Your gold and your silver are wasted and their waste will be a witness against you, burning into your flesh. You have put by your store in the last days.

See, the money which you falsely kept back from the workers cutting the grass in your field, is crying out against you; and the cries of those who took in your grain have come to the ears of the Lord of armies.

You have been living delicately on earth and have taken your pleasure; you have made your hearts fat for a day of destruction.

You have given your decision against the upright man and have put him to death. He puts up no fight against you.

Go on waiting calmly, my brothers, till the coming of the Lord, like the farmer waiting for the good fruit of the earth till the early and late rains have come.

We say that those men who have gone through pain are happy: you have the story of Job and the troubles through which he went and have seen that the Lord was full of pity and mercy in the end.

And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will have forgiveness.

Who, through the purpose of God, have been made holy by the Spirit, disciples of Jesus, made clean by his blood: May you have grace and peace in full measure.

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,

To whom your love is given, though you have not seen him; and the faith which you have in him, though you do not see him now, gives you joy greater than words and full of glory:

For so you have the true end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

And it was made clear to those prophets that they were God's servants not for themselves but for you, to give you word of the things which have now come to your ears from the preachers of the good news through the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; things which even angels have a desire to see.

Being conscious that you have been made free from that foolish way of life which was your heritage from your fathers, not through a payment of things like silver or gold which come to destruction,

Who through him have faith in God who took him up again from the dead into glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.

And as you have made your souls clean, being ruled by what is true, and loving one another without deceit, see that your love is warm and from the heart:

Because you have had a new birth, not from the seed of man, but from eternal seed, through the word of a living and unchanging God.

If you have had a taste of the grace of the Lord:

And the value is for you who have faith; but it is said for those without faith, The very stone which the builders put on one side, was made the chief stone of the building;

Have respect for all, loving the brothers, fearing God, honouring the king.

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.

He took our sins on himself, giving his body to be nailed on the tree, so that we, being dead to sin, might have a new life in righteousness, and by his wounds we have been made well.

Because, like sheep, you had gone out of the way; but now you have come back to him who keeps watch over your souls.

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.

But you are happy if you undergo pain because of righteousness; have no part in their fear and do not be troubled;

Being conscious that you have done no wrong; so that those who say evil things about your good way of life as Christians may be put to shame.

Because for long enough, in times past, we have been living after the way of the Gentiles, given up to the desires of the flesh, to drinking and feasting and loose behaviour and unclean worship of images;

But they will have to give an account of themselves to him who is ready to be the judge of the living and the dead.

If anyone has anything to say, let it be as the words of God; if anyone has the desire to be the servant of others, let him do it in the strength which is given by God; so that in all things God may have the glory through Jesus Christ, whose are the glory and the power for ever.

But be glad that you are given a part in the pains of Christ; so that at the revelation of his glory you may have great joy.

And after you have undergone pain for a little time, the God of all grace who has given you a part in his eternal glory through Christ Jesus, will himself give you strength and support, and make you complete in every good thing;

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.

Simon Peter, a servant and Apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who with us have a part in the same holy faith in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:

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.

For if you have these things in good measure, they will make you fertile and full of fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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.

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.

And I will take every care so that you may have a clear memory of these things after my death.

And a great number will go with them in their evil ways, through whom the true way will have a bad name.

For if God did not have pity for the angels who did evil, but sent them down into hell, to be kept in chains of eternal night till they were judged;

And did not have mercy on the world which then was, but only kept safe Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he let loose the waters over the world of the evil-doers;

But specially those who go after the unclean desires of the flesh, and make sport of authority. Ready to take chances, uncontrolled, they have no fear of saying evil of those in high places:

But these men, like beasts without reason, whose natural use is to be taken and put to death, crying out against things of which they have no knowledge, will undergo that same destruction which they are designing for others;

Turning out of the true way, they have gone wandering in error, after the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who was pleased to take payment for wrongdoing;

For if, after they have got free from the unclean things of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again taken in the net and overcome, their last condition is worse than their first.

For it would have been better for them to have had no knowledge of the way of righteousness, than to go back again from the holy law which was given to them, after having knowledge of it.

But the present heaven and the present earth have been kept for destruction by fire, which is waiting for them on the day of the judging and destruction of evil men.

