So that the true metal of your faith, being of much greater value than gold (which, though it comes to an end, is tested by fire), may come to light in praise and glory and honour, at the revelation of Jesus Christ:

Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that'should come unto you:

Attempting to see what sort of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was pointing to, when it gave witness to the pains which Christ would undergo and the glories which would come after them.

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.

So make your minds ready, and keep on the watch, hoping with all your power for the grace which is to come to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

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,

since your new Life has come, not from perishable, but imperishable, seed, through the Message of the Everliving God.

Come to him then, that living Stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, and precious.

You [believers], like living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house for a holy and dedicated priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.

Let your manner of life before the Gentiles be honest; so that, although they are now slandering you as evil-doers, they may, by beholding your noble conduct, come to glorify God, in the day of visitation.

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

And see to it that your conscience is entirely clear, so that every time you are slandered or falsely accused, those who attack or disparage your good behavior in Christ will be shamed [by their own words].

Because Christ once went through pain for sins, the upright one taking the place of sinners, so that through him we might come back to God; being put to death in the flesh, but given life in the Spirit;

The end and culmination of all things is near. Therefore, be sound-minded and self-controlled for the purpose of prayer [staying balanced and focused on the things of God so that your communication will be clear, reasonable, specific and pleasing to Him.]

Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

Do not think it strange, beloved, that a fiery ordeal has come to test you, as though some surprising thing had befallen you.

No, the more you share the sufferings of the Christ, the more may you rejoice, that, when the time comes for the manifestation of his Glory, you may rejoice and exult.

For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what'shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?

And when the Supreme Shepherd [i.e., Jesus] comes back, you will receive [for your effort] a glorious crown [of reward] that will never fade away [Note: The idea of "fading away" is suggested by the laurel wreath bestowed on the winner of an athletic contest].

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

God, from whom all help comes, and who called you, by your union with Christ, into his eternal glory, will, when you have suffered for a little while, himself perfect, establish, strengthen you.

It is through these that He has given us His precious and glorious promises, so that through them, after you have escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires, you may come to share in the divine nature.

For if these virtues are yours in abounding measure, they render you not idle nor unfruitful, until you come into the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For, he to whom these things are not present, is, blind, seeing only what is near, having come, to forget, his purification from his old sins.

since I know that the time for me to strike tent comes swiftly on, even as our Lord Jesus Christ pointed out to me.

We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

And so the words of the prophets are made more certain; and it is well for you to give attention to them as to a light shining in a dark place, till the dawn comes and the morning star is seen in your hearts;

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture comes to pass of a personal interpretation.

For these words did not ever come through the impulse of men: but the prophets had them from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

But there were false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly put forward wrong teachings for your destruction, even turning away from the Lord who gave himself for them; whose destruction will come quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it.

And in their desire for profit they will come to you with words of deceit, like traders doing business in souls: whose punishment has been ready for a long time and their destruction is watching for them.

and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and overwhelmed them with ashes, as a warning to ungodly men of what was to come,

[This fate will come upon] those people especially who corrupt themselves with physical desires and despise being ruled by others. They are daring, self-willed, and are not afraid to speak against glorious beings [i.e., angels],

Their eyes are filled with sexual lust, and they are never satisfied when it comes to sinning. They entice unstable people and have hearts trained to be greedy [i.e., they continually desire the possessions of others]. [In this condition] they are under God's curse.

knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts,

will come and ask scoffingly-- 'Where is his promised Coming? Ever since our fathers passed to their rest, everything remains just as it was when the world was first created!'

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

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.

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

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:

This is how we may know that we have come to know Him, by always keeping his commandments.

The one who says "I have come to know him," and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in this person.

and the truth is not in him; bit if any man obey his word, in him truly is the love of God made perfect. By this we come to know that we are in him.

I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have fully overcome the Evil One. I have written to you, little children, because you have learned to know the father.

I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and vigorous, and the word of God remains [always] in you, and you have been victorious over the evil one [by accepting Jesus as Savior].

because everything that is in the world, the things that our lower nature and eyes are longing for, and the proud pretensions of life, do not come from the Father, but from the world;

Children, it is the last hour. And as ye heard that the antichrist comes, and now many antichrists have developed, from which we know that it is the last hour.

