For this reason, putting away all dirty behaviour and the overweight of evil, take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation.

But he who goes on looking into the true law which makes him free, being not a hearer without memory but a doer putting it into effect, this man will have a blessing on his acts.

If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man's religion is of no value.

The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.

And you do honour to the man in fair clothing and say, Come here and take this good place; and you say to the poor man, Take up your position there, or be seated at my feet;

Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him?

And one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warm and full of food; but you do not give them the things of which their bodies have need, what profit is there in this?

But if you have bitter envy in your heart and the desire to get the better of others, have no pride in this, talking falsely against what is true.

This wisdom is not from heaven, but is of the earth and the flesh and the Evil One.

O you who are false to God, do you not see that the friends of this world are not God's friends? Every man desiring to be a friend of this world makes himself a hater of God.

For this cause be ruled by God; but make war on the Evil One and he will be put to flight before you.

How foolish it is to say, Today or tomorrow we will go into this town, and be there for a year and do business there and get wealth:

But the right thing to say would be, If it is the Lord's pleasure and if we are still living, we will do this and that.

You have cause for great joy in this, though it may have been necessary for you to be troubled for a little time, being tested in all sorts of ways,

For the prophets who gave the news of the grace which would come to you, made search with all care for knowledge of this salvation;

And if you give the name of Father to him who, judging every man by his acts, has no respect for a man's position, then go in fear while you are on this earth:

But the word of the Lord is eternal. And this is the word of the good news which was given to you.

And, A stone of falling, a rock of trouble; the word is the cause of their fall, because they go against it, and this was the purpose of God.

My loved ones, I make this request with all my heart, that, as those for whom this world is a strange country, you will keep yourselves from the desires of the flesh which make war against the soul;

What credit is it if, when you have done evil, you take your punishment quietly? but if you are given punishment for doing right, and take it quietly, this is pleasing to God.

This is God's purpose for you: because Jesus himself underwent punishment for you, giving you an example, so that you might go in his footsteps:

Not giving back evil for evil, or curse for curse, but in place of cursing, blessing; because this is the purpose of God for you that you may have a heritage of blessing.

And baptism, of which this is an image, now gives you salvation, not by washing clean the flesh, but by making you free from the sense of sin before God, through the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead;

And they are wondering that you no longer go with them in this violent wasting of life, and are saying evil things of you:

For this was the reason why the good news of Jesus was given even to the dead, so that they might be judged as men in the flesh, but might be living before God in the spirit.

But if he undergoes punishment as a Christian, that is no shame to him; let him give glory to God in this name.

For this reason let those who by the purpose of God undergo punishment, keep on in well-doing and put their souls into the safe hands of their Maker.

I who am myself one of the rulers of the church, and a witness of the death of Christ, having my part in the coming glory, send this serious request to the chief men among you:

For this cause make yourselves low under the strong hand of God, so that when the time comes you may be lifted up;

I have sent you this short letter by Silvanus, a true brother, in my opinion; comforting you and witnessing that this is the true grace of God; keep to it.

And through this he has given us the hope of great rewards highly to be valued; so that by them we might have our part in God's being, and be made free from the destruction which is in the world through the desires of the flesh.

So, for this very cause, take every care; joining virtue to faith, and knowledge to virtue,

For this reason, my brothers, take all the more care to make your selection and approval certain; for if you do these things you will never have a fall:

For this reason I will be ready at all times to keep your memory of these things awake, though you have the knowledge of them now and are well based in your present faith.

And it seems right to me, as long as I am in this tent of flesh, to keep your minds awake by working on your memory;

For I am conscious that in a short time I will have to put off this tent of flesh, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

For God the Father gave him honour and glory, when such a voice came to him out of the great glory, saying, This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

And this voice came from heaven even to our ears, when we were with him on the holy mountain.

My loved ones, this is now my second letter to you, and in this as in the first, I am attempting to keep your true minds awake;

But in taking this view they put out of their minds the memory that in the old days there was a heaven, and an earth lifted out of the water and circled by water, by the word of God;

But, my loved ones, keep in mind this one thing, that with the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years are no more than one day.

For this reason, my loved ones, as you are looking for these things, take great care that when he comes you may be in peace before him, free from sin and every evil thing.

For this reason, my loved ones, having knowledge of these things before they take place, take care that you are not turned away by the error of the uncontrolled, so falling from your true faith.

This is the word which came to us from him and which we give to you, that God is light and in him there is nothing dark.

