Now where there is forgiveness of these sins, there is no longer any offering for sin.

All these people died having faith. They did not receive the things that were promised, yet they saw them in the distant future and welcomed them, acknowledging that they were strangers and foreigners on earth.

All these people won approval for their faith but they did not receive what was promised,

your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be used as evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasures in these last days.

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who brought you the good news through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things that even the angels desire to look into.

Through these he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, seeing that you have escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires.

For if you possess these qualities, and if they continue to increase among you, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in attaining a full knowledge of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

For the person who lacks these qualities is blind and shortsighted, and has forgotten the cleansing that he has received from his past sins.

Therefore, I intend to keep on reminding you about these things, even though you already know them and are firmly established in the truth that you now have.

And I will make every effort to see that you will always remember these things after I am gone.

For he received honor and glory from God the Father when these words from the Majestic Glory were spoken about him: "This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him."

These people, like irrational animals, are mere creatures of instinct that are born to be caught and killed. They insult what they don't understand, and like animals they, too, will be destroyed,

These men are dried-up springs, mere clouds driven by a storm. Gloomy darkness is reserved for them.

And so, dear friends, since you already know these things, continuously be on your guard not to be carried away by the deception of lawless people. Otherwise, you may fall from your secure position.

We are writing these things so that our joy may be full.

My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you might not sin. Yet if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus, the Messiah, one who is righteous.

These people belong to the world. That is why they speak from the world's perspective, and the world listens to them.

For there are three witnesses in heaven the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.

And there are three witnesses on earth the Spirit, the water, and the blood and these three are one.

I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Now I want to remind you, even though you are fully aware of these things, that the Lord who once saved his people from the land of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe.

In a similar way, these dreamers also defile their flesh, reject the Lord's authority, and slander his glorious beings.

Whatever these people do not understand, they slander. Like irrational animals, they are destroyed by the very things they know by instinct.

These people are stains on your love feasts. They feast with you without any sense of awe. They are shepherds who care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by the winds. They are autumn trees that are fruitless, totally dead, and uprooted.

Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied about these people when he said, "Look! The Lord has come with countless thousands of his holy ones.

15He will judge all people and convict everyone of all the ungodly things that they have done in such an ungodly way, including all the harsh things that these ungodly sinners have said about him."

These people are complainers and faultfinders, following their own desires. They say arrogant things and flatter people in order to take advantage of them.

These are the people who cause divisions. They are worldly, devoid of the Spirit.

After these things, I saw a door standing open in heaven. The first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this."

Around the throne were 24 other thrones, and on these thrones sat 24 elders wearing white robes and gold victor's crowns on their heads.

After these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands.

"Who are these people wearing white robes," one of the elders asked me, "and where did they come from?"

Then he told me, "These are the people who are coming out of the terrible suffering. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. That is why: "They are in front of the throne of God and worship him night and day in his Temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.

The first catastrophe is over. After these things, there are still two more catastrophes to come.

By these three plagues the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths one-third of humanity was killed.

For the power of these horses is in their mouths and their tails. Their tails have heads like snakes, which they use to inflict pain.

The rest of the people who survived these plagues did not repent from their evil actions or stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk.

These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing in the presence of the Lord of the earth.

These witnesses have authority to close the heavens in order to keep rain from falling while they are prophesying. They also have authority to turn bodies of water into blood and to strike the earth with any plague, as often as they desire.

Those living on earth will gloat over them, celebrate, and send gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those living on earth.

After these things, I looked, and the Temple, which is the Tent of Testimony in heaven, was open!

Then I heard the angel in charge of the water say, "You are just. You are the one who is and who was, the Holy One, because you have judged these things.

and they were burned by the fierce heat. They cursed the name of God, who has the authority over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.

After these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was made bright by his splendor.

After these things, I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a large crowd in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God.

Then the angel told me, "Write this: "How blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb!'" He also told me, "These are the true words of God."

The beast was captured, along with the false prophet who had performed signs on its behalf. By these signs the false prophet had deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped its image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

The one sitting on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new!" He said, "Write this: "These words are trustworthy and true.'"

The person who conquers will inherit these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.

He told me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord God of the spirits and of the prophets has sent his messenger to show his servants the things that must happen soon."

I, John, heard and saw these things. When I had heard and seen them, I bowed down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing me these things.

The one who is testifying to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon!" Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!