne* is, and yet you hold fast to my name and have not denied your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was martyred among you, where Satan lives.
  • Yet I have a few things against you. You have some people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block before the Israelites: to eat food sacrificed to idols and to play the harlot.
  • Likewise, you also have some people who hold to the teaching of [the] Nicolaitans.
  • Therefore, repent. Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and wage war against them with the sword of my mouth.
  • Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the victor I shall give some of the hidden manna; I shall also give a white amulet upon which is inscribed a new name, which no one knows except the one who receives it.
  • To the angel of the church in Thyatira, write this: The Son of God, whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like polished brass, says this:
  • I know your works, your love, faith, service, and endurance, and that your last works are greater than the first.
  • Yet I hold this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, who teaches and misleads my servants to play the harlot and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
  • I have given her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her harlotry.
  • So I will cast her on a sickbed and plunge those who commit adultery with her into intense suffering unless they repent of her works.
  • I will also put her children to death. Thus shall all the churches come to know that I am the searcher of hearts and minds and that I will give each of you what your works deserve.
  • But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not uphold this teaching and know nothing of the so-called deep secrets of Satan: on you I will place no further burden,
  • except that you must hold fast to what you have until I come.
  • To the victor who keeps to my ways until the end, I will give authority over the nations.
  • He will rule them with an iron rod. Like clay vessels will they be smashed,
  • just as I received authority from my Father. And to him I will give the morning star.
  • "Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

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  • “To the angel of the church in Sardis,* write this: “‘The one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says this: “I know your works, that you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
  • Be watchful and strengthen what is left, which is going to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.
  • Remember then how you accepted and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not watchful, I will come like a thief, and you will never know at what hour I will come upon you.
  • However, you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; they will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy.
  • The victor will thus be dressed in white,* and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name in the presence of my Father and of his angels.
  • Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
  • “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia,* write this: “‘The holy one, the true, who holds the key of David, who opens and no one shall close, who closes and no one shall open,d says this:
  • I know your works (behold, I have left an open door* before you, which no one can close). You have limited strength, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
  • Behold, I will make those of the assembly of Satan who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying, behold I will make them come and fall prostrate at your feet, and they will realize that I love you.
  • Because you have kept my message of endurance,* I will keep you safe in the time of trial that is going to come to the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
  • I am coming quickly. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may take your crown.
  • The victor I will make into a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it again. On him I will inscribe the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, as well as my
  • Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
  • To the angel of the church in Laodicea, write this: The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the source of God’s creation, says this:
  • I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot.* I wish you were either cold or hot.
  • So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
  • For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’ and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
  • I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire* so that you may be rich, and white garments to put on so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed, and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see.
  • Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.
  • “‘“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.
  • I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne
  • “‘“Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”

4

  • After this I had a vision of an open door* to heaven, and I heard the trumpetlike voice that had spoken to me before, saying, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards.”
  • At once I was caught up in spirit.a A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat
  • one whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian. Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald.
  • Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones on which twenty-four elders* sat, dressed in white garments and with gold crowns on their heads.
  • From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder.* Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.
  • In front of the throne was something that resembled a sea of glass like crystal.* In the center and around the throne, there were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back.
  • The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a human being, and the fourth looked like an eagle* in flight.
  • The four living creatures, each of them with six wings,* were covered with eyes inside and out. Day and night they do not stop exclaiming: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.”
  • Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
  • the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne and worship him, who lives forever and ever. They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming:
  • “Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created.”

5

  • I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.
  • Then I saw a mighty angel who proclaimed in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”
  • But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to examine it.
  • I shed many tears because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to examine it.
  • One of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David,* has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals.”
  • Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders a Lamb* that seemed to have been slain. He had seven horns and seven eyes; these are the [seven] spirits of God sent out into the whole world.
  • He came and received the scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne.
  • When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.
  • They sang a new hymn: “Worthy are you to receive the scroll and to break open its seals, for you were slain and with your blood you purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation.
  • You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on earth.”
  • I looked again and heard the voices of many angels who surrounded the throne and the living creatures and the elders. They were countless* in number,
  • and they cried out in a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing.”
  • Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, everything in the universe, cry out: “To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever.”
  • The four living creatures answered, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

6

  • Then I watched while the Lamb broke open the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures cry out in a voice like thunder, “Come forward.”
  • I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider had a bow. He was given a crown, and he rode forth victorious to further his victories.
  • When he broke open the second seal, I heard the second living creature cry out, “Come forward.”
  • Another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given power to take peace away from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And he was given a huge sword.
  • When he broke open the third seal, I heard the third living creature cry out, “Come forward.” I looked, and there was a black horse,* and its rider held a scale in his hand.
  • I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures. It said, “A ration of wheat costs a day’s pay,* and three rations of barley cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil or the wine.”
  • When he broke open the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature cry out, “Come forward.”
  • I looked, and there was a pale green horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades accompanied him. They were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and plague, and by means of the beasts of the earth.
  • When he broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar* the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God.
  • They cried out in a loud voice, “How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?”
  • Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little while longer until the number was filled of their fellow servants and brothers who were going to be killed as they had been.
  • Then I watched while he broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; the sun turned as black as dark sackcloth* and the whole moon became like blood.
  • The stars in the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs shaken loose from the tree in a strong wind.
  • Then the sky was divided like a torn scroll curling up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
  • The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military officers, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in caves and among mountain crags.
  • They cried out to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,
  • because the great day of their wrath has come and who can withstand it?”

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  • After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,* holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on land or sea or against any tree.
  • Then I saw another angel come up from the East,* holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea,
  • “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
  • I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked* from every tribe of the Israelites:
  • twelve thousand were marked from the tribe of Judah,* twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad,
  • twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh,
  • twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar,
  • twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, and twelve thousand were marked from the tribe of Benjamin.
  • After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches* in their hands.
  • They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from* our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.”
  • All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God,
  • and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
  • Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”
  • I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;* they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
  • “For this reason they stand before God’s throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.
  • They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them.
  • For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water,* and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

8

  • When he broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven* for about half an hour.
  • And I saw that the seven angels who stood before God were given seven trumpets.
  • Another angel came and stood at the altar,* holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne.
  • The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel.
  • Then the angel took the censer, filled it with burning coals from the altar, and hurled it down to the earth. There were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
  • The seven angels who were holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
  • When the first one blew his trumpet, there came hail and fire mixed with blood, which was hurled down to the earth. A third of the land was burned up, along with a third of the trees and all green grass.
  • When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a large burning mountain was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood,
  • a third of the creatures living in the sea* died, and a third of the ships were wrecked.
  • When the third angel blew his trumpet, a large star burning like a torch fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
  • The star was called “Wormwood,”* and a third of all the water turned to wormwood. Many people died from this water, because it was made bitter.
  • When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them became dark. The day lost its light for a third of the time, as did the night.
  • Then I looked again and heard an eagle flying high overhead cry out in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe* to the inhabitants of the earth from the rest of the trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to blow!”
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