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.

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!

See! I am going to lay her on a sick bed, and to bring great distress upon those who share her immorality, unless they repent of her practices,

But to the rest of you at Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching and have not learned the "deep things" of Satan, as they call them??o you I say, I have no fresh burden to lay on you,

Yet you have a few at Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me clad in white, for they deserve to.

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.

Out from the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. In front of the throne seven blazing lamps were burning; they are the seven spirits of God.

The four animals have each of them six wings, and they are covered with eyes all over and underneath their wings. And day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and is and is coming."

the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and they throw down their crowns before the throne, and say,

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power, for you created all things; by your will they existed and were created."

Then they sang a new song: "You deserve to take the roll and open its seals, for you have been slaughtered, and with your blood have bought for God men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation,

and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God, and they are to reign over the earth."

Then I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, underneath the earth, and on the sea, and all that they contain, say, "Blessing, honor, glory, and power to him who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever!"

And there I saw a horse the color of ashes, and its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. They were given power over one quarter of the earth, to kill the people with sword, famine, death, and the wild animals of the earth.

They cried out in a loud voice, "Holy and true Master, how long is it to be before you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"

Then each of them was given a white robe and they were told to be quiet a little while longer, until the number of their fellow-slaves and their brothers, who were to be killed as they had been, should be complete.

And they said to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us, and conceal us from the sight of him who is seated on the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb,

I heard that the number of those that were marked with the seal was 144,000. They were from every tribe of the children of Israel:

and they cried in a loud voice, "Our deliverance is the work of our God who is seated on the throne, and of the Lamb!"

Then one of the elders addressed me and said, "Who are these people dressed in white robes, and where do they come from?"

I said to him, "You know, my lord." He said to me, "They are the people who come through the great persecution, who have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.

That is why they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who is seated on the throne will shelter them.

They will never be hungry or thirsty again, and never again will the sun or any burning heat distress them,

The star is called Apsinthus, that is, Wormwood. Then one third of the waters turned to wormwood, and numbers of people died of the waters, for they had turned bitter.

They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only the men who did not have the mark of God's seal upon their foreheads.

They were not allowed to kill anyone, but only to torture them for five months, and the torture they inflicted was like that caused by a scorpion when it stings a man.

In those days men will seek death and never find it. They will want to die, but death will fly from them.

they had hair like a woman's; their teeth were like those of lions;

They had tails and stings like scorpions; it was in their tails that their power lay to harm men for five months.

They had over them as king the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he is called Apollyon.

For the power of the horses lay in their mouths and their tails; their tails were like snakes, and they had heads with which they hurt people.

and they did not repent of their murders, or their magic arts, or their immorality, or their thefts.

Then they said to me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings!"

but leave out the court outside the temple; do not measure that, for it has been given up to the heathen, and for forty-two months they will trample on it.

They are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

They have the power to shut up the sky, so that no rain will fall during the days when they are prophesying, and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to smite the earth with any plague whenever they please.

When they finish their testimony, the animal that comes up out of the abyss will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,

After three days and a half, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror seized those who saw them.

And they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, before the eyes of their enemies.

but they were defeated, and there was no place for them any longer in heaven.

They have conquered him because of the Lamb's blood, and the message to which they bore testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.

and worshiped the dragon for having given the animal his authority, and they worshiped the animal, and said, "Who is there like the animal? Who can fight with it?"

They were singing a new song before the throne and the four animals and the elders, and no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been ransomed from the earth.

They are the men who have not been defiled by relations with women; they are celibates. It is they who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed from among men as the first-fruits for God and the Lamb,

and they have never been known to utter a lie; they are irreproachable.

The smoke of their torture will go up forever and ever, and they will have no rest night or day??hese worshipers of the animal and its statue, and any who bear the mark of its name."

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who from this time forth die as Christians!" "Yes!" answers the Spirit, "Let them rest from their toil, for what they have done will go with them!"

Then I saw another great, marvelous portent in heaven. There were seven angels with seven plagues which are to be the last, for they complete the expression of God's wrath.

And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and standing upon the sea of glass those who had come off victorious from the animal and its statue and the number corresponding to its name. They had harps that God had given them,

and they were singing the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are your doings, Lord God Almighty! Upright and true are your ways, King of the Ages!

and the seven angels with the seven plagues came out of the temple. They were clothed in clean, glistening linen and had gold belts around their breasts.

The third emptied his bowl upon the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into blood.

for they shed the blood of your people and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink, as they deserve."

and they were dreadfully scorched, but they reviled the name of God who had control of these plagues, and would not repent and give him glory.

and reviled the God of heaven for their sufferings and sores, but they would not repent of what they had done.

They are demon spirits that perform wonders, and they go out to the kings all over the world to muster them for battle on the great Day of God Almighty.

So they mustered the kings at the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.

The animal that you saw was, and is no more; it is going to come up out of the abyss, but it is to go to destruction. The inhabitants of the earth, whose names from the foundation of the world have not been written in the book of life, will be amazed when they see that the animal was, and is no more, and yet is to come.

They are also seven kings; five have fallen, one is reigning, the other has not yet come, and when he does his stay must be brief.

The ten horns that you saw are also ten kings, who have not yet begun to reign, but for a single hour they receive authority as kings along with the animal.

They have one purpose, they give their power and authority to the animal.

They will make war upon the Lamb, and the Lamb with his elect, chosen, and faithful followers with him will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings.

The kings of the earth who have joined in her idolatry and luxury will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke from her burning.

They will stand a long way off for fear of her torture and say, 'Alas! Alas for the great city, for Babylon the mighty city, for in a single hour your judgment has overtaken you!'

and cried out when they saw the smoke from her burning, 'What city was like the great city?'

They threw dust on their heads and wept and mourned, crying out, 'Alas! Alas for the great city, where all who had ships on the sea grew rich through her extravagance! For in a single hour she has been destroyed!'

Then they said again, "Praise the Lord! For smoke will go up from her forever and ever!"

Then the twenty-four elders and the four animals fell down and worshiped God who was seated upon the throne. "Amen!" they said, "Praise the Lord!"

Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are they who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' These," he said to me, "are the true words of God."

Then I saw thrones with beings seated on them, who were empowered to act as judges. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus and the message of God, who refused to worship the animal and its statue, and would not have its mark put on their foreheads or on their hands. They were restored to life and reigned with the Christ a thousand years.

Blessed and holy is the man who experiences the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them; they will be priests of God and the Christ, and reign with him for the thousand years.

They came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the encampment of God's people, and the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed them,

Then I saw a great white throne with a being seated on it from whose presence earth and sky fled so far that they could not be found.

I saw the dead, high and low, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened; it was the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books about what they had done.

The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and the underworld gave up the dead that were in them, and they were all judged by what they had done.

I heard a loud voice from the throne say, "See! God's dwelling is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them,

and they will bring the splendor and the wealth of the heathen into it.

they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

There will no longer be any night and they will have no need of lamplight or sunlight, for the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.