and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for from the day when the fathers fell asleep, all things remain as from the beginning of creation.

For [when] they maintain this, it escapes [their] notice that the heavens existed long ago and the earth held together out of water and through water by the word of God,

Through these waters the world of that time perished when it was flooded.

But by the same command the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire and are kept for the day when godless men are to be doomed and destroyed.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare.

Looking for and truly desiring the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will come to an end through fire, and the substance of the earth will be changed by the great heat?

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.

It is the same in all his letters when he speaks of these things. There are indeed some things in his letters hard to understand, which the ignorant and the shifty wrest, as also they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

If we say, "We have partnership with Him," when we are passing our life in the darkness, we are lying and are not doing the truth.

Do not love the world or what the world can offer. When any one loves the world, there is no love for the Father in him;

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is made known, we may have confidence, and not be shamed by him at his coming.

We are God's children now, beloved; what we shall be has never yet been made manifest. But we know that when he is manifested we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is.

not [hate each other] the way Cain did, who belonged to the evil one [i.e., Satan], when he murdered his brother [Abel]. And why did he murder him? It was because his [own] actions were evil and his brother's were righteous [See Heb. 11:4].

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

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.

Love attains perfection in us, when we have perfect confidence about the Day of Judgment, because here in this world we are living as he lives.

Fear does not exist in love; but love, when it is perfect, drives out fear. For fear has always torment, and he who has fear is not yet perfected in love.

Hereby we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do his commandments.

I was very happy when I learned that some of your children [i.e., members of the congregation] are living in [harmony with the] truth, just as we have been commanded to do by the Father.

I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, how thou in truth walkest.

I have no greater joy than that which I have when I hear my children are walking in truth.

Beloved, you are acting faithfully in what you are providing for the brothers, and especially when they are strangers;

which bare witness of thy love before all the congregation. Which brethren, when thou bringest forwards on their journey - as it beseemeth God - thou shalt do well:

Do them when I come I will recall to mind the deeds which he is doing, prating against me with wicked words. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to receive the brothers, forbids those that would receive them, and excommunicates them from the church.

I had many things [to say when I began] to write to you, but I prefer not to put it down with pen (reed) and black (ink);

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, to exhort you, that ye should continually labour in the faith, which was once given unto the saints.

I am minded, therefore, to put you in remembrance, - though ye know all things once for all, That the Lord, when a people out of Egypt he had saved, in, the next place, them that believed not, destroyed.

And angels, who did not remain within [the bounds of] their proper authority, but left their own realm, God has kept in perpetual bondage, under [thick] darkness, awaiting judgment on the Great Day [when they will be punished].

In like manner also do these men, even when they dream, defile indeed the flesh, despise sovereignty, and revile dignities.

Yet Michael the archangel, when he strove against the devil, and disputed the body of Moses, durst not give railing sentence, but said, "The Lord rebuke thee."

These are they who are hidden rocks in your love-feasts when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

It was about such men also that Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied when he said: "See! The Lord comes with myriads of His people

Some, when they argue with you, you must endeavor to convince;

The person who reads this [book] and those who listen to the words of this prophecy and who obey what is written in it are blessed, for the time [when some of it will occur] is near. [See verse 1].

I was in [i.e., under the influence of] the Holy Spirit on the Lord's day [i.e., Sunday], when I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet,

And I turned back to see the voice that spake to me. And when I was turned: I saw seven golden candlesticks.

when glowing in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

And, having in his right hand, seven stars, and, out of his mouth, a sharp, two-edged sword, going forth; and, his whole appearance, as when, the sun, shineth in its strength.

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet, even as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, "Fear not. I am the first and the last,

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.

So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will] and do the works you did at first [when you first knew Me]; otherwise, I will visit you and remove your lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place—unless you repent.

I know your persecution and your poverty??ut you are rich! I know the reviling of those who say that they themselves are Jews, when they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where the throne of satan is: thou maintainest my name, and hast not renounced your faith in me, even at a time when Antipas my faithful martyr was slain among you, where Satan dwells.

I know about your deeds, your love, your faith, your service and your endurance, and that your most recent deeds are more numerous than when you first began [your Christian lives].

and he shall shepherd and rule them with a rod of iron, as the earthen pots are broken in pieces, as I also have received authority [and power to rule them] from My Father;

Keep in mind, then, the teaching which was given to you, and be ruled by it and have a change of heart. If then you do not keep watch, I will come like a thief, and you will have no knowledge of the hour when I will come on you.

I will make some who belong to that synagogue of Satan and claim to be Jews when they are not so, but are lying?? will make them come and bow down at your feet, and learn that I loved you.

