Jesus took upon Himself our sins [when] His body was placed upon the cross so that we, [through] dying to [i.e., giving up] the sinful life, would live for righteousness. You were healed [from your sins] by His being brutally treated.

For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

Thus Sara obeyed Abraham by calling him 'lord'. And you are daughters of Sara if you do what is right and yield to no panic.

For, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile:

And who do you think would [try to] hurt you if you become enthusiastic for doing what is right?

who in old times had been disobedient, when God's longsuffering was waiting in the days of Noah, while an ark was building, in which a few persons??ight in number??ere saved by water.)

who has gone into Heaven, and is at God's right hand, where Angels and Archangels and the Powers of Heaven now yield submission to him.

For you spent enough time in the past doing what the gentiles like to do, living in sensuality, sinful desires, drunkenness, wild celebrations, drinking parties, and detestable idolatry.

They insult you now because they are surprised that you are no longer joining them in the same excesses of wild living.

For it is the ripe time for the judgment to begin with the house of God; but, if first with us, what shall be the end of them who yield not unto the glad-message of God?

But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

Therefore, brothers, instead be diligent to make your calling and selection sure, for doing these things, ye would, no, not ever stumble.

Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

But there were indeed false prophets among the people of old, as there will be also among you false teachers, who will privately introduce pernicious heresies, denying even the Lord that bought them, and bringing upon themselves swift destruction,

And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not.

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgement; and if He spared not the old world,

And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;

especially those who yield to their physical nature and indulge in passions that defile them, and despise authority. Rash, headstrong men! They stand in no awe of majesty, but deride beings

suffering harm as punishment for their wrongdoing. They take pleasure in wild parties in broad daylight. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceitful pleasures while they eat with you.

For it would have been better for them not to have [personally] known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to have turned back from the holy commandment [verbally] handed on to them.

It has happened unto them according to the old proverb, The dog having returned to his own vomit; and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire.

This is the second letter I now write to you, my brethren, by which I would awaken your sincere attention,

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Whence the old world being drowned in water perished.

The Lord is not slack to fulfill his promise as some men count slackness: but is patient to us ward and would have no man lost, but would receive all men to repentance.

expecting, and vehemently desiring the day of the Lord would come, when the heavens all on fire shall be dissolv'd, and the elements shall melt with intense heat.

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

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.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

These things have I written unto you concerning them that would lead you astray.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

And in this we know that we are of the truth, and we will yield our hearts before him.

and every spirit that does not confess Jesus [acknowledging that He has come in the flesh, but would deny any of the Son’s true nature] is not of God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and is now already in the world.

besides, 'tis a commandment we have receiv'd from him, that he who would love God, must love his brother also.

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray that God would give him life. This applies to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not telling you to pray about that.

Little children (believers, dear ones), guard yourselves from idols—[false teachings, moral compromises, and anything that would take God’s place in your heart].

And now I beseech thee, lady, not as writing a new commandment to thee, but what we had from the beginning, that we would love each other.

Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.

who bare witness to thy love before the church: whom thou wilt do well to set forward on their journey worthily of God:

Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

Although I have a great deal to write to you, I would rather not write with pen and ink.

Beloved, having an earnest desire to write to you concerning the common salvation, I was under a necessity of writing to exhort you that ye would strive earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

But I would put you in remembrance, you who once knew all things, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, in the second place destroyed those who had not believed.

Wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved forever.

That they told you there would be mockers in the last time, who would walk after their own ungodly lusts.

Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and who keep the things which are written in it [heeding them and taking them to heart]; for the time [of fulfillment] is near.

Fear none of the things which thou wilt suffer: behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall suffer affliction ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

But I have a few things against you: You have there some who hold to the teaching of Balaam, the one who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and practice immorality.

And I gave her time so that she would repent, and she did not want to repent of her fornication.

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

Would that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of my mouth.

the twenty-four elders would fall down before him who sits on the throne, and would worship him who lives into the ages of the ages, and would cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

crying aloud, "The slain Lamb deserves to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing."

And another horse came out, fiery red, and it was granted to the one seated on it to take peace from the earth, and that they would slaughter one another, and a large sword was given to him.

And I heard what sounded like a voice coming from among the four living beings, saying, "A quart [measure] of wheat sells for a day's pay [Note: This amount would be $60-$84 in 1994, based on one day of a farm laborer's wages. See Matt. 20:2]; three quart measures of barley sell for a day's pay; but do not damage the [olive] oil and wine [i.e., the orchards and vineyards].

