Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James, to those who have been called, who are dear to God the Father and have been kept through union with Jesus Christ;

For some people have sneaked in among us??heir doom was foretold long ago??odless persons, who turn the mercy of our God into an excuse for immorality, and disown our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the godless of all the godless deeds they have done, and of all the harsh things that godless sinners have said against him."

So write what you have seen, what is now and what is to happen hereafter.

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.

You show endurance; you have undergone much for my sake, and you have not grown weary.

So remember how far you have fallen, and repent and do as you did at first, or else I will come to you and take your lampstand from its place, if you do not repent.

Yet I hold it somewhat against you that you have among you some adherents of the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entrap the children of Israel into eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols, and into immoral practices.

So you also have among you some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

I have given her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her immorality.

and I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches men's hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you for what you have done.

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,

but keep hold of what you have, until I come.

Wake up, and strengthen what is left, although it is already on the point of death, for I have found nothing you have done complete in the sight of my God.

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 know what you are doing. See! I have put before you an open door that no one can close. I know that you have little strength, but you have obeyed my message and you have not disowned my name.

Because you have kept in mind the message of what I endured, I also will keep you safe in the time of testing that is going to come upon the whole world, to test the inhabitants of the earth.

I am coming soon. Keep hold of what you have, so that no one may deprive you of your crown.

Because you say, "I am rich, I have become wealthy, I need nothing," and you do not know that it is you that are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked,

I will permit him who is victorious to take his seat beside me on my throne, just as I have been victorious and taken my seat beside my Father on his throne.

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."

Then I saw standing in the center of the throne and of the four animals and of the elders a Lamb which seemed to have been slaughtered. He had seven horns and seven eyes; these are the seven spirits of God, which are sent on errands to all parts of the earth.

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."

When he broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who have been slaughtered on account of God's message and for adhering to the testimony.

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.

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.

When the seven thunders had spoken I was going to write it down, but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said! Do not write it down!"

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.

saying, "We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty, who are and were, because you have assumed your great power and begun to reign.

She was soon to have a child, and she cried out with pain and agony in giving birth to it.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, "The deliverance and power and reign of our God, and the authority of his Christ have now come, for the accuser of our brothers, who kept bringing charges against them day and night before our God, has been hurled down.

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.

One of its heads seemed to have received a mortal wound, but its mortal wound had been healed. And the whole earth followed the animal in wonder,

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

It is also allowed to impart life to the animal's statue so that the animal's statue can speak, and to have all who do not worship the animal's statue killed.

And it makes everyone, high and low, rich and poor, freemen and slaves, have a mark stamped on their right hands or on their foreheads,

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!"

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

(See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who keeps awake, and keeps hold of his clothes, so that he will not have to go naked and be put to shame!)

in whose idolatry the kings of the earth have joined, and with the wine of whose idolatry the inhabitants of the earth have been intoxicated."

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.

for after drinking the wine of the passion of her immorality all the heathen have fallen; the kings of the earth have joined in her idolatry, and the traders of the earth have grown rich from her excessive luxury!"

The more she has given herself to pride and luxury the more you must give her torture and grief. Because she says to herself, 'I sit on a throne; I am not a widow, I shall never have any sorrow,'

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.

The fruit of your soul's desire is gone, your luxury and splendor have perished, and people will never find them again.

no light of any lamp will ever shine in you again; no voice of bride or bridegroom will ever be heard in you again. For your merchants were the great men of the earth; by your magic all the heathen have been led astray,

and in you was found the blood of prophets, God's people, and all who have been slaughtered on the earth."

I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not do that. I am only a fellow-slave of yours and of your brothers who have accepted the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is what inspires prophecy."

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.

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.

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so as to have the right to approach the tree of life and to enter the gates of the city.