But be increased in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May he have glory now and for ever. So be it.

That which was from the first, which has come to our ears, and which we have seen with our eyes, looking on it and touching it with our hands, about the Word of life

(And the life was made clear to us, and we have seen it and are witnessing to it and giving you word of that eternal life which was with the Father and was seen by us);

We give you word of all we have seen and everything which has come to our ears, so that you may be united with us; and we are united with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ:

If we say that we have no sin, we are false to ourselves and there is nothing true in us.

If we say openly that we have done wrong, he is upright and true to his word, giving us forgiveness of sins and making us clean from all evil.

If we say that we have no sin, we make him false and his word is not in us.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may be without sin. And if any man is a sinner, we have a friend and helper with the Father, Jesus Christ, the upright one:

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

The man who says, I have knowledge of him, and does not keep his laws, is false, and there is nothing true in him:

I am writing to you, my children, because you have forgiveness of sins through his name.

I am writing to you, fathers, because you have knowledge of him who was from the first. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the Evil One. I have sent a letter to you, children, because you have knowledge of the Father.

I have sent a letter to you, fathers, because you have knowledge of him who was from the first. I have sent a letter to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God is in you, and because you have overcome the Evil One.

Have no love for the world or for the things which are in the world. If any man has love for the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

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.

And you have the Spirit from the Holy One and you all have knowledge.

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.

As for you, the Spirit which he gave you is still in you, and you have no need of any teacher; but as his Spirit gives you teaching about all things, and is true and not false, so keep your hearts in him, through the teaching which he has given you.

And now, my children, keep your hearts in him; so that at his revelation, we may have no fear or shame before him at his coming.

If you have knowledge that he is upright, it is clear to you that everyone who does righteousness is his offspring.

And you have knowledge that he came to take away sin: and in him there is no sin.

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

We are conscious that we have come out of death into life because of our love for the brothers. He who has no love is still in death.

When our heart says that we have done wrong; because God is greater than our heart, and has knowledge of all things.

My loved ones, if our heart does not say that we have done wrong, we have no fear 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.

My loved ones, do not put your faith in every spirit, but put them to the test, to see if they are from God: because a great number of false prophets have gone out into the world.

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.

You are of God, my little children, and you have overcome them because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

My loved ones, let us have love for one another: because love is of God, and everyone who has love is a child of God and has knowledge of God.

And the love of God was made clear to us when he sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.

My loved ones, if God had such love for us, it is right for us to have love for one another.

No man has ever seen God: if we have love for one another, God is in us and his love is made complete in us:

And we have seen and give witness that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

And we have seen and had faith in the love which God has for us. God is love, and everyone who has love is in God, and God is in him.

We have the power of loving, because he first had love for us.

If a man says, I have love for God, and has hate for his brother, his words are false: for how is the man who has no love for his brother whom he has seen, able to have love for God whom he has not seen?

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.

Anything which comes from God is able to overcome the world: and the power by which we have overcome the world is our faith.

I have put these things in writing for you who have faith in the name of the Son of God, so that you may be certain that you have eternal life.

I, a ruler in the church, send word to the noble sister who is of God's selection, and to her children, for whom I have true love; and not only I, but all who have knowledge of what is true;

And now, my sister, I make a request to you, not sending you a new law, but the law which we had from the first, that we have love for one another.

Because a number of false teachers have gone out into the world, who do not give witness that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Such a one is a false teacher and Antichrist.

Having much to say to you, it is not my purpose to put it all down with paper and ink: but I am hoping to come to you, and to have talk with you face to face, so that your joy may be full.

I, a ruler in the church, send word to the well loved Gaius, for whom I have true love.

I have no greater joy than to have news that my children are walking in the true way.

Who have given witness to the church of your love for them: and you will do well to send them on their way well cared for, as is right for servants of God:

I sent a letter to the church, but Diotrephes, whose desire is ever to have the first place among them, will not have us there.

But I am hoping to see you in a short time, and to have talk with you face to face. May you have peace. Your friends here send you their love. Give my love to our friends by name.

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, to those of God's selection who have been made holy by God the Father and are kept safe for Jesus Christ:

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.