Yes, I will be in earnest, so that every time you have occasion, after I have gone away, you may call these things to mind.

for no prophecy has ever yet originated in man's will, but men who were led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Now there were false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you too, who will insidiously introduce destructive heresies and deny the Master who has bought them, thus bringing on themselves swift destruction.

Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them the true Way will be abused,

In their greed they will exploit you with messages manufactured by themselves. From of old their condemnation has not been idle and their destruction has not been slumbering.

These men, like irrational animals, mere creatures of instinct created to be caught and killed, abuse the things that they do not understand, and so by their corruption they will be destroyed, suffering wrong as punishment for their wrongdoing.

First of all, you must understand this, that in the last days mockers will come with their mockeries, living in accordance with their evil passions,

The day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a roar, the heavenly bodies will be destroyed by being burned up, and the earth with all its works will melt away.

since you are awaiting and hastening the coming of the day of God, which will cause the heavens to blaze and dissolve and the heavenly bodies to burn up and melt away!

In accordance with His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which uprightness will have its permanent home.

and the world is passing away and with it the evil longings it incites, but whoever perseveres in doing God's will lives on forever.

Let what you have heard from the beginning continue to live in your hearts; if you do, you will always remain in union with the Son and the Father.

And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask for anything that is in accordance with His will, He will listen to us.

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not lead to death, he will ask and God will grant him life; yea, He will grant it to any who do not commit a sin that leads to death. There is a sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.

because of the truth that lives on in our hearts and will be with us forever:

spiritual blessing, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, in truth and love.

They have testified before the church to your love. You will please send them off on their journey in a way befitting the service of God.

So, if I come, I will remind you of what he is doing, how with malicious insinuations he is talking about me. Not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers himself, he interferes with those who want to do so, and tries to put them out of the church.

I hope to see you very soon and will talk it over face to face. Goodbye. Our friends wish to be remembered to you. Remember me to our friends individually.

wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shame; wandering stars that are forever doomed to utter darkness.

because they said to you, "In the last times there will be mockers who will live to satisfy their own godless passions."

See! He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even the men who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will lament over Him. Even so. Amen.

So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent and do as you did at first, or else I will surely come and move your lampstand from its place -- if you do not repent.

Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give to him who conquers the privilege of eating the fruit of the tree of life that stands in the paradise of God."'"

Do not be so afraid of what you are to suffer. See! The devil is going to throw some of you into prison to be tested there and for ten days to suffer pressing troubles. Each one of you must prove to be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the crown of life.

Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Whoever conquers will not be hurt at all by the second death."'"

So repent, or else I will quickly come and make war upon them with the sword that comes from my mouth.

Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give to him who conquers some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on it which no one knows except the man who receives it."'"

and I will surely strike her children dead. So all the churches will know that I am He who searches men's inmost hearts, and that I will repay each of you for exactly what you have done.

To him who conquers and continues to the very end to do the works that please me, I will give authority over the heathen;

he will govern them with a scepter of iron and shatter them like earthen jars -- just such authority as I have received from my Father --

and I will give him the morning star.

So remember what you have received and heard, and continue to obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will never know the hour when I come upon 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.

Whoever conquers will be clothed this way -- in white clothes -- and I will never blot his name out of the book of life, but I will own him as mine in the presence of my Father and His angels.

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.

Because you have kept my message with the patient endurance that I give you, I also will keep you from the time of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test the inhabitants of the earth.

I will make him who conquers a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall never again go out of it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.

I am now standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will be his guest and feast with him, and he with me.

I will give to him who conquers the privilege of taking his seat with me on my throne, just as I have conquered and taken my seat with my Father on His throne.

After this I had another vision: A door was standing open in heaven, and the first voice, like a trumpet, that I had heard speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place."

and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God; and they will rule over the earth."

I looked, and a pale horse appeared, and its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. Power was given to them over one quarter of the earth, to kill the people with sword, famine, death, and the wild animals of the earth.

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?"

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,

because the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will be their Shepherd, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."

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

So I went up to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. And he said to me, "Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey."

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.

And I will permit my two witnesses, clothed in sackcloth, to prophesy for one thousand, two hundred and sixty days."

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,

and their lifeless bodies will lie on the streets of the great city that is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord also was crucified.

For three days and a half men of all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look upon their lifeless bodies, and will not let them be buried.

