Saying, Where is the hope of his coming? From the death of the fathers till now everything has gone on as it was from the making of the world.

But in taking this view they put out of their minds the memory that in the old days there was a heaven, and an earth lifted out of the water and circled by water, by the word of God;

And that the world which then was came to an end through the overflowing of the waters.

And be certain that the long waiting of the Lord is for salvation; even as our brother Paul has said in his letters to you, from the wisdom which was given to him;

That which was from the first, which has come to our ears, and which we have seen with our eyes, looking on it and touching it with our hands, about the Word of life

(And the life was made clear to us, and we have seen it and are witnessing to it and giving you word of that eternal life which was with the Father and was seen by us);

I am writing to you, fathers, because you have knowledge of him who was from the first. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the Evil One. I have sent a letter to you, children, because you have knowledge of the Father.

I have sent a letter to you, fathers, because you have knowledge of him who was from the first. I have sent a letter to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God is in you, and because you have overcome the Evil One.

See what great love the Father has given us in naming us the children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not see who we are, because it did not see who he was.

The sinner is a child of the Evil One; for the Evil One has been a sinner from the first. And the Son of God was seen on earth so that he might put an end to the works of the Evil One.

Because this is the word which was given to you from the first, that we are to have love for one another;

And the love of God was made clear to us when he sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.

If a man sees his brother doing a sin which is not bad enough for death, let him make a prayer to God, and God will give life to him whose sin was not bad enough for death. There is a sin whose punishment is death: I do not say that he may make such a request then.

And love is the keeping of his laws. This is the law which was given to you from the first, so that you might keep it.

So if I come, I will keep in mind the things he does, talking against us with evil words: and as if this was not enough, he does not take the brothers into his house, and those who are ready to take them in, he keeps from doing so, putting them out of the church if they do.

My loved ones, while my thoughts were full of a letter which I was going to send you about our common salvation, it was necessary for me to send you one requesting you with all my heart to go on fighting strongly for the faith which has been given to the saints once and for ever.

And the angels who did not keep to their kingdom but went out from the place which was theirs, he has put in eternal chains and in dark night till the great day of the judging.

Now when Michael, one of the chief angels, was fighting against the Evil One for the body of Moses, fearing to make use of violent words against him, he only said, May the Lord be your judge.

The prophet Enoch, who was the seventh after Adam, said of these men, The Lord came with tens of thousands of his saints,

John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and was and is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his high seat;

See, he comes with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those by whom he was wounded; and all the tribes of the earth will be sorrowing because of him. Yes, so be it.

I am the First and the Last, says the Lord God who is and was and is to come, the Ruler of all.

I, John, your brother, who have a part with you in the trouble and the kingdom and the quiet strength of Jesus, was in the island which is named Patmos, for the word of God and the witness of Jesus.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and a great voice at my back, as of a horn, came to my ears,

And his feet like polished brass, as if it had been burned in a fire; and his voice was as the sound of great waters.

And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword: and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.

And I was dead, and see, I am living for ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hell.

And to the angel of the church in Smyrna say: These things says the first and the last, who was dead and is living:

I have knowledge that your living-place is where Satan has his seat: and you are true to my name, and were not turned away from your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my true witness, who was put to death among you, where Satan has his place.

But I have some things against you, because you have with you those who keep the teaching of Balaam, by whose suggestion Balak made the children of Israel go out of the right way, taking food which was offered to false gods, and going after the desires of the flesh.

Keep in mind, then, the teaching which was given to you, and be ruled by it and have a change of heart. If then you do not keep watch, I will come like a thief, and you will have no knowledge of the hour when I will come on you.

Straight away I was in the Spirit: and I saw a high seat in heaven, and one was seated on it;

And to my eyes he was like a jasper and a sardius stone: and there was an arch of light round the high seat, like an emerald.

And before the high seat there was, as it seemed, a clear sea of glass; and in the middle of the high seat, and round about it, four beasts full of eyes round about.

And the first beast was like a lion, and the second like an ox, and the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.

And the four beasts, having every one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and inside: and without resting day and night, they say, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, Ruler of all, who was and is and is to come.

And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the high seat, a book with writing inside it and on the back, shut with seven stamps of wax.

And no one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to get the book open, or to see what was in it.

And I was very sad, because there was no one able to get the book open or to see what was in it.

And he came and took it out of the right hand of him who was seated on the high seat.

And I saw, and there came to my ears the sound of a great number of angels round about the high seat and the beasts and the rulers; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

Saying with a great voice, It is right to give to the Lamb who was put to death, power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing.

And I saw a white horse, and he who was seated on it had a bow; and there was given to him a crown: and he went out with power to overcome.

And when the second stamp was undone, the voice of the second beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see.

And another horse came out, a red horse; and it was given to him who was seated on it to take peace from the earth, so that people might put one another to death: and there was given to him a great sword.

And when the third stamp was undone, the voice of the third beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see. And I saw a black horse; and he who was seated on it had scales in his hand.

And when the fourth stamp was undone, the voice of the fourth beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see.

And I saw a grey horse, and the name of him who was seated on it was Death; and Hell came after him. And there was given to them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to put to destruction by the sword, and by taking away their food, and by death, and by the beasts of the earth.