And I saw, and behold, a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death; and Hades followed with him. And there was given unto them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

They cried in a loud voice--'How long, O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, before thou wilt give judgment and avenge our blood upon all who are living upon the earth?'

So a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed just as they had been.

After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.

And I saw another angel rise up from the east, with the seal of the living God; he shouted aloud to the four angels who were allowed to injure the earth and sea,

And another agent came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer. And much incense was given to him, so that he would give with the prayers of all the sanctified upon the golden altar before the throne.

The fourth angel sounded, and one third of the sun was struck, and one third of the moon, and one third of the stars; so that one third of them would be darkened, and the day wouldn't shine for one third of it, and the night in the same way.

And it was granted to them that they should not kill them, but that they would be tormented five months, and their torment [is] like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a person.

And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind.

But those who were left of mankind, who had not perished through these Curses, did not repent and turn away from what their own hands had made; they would not abandon the worship of 'demons, and of idols made of gold or silver or brass or stone or wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk';

and shouted aloud like a lion roaring; and at his shout the seven thunders gave voice.

And took his oath by him who is living for ever and ever, who made the heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there would be no more waiting:

but at the time when the seventh angel spoke, when he should blow his trumpet, then God's mysterious purpose, the good news of which he gave to his slaves the prophets, would be accomplished.

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.

"And when they have fully delivered their testimony, the Wild Beast which is to rise out of the bottomless pit will make war upon them and overcome them and kill them.

the nations were enrag'd, but the time of thy vengeance is come, and the time when the dead are to be judged, when thou wilt reward thy servants the prophets, the saints, and those that fear thy name, small and great, and exterminate those who have corrupted the land."

Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

And the woman was given the two wings of a large eagle so she could fly to her place in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, and times and half a time, from the presence of the snake [i.e., for three and one half years. See 11:2; 12:6].

And the serpent poured water from his mouth--a very river it seemed--after the woman, in the hope that she would be carried away by its flood.

And he took up a position upon the sands of the sea-shore. Then I saw a Wild Beast coming up out of the sea, and he had ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten kingly crowns, and inscribed on his heads were names full of blasphemy.

The Wild Beast which I saw resembled a leopard, and had feet like the feet of a bear, and his mouth was like the mouth of a lion; and it was to the Dragon that he owed his power and his throne and his wide dominion.

And I saw one of his heads, showing that it had been slain unto death, and, the stroke of his death, was healed. And the whole earth marveled after the wild-beast,

And they offered worship to the Dragon, because it was to him that the Wild Beast owed his dominion; and they also offered worship to the Wild Beast, and said, "Who is there like him? And who is able to engage in battle with 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.

And all who dwell on the earth wilt worship him, every one whose name hath not been written in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.

Then I saw another Wild Beast, coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.

And the authority of the first Wild Beast--the whole of that authority--he exercises in his presence, and he causes the earth and its inhabitants to worship the first Wild Beast, whose mortal wound had been healed.

And it does great signs, so that even fire would come down out of the sky upon the earth in the sight of men.

And his power of leading astray the inhabitants of the earth is due to the marvels which he has been permitted to work in the presence of the Wild Beast. And he told the inhabitants of the earth to erect a statue to the Wild Beast who had received the sword-stroke and yet had recovered.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

And it makes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the freemen and the bondmen, that they would give them marks on their right hand, or on their foreheads.

and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Here is scope for ingenuity. Let people of shrewd intelligence calculate the number of the Wild Beast; for it indicates a certain man, and his number is 666.

he cried aloud, "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water."

And another, a third angel, followed them, exclaiming in a loud voice, "If any one worships the Wild Beast and his statue, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

And the smoke of their torment goes up until the Ages of the Ages; and the worshipers of the Wild Beast and his statue have no rest day or night, nor has any one who receives the mark of his name.

And another angel came out of the temple, shouting aloud to him who sat upon the cloud, "Thrust your sickle in and reap, the time has come to reap, the harvest of earth is ripe and ready."

Then I saw another great and marvelous [supernatural] sign in heaven. There were seven angels that had the seven last judgments which would complete the wrath of God.

And I saw what seemed to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had gained the victory over the Wild Beast and over his statue and the number of his name, standing by the sea of glass and having harps which belonged to God.

Who would never fear, Lord, and glorify your name? For only you [are] holy, because all the nations will come and worship before you, because your righteous deeds have been revealed."

The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power. No one was able to enter into the temple, until the seven plagues of the seven angels would be finished.