And by this we may be certain that we have knowledge of him, if we keep his laws.

But in every man who keeps his word, the love of God is made complete. By this we may be certain that we are in him:

My loved ones, I do not give you a new law, but an old law which you had from the first; this old law is the word which came to your ears.

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you were given word that the Antichrist would come, so now a number of Antichrists have come to you; and by this we are certain that it is the last hour.

I have not sent you this letter because you have no knowledge of what is true, but because you have knowledge, and because that which is false has nothing in common with that which is true.

And this is the hope which he gave you, even eternal life.

See what great love the Father has given us in naming us the children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not see who we are, because it did not see who he was.

And everyone who has this hope in him makes himself holy, even as he is holy.

In this way it is clear who are the children of God and who are the children of the Evil One; anyone who does not do righteousness or who has no love for his brother, is not a child of God.

Because this is the word which was given to you from the first, that we are to have love for one another;

In this we see what love is, because he gave his life for us; and it is right for us to give our lives for the brothers.

But if a man has this world's goods, and sees that his brother is in need, and keeps his heart shut against his brother, how is it possible for the love of God to be in him?

In this way we may be certain that we are true, and may give our heart comfort before him,

And this is his law, that we have faith in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love for one another, even as he said to us.

By this you may have knowledge of the Spirit of God: every spirit which says that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God:

And every spirit which does not say this is not from God: this is the spirit of Antichrist, of which you have had word; and it is in the world even now.

We are of God: he who has the knowledge of God gives ear to us; he who is not of God does not give ear to us. By this we may see which is the true spirit, and which is the spirit of error.

And this is love, not that we had love for God, but that he had love for us, and sent his Son to be an offering for our sins.

In this way love is made complete in us, so that we may be without fear on the day of judging, because as he is, so are we in this world.

And this is the word which we have from him, that he who has love for God is to have the same love for his brother.

In this way, we are certain that we have love for the children of God, when we have love for God and keep his laws.

This is he who came by water and by blood, Jesus Christ; not by water only but by water and by blood.

If we take the witness of men to be true, the witness of God is greater: because this is the witness which God has given about his Son.

And his witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Because of this true knowledge which is in us, and will be with us for ever:

And love is the keeping of his laws. This is the law which was given to you from the first, so that you might keep it.

If anyone comes to you not having this teaching, do not take him into your house or give him words of love:

So if I come, I will keep in mind the things he does, talking against us with evil words: and as if this was not enough, he does not take the brothers into his house, and those who are ready to take them in, he keeps from doing so, putting them out of the church if they do.

For certain men have come among you secretly, marked out before in the holy Writings for this evil fate, men without the fear of God, turning his grace into an unclean thing, and false to our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

But I have this against you, that you are turned away from your first love.

But I have this against you, that you let the woman Jezebel say she is a prophet and give false teaching, making my servants go after the desires of the flesh and take food offered to false gods.

But to you I say, to the rest in Thyatira, even to those who have not this teaching, and have no knowledge of the secrets of Satan, as they say; I put on you no other weight.

After this I saw four angels in their places at the four points of the earth, keeping back the four winds in their hands, so that there might be no moving of the wind on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.

This is why they are before the high seat of God; and they are his servants day and night in his house: and he who is seated on the high seat will be a tent over them.

And if any man would do them damage, fire comes out of their mouth and puts an end to those who are working against them: and if any man has a desire to do them damage, in this way will he be put to death.

For this reason in one day will her troubles come, death and sorrow and need of food; and she will be completely burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who is her judge.

And put him into the great deep, and it was shut and locked over him, so that he might put the nations in error no longer, till the thousand years were ended: after this he will be let loose for a little time.

The rest of the dead did not come to life again till the thousand years were ended. This is the first coming back from the dead.

Happy and holy is he who has a part in this first coming: over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will be ruling with him a thousand years.

And death and Hell were put into the sea of fire. This is the second death, even the sea of fire.

In the middle of its street. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, having twelve sorts of fruits, giving its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree give life to the nations.

See, I come quickly. A blessing on him who keeps the words of this book of the prophet.

And he said to me, See you do it not; I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book: give worship to God.

And he said to me, Let not the words of this prophet's book be kept secret, because the time is near.

For I say to every man to whose ears have come the words of this prophet's book, If any man makes an addition to them, God will put on him the punishments which are in this book:

And if any man takes away from the words of this book, God will take away from him his part in the tree of life and the holy town, even the things which are in this book.