And when the fifth stamp was undone, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been put to death for the word of God, and for the witness which they kept.

And there was given to every one a white robe, and they were ordered to take their rest for a little time, till the number was complete of the other servants, their brothers, who would be put to death, even as they had been.

And I saw when the sixth stamp was undone, and there was a great earth-shock; and the sun became black as haircloth, and all the moon became as blood;

And the heaven was taken away like the roll of a book when it is rolled up; and all the mountains and islands were moved out of their places.

And I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the mark of the living God: and he said with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to do damage to the earth and the sea,

And when the seventh stamp was undone there was quiet in heaven for about half an hour.

And another angel came and took his place at the altar, having a gold vessel for burning perfume; and there was given to him much perfume, so that he might put it with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar which was before the high seat.

And at the sounding of the first, a rain of ice and fire, mixed with blood, was sent on the earth: and a third part of the earth, and of the trees, and all green grass was burned up.

And at the sounding of the second angel, it was as if a great mountain burning with fire was sent into the sea: and a third part of the sea became blood,

And at the sounding of the fourth angel, a third part of the sun, and of the moon, and of the stars was made dark, so that there was no light for a third part of the day and of the night.

And at the sounding of the fifth angel I saw a star falling from heaven to the earth: and there was given to him the key of the great deep.

And from the smoke locusts came out on the earth; and power was given them, like the power of scorpions.

And orders were given them not to put them to death, but to give them great pain for five months: and their pain was as the pain from the wound of a scorpion.

And they had breastplates like iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of carriages, like an army of horses rushing to the fight.

And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: the number of them came to my ears.

By these evils a third part of men was put to death, by the fire, and the smoke, and the burning smell which came out of their mouths.

And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and an arch of coloured light was round his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;

And when the seven thunders had given out their voices, I was about to put their words down: and a voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Keep secret the things which the seven thunders said, and do not put them in writing.

And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and did as he said; and it was sweet as honey in my mouth: and when I had taken it, my stomach was made bitter.

And there was given to me a measuring rod: and one said, Go up and take the measure of the house of God, and the altar, and the worshippers in it.

And their dead bodies will be in the open street of the great town, which in the spirit is named Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was put to death on the cross.

And in that hour there was a great earth-shock and a tenth part of the town came to destruction; and in the earth-shock seven thousand persons came to their end: and the rest were in fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

We give you praise, O Lord God, Ruler of all, who is and who was; because you have taken up your great power and are ruling your kingdom.

And the house of God which is in heaven was open; and the ark of his agreement was seen in his house, and there were flames and voices and thunders and an earth-shock and a rain of ice.

And a great sign was seen in heaven: a A woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

And she was with child; and she gave a cry, in the pains of childbirth.

And there was seen another sign in heaven; a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns.

And his tail was pulling a third part of the stars of heaven down to the earth, and the dragon took his place before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when the birth had taken place he might put an end to her child.

And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who was to have rule over all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was taken up to God and to his high seat.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going out to the fight with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels made war,

And they were overcome, and there was no more place for them in heaven.

And the great dragon was forced down, the old snake, who is named the Evil One and Satan, by whom all the earth is turned from the right way; he was forced down to the earth, and his angels were forced down with him.

And when the dragon saw that he was forced down to the earth, he made cruel attacks on the woman who gave birth to the male child.

And the dragon was angry with the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her seed, who keep the orders of God, and the witness of Jesus:

And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority.

And I saw one of his heads as if it had been given a death-wound; and his death-wound was made well: and all the earth was wondering at the beast.

And there was given to him a mouth to say words of pride against God; and there was given to him authority to go on for forty-two months.

And his mouth was open to say evil against God, and against his name and his Tent, even against those who are in heaven.

And it was given to him to make war on the saints and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and language and nation.

And all who are on the earth will give him worship, everyone whose name has not been from the first in the book of life of the Lamb who was put to death.

And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and his voice was like that of a dragon.

And he makes use of all the authority of the first beast before his eyes. And he makes the earth and those who are in it give worship to the first beast, whose death-wound was made well.

And those who are on the earth are turned from the true way by him through the signs which he was given power to do before the beast; giving orders to those who are on the earth to make an image to the beast, who was wounded by the sword, and came to life.

And a voice from heaven came to my ears, like the sound of great waters, and the sound of loud thunder: and the voice which came to me was like the sound of players, playing on instruments of music.

And in their mouth there was no false word, for they are untouched by evil.

And another angel came out from the house of God, crying with a loud voice to him who was seated on the cloud, Put in your blade, and let the grain be cut: because the hour for cutting it is come; for the grain of the earth is over-ready.

And he who was seated on the cloud sent in his blade on the earth; and the grain of the earth was cut.

And the angel sent his blade into the earth, and the vine of the earth was cut, and he put it into the great wine-crusher of the wrath of God.

And after these things I saw, and the house of the Tent of witness in heaven was open:

And the house of God was full of smoke from the glory of God, and from his power, and no one was able to go into the house of God, till the seven punishments of the seven angels were ended.

And the first went, and let what was in his vessel come down on the earth; and it became an evil poisoning wound on the men who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image.

And the second let what was in his vessel come out into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea came to an end.