The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and celebrate with feasts and the sending of gifts to one another, because these two prophets had tormented the inhabitants of the earth.

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and loud voices were heard in heaven, saying, "The sovereignty of the world has come into the possession of our Lord and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever."

Then I stood on the sand of the seashore, and I saw a wild beast coming up out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on his horns, and blasphemous titles on his heads.

The wild beast which I saw was like a leopard, but his feet were like a bear's, and his mouth was like a lion's mouth. To him the dragon gave his own power and throne with great authority.

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?"

Then there was given to the wild beast a mouth that uttered boastful, blasphemous words, and permission to wield his authority for forty-two months.

All the inhabitants of the earth whose names, from the foundation of the world, have not been written in the slaughtered Lamb's book of life, will worship him.

Whoever leads others into captivity will go into captivity himself. Whoever kills with the sword must be killed with the sword himself. In this way will be shown the patient endurance and the fidelity of God's people.

Then I saw another wild beast coming up out of the land. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.

He exercises the full authority of the first wild beast in his presence; he makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first wild beast, whose mortal wound had been healed.

He leads the inhabitants of the earth astray because of the wonders he is permitted to perform in the presence of the wild beast, telling the inhabitants of the earth to erect a statue to the wild beast that bears the sword-thrust and yet has lived.

Permission has also been given him to impart life to the statue of the wild beast so that it can speak, and to have all who do not worship the statue of the wild beast killed.

and he permits no one to buy or sell anything unless he bears the mark; that is, the name of the wild beast or the number that represents the name.

Here is scope for wisdom! Let anyone who has the mental keenness calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of a certain man; his number is six hundred and sixty-six.

Then a third angel followed them, saying in a loud voice: "Whoever worships the wild beast and his statue and lets his mark be stamped on his forehead or on his hand,

himself will have to drink the wine of God's vengeance, poured unmixed into the cup of His wrath, and be tortured with fire and brimstone before the eyes of the holy angels and the Lamb.

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 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.

Who will not fear and glorify your name, O Lord? For you alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because the justice of your sentences has now been shown."

So the first angel went and emptied his bowl upon the earth, and horrible, painful sores broke out on the men who bore the mark of the wild beast and worshiped his statue.

Then the fifth angel emptied his bowl upon the throne of the wild beast, and his kingdom was shrouded in darkness, and men in agony gnawed their tongues,

Then I saw three foul spirits leap like frogs from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the wild beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet.

Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and spoke to me, saying: "Come, I will show you the doom of the noted prostitute who is seated on many waters,

So he carried me away in spiritual rapture to a desert, and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet wild beast, covered with blasphemous titles; he had seven heads and ten horns.

but the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will tell you the symbolical meaning of the woman, and the wild beast with seven heads and ten horns, that carries her.

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.

So it is with the wild beast that once was but is no more; he is the eighth, and yet is one of the seven, and he is going to be destroyed.

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 ten horns that you saw and the wild beast will be the very ones to hate the prostitute, to make her desolate and naked, to eat up her flesh, and burn her up with fire.

For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by giving up their authority to the wild beast until God's words are carried out.

for this very reason her plagues will overtake her in a single day, death, grief, and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; because the Lord who has judged her is mighty.

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!'

The businessmen of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one can buy their cargoes anymore --

The ripe fruit of your soul's desire has gone from you, all your luxury and splendor have perished from your hands, and people will never find them again.

The businessmen who dealt in these things, who had grown rich from their business with her, will stand a long way off for fear of her torture, weeping and mourning,

Then a mighty angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying: "With violence like this, Babylon the great city will be hurled to ruin, and it will never be found again.

The sound of harpists, musicians, flute-players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again. No craftsmen of any kind will ever be found in you again, and the sound of the grinding mill will never be heard in you again;

the light of the lamp will never shine in you again; the voice of bride and bridegroom will never be heard in you again. For your businessmen were the great men of the earth; by your magic all the nations have been led astray;

From His mouth shot a sharp sword, so that He could smite the nations with it. He will rule them with a scepter of iron, and will tread the wine press of the raging wrath of the Almighty God.

Then I saw the wild beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gather to go to war with the Rider of the horse and His army.

Then the wild beast was captured and with him the false prophet who performed wonders in his presence, by which he led astray those who let the mark of the wild beast be put on them and worshiped his statue. Both of them were hurled alive into the fiery lake that burns with brimstone.