"I know what you have done; your hard work and patient endurance; that you cannot tolerate wicked persons; that you have tested those who claimed to be apostles although they were not, and have found them to be imposters,

"I know your pressing trouble and poverty, but still you are rich; I know how you are abused by those who claim to be Jews although they are not, but are only a synagogue of Satan.

See! I am going to lay her on a bed of sickness, and bring down to great and pressing sorrow those who practice immorality with her, unless they repent of their 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 speak of them -- to you I say, I have no extra burden to lay on you,

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

I will make some, who claim to be Jews although they are not, but are lying -- I will make them come and fall at your feet and find out that I have loved you.

Out from the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, while in front of it seven flaming lamps were burning; they were the seven spirits of God.

And the four living creatures have each of them six wings, and they are dotted with eyes all around and beneath the wings. And day and night they never cease saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and is and is to come."

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 their crowns in front of the throne, and say:

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to have ascribed to you the glory, honor, and power; for you created everything, And since you willed it so, they came into existence and were created."

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

and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God; and they will rule 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 be to Him who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb forever."

When He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for being faithful to God's message and for the testimony they bore to it.

Then in a loud voice they cried out, "Holy and true Master, how long will you refrain from charging and avenging our blood upon the inhabitants of the earth?"

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

and they cried in a loud voice: "Our salvation is due to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb."

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

This is why they are before the throne of God, and day and night serve Him in His temple, and He who is seated on His throne will shelter them in His tent.

They will never again be hungry or thirsty, and never again will the sun strike them, or any scorching heat,

The star is called Absinthus, that is, Wormwood. So one-third of the waters turned to wormwood, and great numbers of people died of the waters, because they had turned bitter.

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

They were not permitted to kill them, but only to torture them for five months, and the torture they inflicted was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings a man.

In those days people will look for death but will not find it, they will long to die but death will flee from them.

they had hair that looked like women's hair; their teeth were like lions' teeth;

they had breastplates that seemed to be made of steel; the noise of their wings was like the noise of vast numbers of chariots and horses rushing into battle;

they had tails like scorpions with stings in them, so in their tails their power lay to injure men for five months.

They had over them as king the angel of the abyss; in Hebrew he is called Abaddon, in Greek, 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 injured people.

and they never did repent of their murders, their practices in magic, their immorality, or their thefts.

and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and all that they contain, the earth and all that it contains, and the sea and all that it contains, that there should be no more delay,

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

but leave off the court outside the temple; do not measure it, because it has been given over to the heathen, and for forty-two months they will trample the city underfoot.

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 upon the earth as long as they prophesy, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with any plague as often as they please.

Then, when they have finished testifying, the wild beast that is coming 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 came into them again, and they stood on their feet, and consternation 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, and their enemies looked on as spectators.

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

But they have conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the message to which they bore testimony, because they did not cling to life but courted death.

I saw that one of his heads seemed to have been mortally wounded, but its mortal wound had been healed. And the whole world was so amazed that they followed the wild beast,

and worshiped the dragon for giving the wild beast his authority; they also worshiped the wild beast, and said, "Who is there like the wild beast? Who is there to make war on him?"

They were singing a new song before the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders, and no one could learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.

These are the men who have not been defiled by relations with women, for they are as pure as virgins, These are the men who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been redeemed from among men as the first fruits for God and the Lamb,

and they have never been known to tell a lie with their lips; they are blameless.

The smoke of their torture will go up forever and ever, and they will have no rest day or night -- those who worship the wild beast and his statue, and anyone who bears the mark of his name."

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: 'Blessed are the dead who from this time die as Christians.'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "let them rest from their toils, for the things they have done are going with them."

Then I saw something that looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and standing upon the sea of glass were those who had conquered the wild beast, his statue, and the number representing his name; and 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 wonderful are your works, Lord God, Almighty One; upright and true your ways, O King of the ages.

and the seven angels bringing the seven plagues came out of the sanctuary. They were clothed in clean, brilliant linen and had belts of gold around their breasts.

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

Because they have shed the blood of your people and prophets, you have given them blood to drink; they deserve it."

so that men were severely scorched, but they only cursed the name of God who had authority over these plagues, and would not repent and give Him glory.

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

They are the spirits of demons that perform wonders, and they go forth to the kings of the whole world, to muster them for battle on the great day of the Almighty God.

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

The wild beast that you saw, once was but now is no more; he is going to come up out of the abyss, but he is going to be destroyed. The inhabitants of the earth, whose names from the foundation of the world have not been written in the book of life, will be astonished when they see that the wild beast once was but now is no more, and yet is to come.

The ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet become kings, but for a single hour they accept authority as kings allied with the wild beast.

They have one common policy. They give their power and authority to the wild beast.

They will make war upon the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, and His chosen, elect, and faithful followers will conquer with Him, too, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings."

The kings of the earth who have joined her in her immorality 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, saying, 'Alas! Alas for the great city, for Babylon the mighty city, because in a single day 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 from her great wealth! For in a single hour she has been destroyed.'

A second time they shouted, "Praise the Lord! For the smoke from her continues to go up forever and ever."

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 and those who were seated on them, and permission was granted them to pass judgment, even those who had been beheaded for bearing testimony to Jesus and for preaching the word of God, who refused to worship the wild beast and his statue, and would not let his mark be stamped upon their foreheads and upon their hands. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Blessed and holy is the man who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death will have no power, but they will be priests of God and Christ, and reign with Him the thousand years.

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

Then the devil who led them astray was hurled into the fiery lake of burning brimstone, where the wild beast and false prophet were, and there they are to be tortured day and night forever and ever.

I saw the dead, great and small, 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 in accordance with 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 in accordance with what they had done.

He further said to me: "They have come true. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I myself, without cost, will give to anyone who is thirsty water from the springs of living water.

and they will bring the splendor and honor of the nations into it.

They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

There will be no night any longer; so they will need no lamplight nor sunlight, for the Lord God will give them light, and they will rule forever and ever.