and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for from the day when the fathers fell asleep, all things remain as from the beginning of creation.

For [when] they maintain this, it escapes [their] notice that the heavens existed long ago and the earth held together out of water and through water by the word of God,

Through these waters the world of that time perished when it was flooded.

Now by that same word, the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire and are being kept for the day when ungodly people will be judged and destroyed.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare.

Looking for and truly desiring the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will come to an end through fire, and the substance of the earth will be changed by the great heat?

For this reason, my loved ones, as you are looking for these things, take great care that when he comes you may be in peace before him, free from sin and every evil thing.

That is what he says in all his letters, when speaking in them of these things. In those letters there are some statements hard to understand, which ill-taught and unprincipled people pervert, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own ruin.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness [of sin], we lie and do not practice the truth;

Do not love the world or what the world can offer. When any one loves the world, there is no love for the Father in him;

And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

not [hate each other] the way Cain did, who belonged to the evil one [i.e., Satan], when he murdered his brother [Abel]. And why did he murder him? It was because his [own] actions were evil and his brother's were righteous [See Heb. 11:4].

When our heart says that we have done wrong; because God is greater than our heart, and has knowledge of all things.

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.

Love is complete with us when we have absolute confidence about the day of judgment, since in this world we are living as He lives.

There is no fear in love. No! Love, when perfect, drives out fear, for fear implies punishment, and the man who feels fear has not attained to perfect love.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

I was very happy when I learned that some of your children [i.e., members of the congregation] are living in [harmony with the] truth, just as we have been commanded to do by the Father.

For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.

I have no greater joy than that which I have when I hear my children are walking in truth.

Beloved, you are acting faithfully in what you are providing for the brothers, and especially when they are strangers;

which bare witness of thy love before all the congregation. Which brethren, when thou bringest forwards on their journey - as it beseemeth God - thou shalt do well:

For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, unjustly accusing us with wicked words and unjustified charges. And not satisfied with this, he refuses to receive the [missionary] brothers himself, and also forbids those who want to [welcome them] and puts them out of the church.

I had many things [to say when I began] to write to you, but I prefer not to put it down with pen (reed) and black (ink);

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

I am minded, therefore, to put you in remembrance, - though ye know all things once for all, That the Lord, when a people out of Egypt he had saved, in, the next place, them that believed not, destroyed.

And angels, who did not remain within [the bounds of] their proper authority, but left their own realm, God has kept in perpetual bondage, under [thick] darkness, awaiting judgment on the Great Day [when they will be punished].

In like manner also do these men, even when they dream, defile indeed the flesh, despise sovereignty, and revile dignities.

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

It was about these people that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, when he said, “Look, the Lord came with myriads of His holy ones

Some, when they argue with you, you must endeavor to convince;

The person who reads this [book] and those who listen to the words of this prophecy and who obey what is written in it are blessed, for the time [when some of it will occur] is near. [See verse 1].

I came to be in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord, when I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet,

And I turned to see the voice which was speaking with me, and [when I] turned, I saw seven gold lampstands,

and his feet [were] like fine bronze when it has been fired in a furnace, and his voice [was] like the sound of many waters,

In His right hand He held seven stars, and a sharp, two-edged sword was seen coming from His mouth; and His glance resembled the sun when it is shining with its full strength.

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

I know what you have done; your hard work and your endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, and that you have tested those who claimed to be apostles when they were not, and have found them to be impostors.

So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will] and do the works you did at first [when you first knew Me]; otherwise, I will visit you and remove your lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place—unless you repent.

I know of your distress and poverty??hough you are rich!?? know how you are slandered by those who claim to be Jews when they are not so, but only a synagogue of Satan!

I know your works and where you dwell, even where Satan's throne is: and you hold fast my name, and have not denied my faith, even in those days when Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells.

I know about your deeds, your love, your faith, your service and your endurance, and that your most recent deeds are more numerous than when you first began [your Christian lives].

and he shall shepherd and rule them with a rod of iron, as the earthen pots are broken in pieces, as I also have received authority [and power to rule them] from My Father;

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.

I will make some who belong to that synagogue of Satan and claim to be Jews when they are not so, but are lying?? will make them come and bow down at your feet, and learn that I loved you.

Because you have obeyed my command to remain steadfast [in the face of difficult times], I will also keep you from [giving up when] the time of trial comes, which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those living on the earth.

To him who conquers--to him I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, as I, when I conquered, took my seat beside my Father on his throne.

At another time I had a vision, when I saw a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard talking to me, was like the sound of a trumpet; which said, "come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."

the four animals had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within; and they never ceas'd day and night, crying, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, Lord God ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS, WHO IS, AND WHO WILL BE. and when those animals gave glory,

And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

and they were crying with a great voice, saying, 'Till when, O Master, the Holy and the True, dost Thou not judge and take vengeance of our blood from those dwelling upon the land?'

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

When the sealing was finished, I heard how many were sealed out of the tribes of the descendants of Israel. They were 144,000.

And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

Another angel came and stood at the altar. He had a golden censer, and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints (God’s people) on the golden altar in front of the throne.

When the first angel blew his trumpet, hail and fire were mixed with blood and thrown on the earth. One-third of the earth was burned up, one-third of the trees was burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a huge mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the sea turned into blood,

When the third angel blew his trumpet, a huge star blazing like a torch fell from heaven. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, one-third of the sun, one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars were struck so that one-third of them turned dark. One-third of the day was kept from having light, as was the night.

When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky. The star was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

And they had habergeons, as it were habergeons of iron. And the sound of their wings, was as the sound of chariots when many horses run together to battle.

When the sixth angel blew his trumpet, I heard a voice from the four horns of the gold altar in front of God.

And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. "Take it," he said, "and eat the whole of it. You will find it bitter when you have eaten it, although in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey."

And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.

When any one wishes to harm them, 'fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies'; and whoever wishes to harm them will, in this way, inevitably perish.

These have the power to keep the heaven shut, so that there may be no rain in the days when they are prophets: and they have power over the waters to make them into blood, and to send every sort of disease on the earth as their pleasure is.

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

When the seventh angel blew his trumpet, there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The world's kingdom has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever."

And the nations (Gentiles) became enraged, and Your wrath and indignation came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and [the time came] to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints (God’s people) and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and [the time came] to destroy the destroyers of the earth.”

And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered he may devour her child.

And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

and I heard a voice from heaven, which was like the noise of many waters, or like a great thunder-clap: I heard too a sound like that of a harp, when touch'd by the hand of a musician.

After this, when the doors of the sanctuary of the tent of witness in Heaven were opened, I looked;

And there were flames and voices and thunders; and there was a great earth-shock so that never, from the time when men were on the earth, had there been so great an earth-shock, so full of power.

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time [of their fulfillment] is near.