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

Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned.

In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. The ancient verdict against them is still in force, and their destruction is not delayed.

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,

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.

First of all you must understand this: In the last days mockers will come and, following their own desires, will ridicule us

Now by that same word, the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire and are being kept for the day when ungodly people will be judged and destroyed.

But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will disappear with a roaring sound, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be exposed.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, think of the kind of holy and godly people you ought to be

as you look forward to and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire.

And the world and its desires are fading away, but the person who does God's will remains forever.

What you have heard from the beginning must abide in you. If what you have heard from the beginning abides in you, you will also abide in the Son and in the Father.

Even now, little children, abide in him. Then, when he appears, we will have confidence and will not turn away from him in shame when he comes.

Dear friends, we are now God's children, but what we will be like has not been revealed yet. We know that when the Messiah is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is.

This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and how we will be able to keep ourselves strong in his presence.

This is how love has been perfected among us: we will have confidence on the day of judgment because, during our time in this world, we are just like him.

And this is the confidence that we have in him: if we ask for anything according to his will, he listens to us.

that is present in us and will be with us forever.

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

They have testified before the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

I wrote a letter to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be in charge, will not recognize our authority.

For this reason, when I come I will call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against us. And not content with that, he refuses to receive the brothers. He even tries to stop those who want to accept them and throws them out of the church.

11How terrible it will be for them! For they lived like Cain did , rushed headlong into Balaam's error to make a profit, and destroyed themselves, as happened in Korah's rebellion.

They are wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their own shame. They are wandering stars for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever.

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."

They kept telling you, "In the last times there will be mockers, following their own ungodly desires."

Look! He is coming in the clouds. Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. So be it! Amen.

Therefore, remember how far you have fallen. Repent and go back to what you were doing at first. If you don't, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place unless you repent.

"Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life that is in God's paradise.'"

Don't be afraid of what you are going to suffer. Look! The Devil is going to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested. For ten days you will undergo suffering. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the victor's crown of life.

"Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be hurt by the second death.'"

So repent. If you don't, I will come to you quickly and wage war against them with the sword of my mouth.

"Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone. On the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the person who receives it.'"

Look! I am going to strike her with illness. Those who commit adultery with her will also suffer greatly, unless they repent from acting like her.

I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will reward each of you as your actions deserve.

To the person who conquers and continues to do what I've commanded to the end, I will give authority over the nations.

"He will rule them with an iron scepter; shattering them like clay pots.'

"Just as I have received authority from my Father, I will also give him the morning star.

So remember what you received and heard. Obey it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you won't know the time when I will come to you.

But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me in white clothes because they are worthy.

The person who conquers in this way will wear white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge his name in the presence of my Father and his angels.

I will make those who belong to the synagogue of Satan those who claim to be Jews and aren't, but are lying come and bow down at your feet. Then they will realize that I have loved you.

Because you have obeyed my command to endure, I will keep you from the hour of testing that is coming to the whole world to test those living on the earth.

I will make the one who conquers to become a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, and he will never go out of it again. I will write on him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God), and my own new name.

Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me.

To the one who conquers I will give a place to sit with me on my throne, just as I have conquered and have sat down with my Father on his throne.

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."

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power, because you created all things; they came into existence and were created because of your will."

You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on the earth."

I looked, and there was a pale green horse! Its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. They were given authority over one-fourth of the earth to kill people using wars, famines, plagues, and the wild animals of the earth.

They cried out in a loud voice, "Holy and true Sovereign, how long will it be before you judge and take revenge on those living on the earth who shed our blood?"

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.

They will never be hungry or thirsty again. Neither the sun nor its heat will ever beat down on them,

because the lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."

In those days people will seek death, but never find it. They will long to die, but death will escape them.

He swore an oath by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: "There will be no more delay.

When the time approaches for the seventh angel to blow his trumpet, God's secret plan will be fulfilled, as he had announced to his servants, the prophets."

So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll. "Take it and eat it," he told me. "It will turn bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth."

But don't measure the courtyard outside the Temple. Leave that out, because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the Holy City for 42 months.

I will give my two witnesses who wear sackcloth the authority to prophesy for 1,260 days."

When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will wage war against them, conquer them, and kill them.

Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

For three and a half days some members of the nations, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies and will not allow them to be placed in a tomb.

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.

When the seventh angel blew his trumpet, there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The world's kingdom has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever."

All those who had become settled down and at home, living on the earth, will worship it, everyone whose name had not been written in the Book of Life belonging to the lamb that had been slaughtered since the foundation of the world.

If anyone is to be taken captive, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with a sword, with a sword he will be killed. Here is a call for endurance and faith of the saints:

will drink the wine of God's wrath, which has been poured undiluted into the cup of his anger. He will be tortured with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the lamb.

Lord, who won't fear and praise your name? For you alone are holy, and all the nations will come and worship you because your judgments have been revealed."

Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls came and told me, "Come, I will show you how the notorious prostitute who sits on many waters will be judged.

"Why are you surprised?" The angel asked me. "I will tell you the secret of the woman and the beast with the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her.

The beast that you saw existed once, but is no longer, and is going to crawl out of the bottomless pit and then proceed to its destruction. Those living on earth, whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, will be surprised when they see the beast because it was, is no longer, and will come again.

The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom. They will receive authority to rule as kings with the beast for one hour.

They will wage war against the lamb, but the lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those who are called, chosen, and faithful are with him."

The ten horns and the beast you saw will hate the prostitute. They will leave her abandoned and naked. They will eat her flesh and burn her up with fire,

Just as she glorified herself and lived in luxury, inflict on her just as much torture and misery. In her heart she says, "I am a queen on a throne, not a widow. I will never see misery.'

For this reason, her diseases that result in death, misery, and famine will come in a single day. She will be burned up in a fire, because powerful is the Lord God who judges her."

The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality with her and lived in luxury with her, will cry and mourn over her when they see the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.

Frightened by the torture that she experiences, they will stand far away and cry out, "How terrible, how terrible it is for that great city, the powerful city Babylon, because your judgment arrived in a single hour!"

"The fruit that you crafted has abandoned you. All your dainties and your splendor are lost, and no one will ever find them again."

Frightened by the severity of her punishment, businesses that had become rich because of her will stand at a distance, crying and mourning:

Then a powerful angel picked up a stone that was like a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "The great city Babylon will be thrown down violently and will never be found again.

The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard within you again. No artisan of any trade will ever be found within you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard within you again.

The light from a lamp will never shine within you again. The voice of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard within you again. For your merchants were the important people of the world, and all the nations were deceived by your witchcraft.

A sharp sword comes out of his mouth to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod and tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.

How blessed and holy are those who participate in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them. They will be priests of God and the Messiah, and will rule with him for a thousand years.

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be freed from his prison.

He will go out to deceive Gog and Magog, the nations at the four corners of the earth, and gather them for war. They are as numerous as the sands of the seashore.

and the Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. They will be tortured day and night forever and ever.

I heard a loud voice from the throne say, "See, the tent of God is among humans! He will make his home with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won't be death anymore. There won't be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared."

Then he told me, "It has happened! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give a drink from the spring of the water of life to the one who is thirsty.

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

But people who are cowardly, unfaithful, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death."

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came to me and said, "Come! I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb."

The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day because there will be no night there.

People will bring the glory and wealth of the nations into it.

Nothing unclean, or anyone who does anything detestable, and no one who tells lies will ever enter it. Only those whose names are written in the lamb's Book of Life will enter it.

There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and the lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him