Because you have obeyed my command to remain steadfast [in the face of difficult times], I will also keep you from [giving up when] the time of trial comes, which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those living on the earth.

To him who conquers--to him I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, as I, when I conquered, took my seat beside my Father on his throne.

At another time I had a vision, when I saw a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard talking to me, was like the sound of a trumpet; which said, "come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."

the four animals had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within; and they never ceas'd day and night, crying, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, Lord God ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS, WHO IS, AND WHO WILL BE. and when those animals gave glory,

And when those beasts gave glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the seat, which liveth forever and ever,

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and twenty four elders fell down before the lamb, having harps and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints,

And I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four beasts say, as it were the noise of thunder, "Come and see."

And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second being saying, Come.

And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third being saying, Come and see. And behold, a black horse, and he who sits on it having a balance in his hand.

And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth being saying, Come and see.

And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God, and because of the testimony of the Lamb that they held.

and they were crying with a great voice, saying, 'Till when, O Master, the Holy and the True, dost Thou not judge and take vengeance of our blood from those dwelling upon the land?'

And I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake occurred, and the sun became black as hairy sackcloth, and the whole moon became as blood.

and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth from her her figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

And heaven vanished away, as a scroll when it is rolled together. And all mountains and isles were moved out of their places.

When the sealing was finished, I heard how many were sealed out of the tribes of the descendants of Israel. They were 144,000.

And when he opened the seventh seal, silence occurred in heaven, like half an hour.

Another angel came and stood at the altar. He had a golden censer, and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints (God’s people) on the golden altar in front of the throne.

[When] the first trumpet sounded [I saw] hail and fire, mingled with blood, being hurled down onto the earth. And one third of it was burned up, and one third of the trees were burned up and all the green grass was [also] burned up.

[When] the second angel sounded its trumpet [I saw] what seemed like a huge mountain, ablaze with fire, being thrown into the ocean. And one third of the ocean turned to blood,

[When] the third angel sounded its trumpet [I saw] a huge star, like a flaming torch, falling from heaven. It fell on one third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

[When] the fourth angel sounded its trumpet [I saw] one third of the sun, one third of the moon, and one third of the stars being struck, so that one third [of their light] would become darkened. So, the daytime had [only] one third of its [normal] light, and the nighttime was the same way.

[When] the fifth angel sounded its trumpet, I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. And the key to the shaft leading to the deep pit [Note: This is thought to be the place where the devil and his demons live] was given to him.

And it was given them that they would not kill them, but that they would be tormented five months. And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.

And they had habergeons, as it were habergeons of iron. And the sound of their wings, was as the sound of chariots when many horses run together to battle.

When the sixth angel blew his trumpet, I heard a voice from the four horns of the gold altar in front of God.

And he cried out in a great voice as a lion roars. And when he cried out, the seven thunders uttered their voices.

And when the seven thunders uttered, I was going to write. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up what the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.

But in the days of the voice of the seventh agent, when he is going to sound, and the mystery of God is finished, as he declared the good-news to his bondmen the prophets.

So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. "Take it," he said, "and eat the whole of it. You will find it bitter when you have eaten it, although in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey."

And I took the book out of the agent's hand, and ate it. And it was sweet as honey in my mouth, and when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.

When any one wishes to hurt them, fire comes from their mouth and devours their enemies; and if any man wishes to hurt them, in this manner he must be killed.

These have the power to keep the heaven shut, so that there may be no rain in the days when they are prophets: and they have power over the waters to make them into blood, and to send every sort of disease on the earth as their pleasure is.

And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war with them, and he will overcome them and kill them.

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."

And the nations (Gentiles) became enraged, and Your wrath and indignation came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and [the time came] to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints (God’s people) and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and [the time came] to destroy the destroyers of the earth.”

And his tail drags the third part of the stars of the sky, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was going to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male.

and I heard a voice from heaven, which was like the noise of many waters, or like a great thunder-clap: I heard too a sound like that of a harp, when touch'd by the hand of a musician.

After this, when the doors of the sanctuary of the tent of witness in Heaven were opened, I looked;

And there were flames and voices and thunders; and there was a great earth-shock so that never, from the time when men were on the earth, had there been so great an earth-shock, so full of power.

And I saw the wife drunken with the blood of saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with great marvel.

The beast that thou seest, was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and shall go into perdition, and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder - whose names are not written in the book of life from he beginning of the world - when they behold the beast that was, and is not.

And there are seven kings, the five are fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain a little while.

And the kings of the earth shall beweep her and wail over her, which have committed fornication with her, and have lived wantonly with her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

and cried, when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, "What city is like unto this great city?'

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

I am John, which saw these things and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down, to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things.

And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time [of their fulfillment] is near.