I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.

And now, dear children, I repeat, you must continue to live in union with Him, so that if He is unveiled, we may have unshaken confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame when He comes.

See what wonderful love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called God's children, and that is what we are! This is why the world does not know what we are, because it has never come to know Him.

Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory].

No one who continues to live in union with Him practices sin. No one who practices sin has ever seen Him or come to know Him.

By this the Children of God are distinguished from the Children of the Devil--No one who lives unrighteously comes from God, and especially the man who does not love his Brother.

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.

By this we know [and have come to understand the depth and essence of His precious] love: that He [willingly] laid down His life for us [because He loved us]. And we ought to lay down our lives for the believers.

By this we shall come to know that we are really of the truth,

Dearly beloved, if our consciences do not condemn us, we come with perfect confidence to God,

Dearly beloved, stop believing every so-called spiritual utterance, but keep testing them to see whether they come from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

and every spirit that does not confess Jesus Christ has come in flesh is not of God. And this is that of the antichrist, which ye have heard that it comes, and is now in the world already.

You, my Children, come from God, and you have successfully resisted such men as these, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

We come from God. He who knows God listens to us; the man who does not come from God does not listen to us. By that we may know the true inspiration from the false.

Loved ones, we should have love for one another, because love comes from [the very nature of] God, and every person who [continually] loves [others] has been [spiritually] conceived by God [See 2:29; 3:9], and knows [he is in fellowship with] God.

Whoever does not love has never come to know God by experience, because God is love.

By this we come to know that we are abiding in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit;

And, we, have come to understand and to trust the love which, God, hath, in us. God, is, love; and, he that abideth in love, in God, abideth, and, God, in him abideth.

By this we know [without any doubt] that we love the children of God: [expressing that love] when we love God and obey His commandments.

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

This one is he who did come through water and blood -- Jesus the Christ, not in the water only, but in the water and the blood; and the Spirit it is that is testifying, because the Spirit is the truth,

We realize that we come from God, while all the world is under the influence of the Evil One.

And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

The Elder to the Elect Lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have come to know the truth.

For many impostors have gone out into the world, men who do not own that Jesus Christ continues to come in human form. A person like this is the impostor and the Antichrist.

If any man comes to you, and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into a house, and do not speak to him to rejoice.

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

For I am happy to have some brothers come and testify to the truth that is in you, since you are living by the truth.

My loved one, you are doing a good work in being kind to those brothers who come from other places;

wherefore if I come I will declare his deeds which he doeth, jesting on us with malicious words, neither is therewith content. Not only he himself receiveth not the brethren: but also he forbiddeth them that would, and thrusteth them out of the congregation.

Dear friends, I was just on the point of writing to you about our common salvation, when it became necessary for me to write and appeal to you to come to the defense of the faith that has once for all been intrusted to God's people.

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.

A curse on them! They have gone in the way of Cain, running uncontrolled into the error of Balaam for reward, and have come to destruction by saying evil against the Lord, like Korah.

Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied before of such saying, "Behold, the Lord shall come with thousands of saints,

For they said to you, "In the end time there will come scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires."

to the one God, our Saviour, be ascribed, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, glory, majesty, power, and dominion, as it was before time began, is now, and shall be for all time to come. Amen.

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, for to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and showed by his angel unto his servant John,

John, to the seven congregations in Asia. Grace be with you and peace, from him which is and which was, and which is to come: and from the seven spirits which are present before his throne,

And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood;

Behold, he comes with the clouds and every eye will see him, even the men who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will wail against him. Yea, Truly.

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending," saith the Lord almighty, which is and which was and which is to come.

I am John, your brother and partner in the oppression, kingdom, and patience that comes because of Jesus. I was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus.

Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter;

Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works. Or else I will come unto thee shortly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

"And write [this] to the angel of the church at Smyrna: These things are the words of the First and the Last [i.e., Jesus], who was dead, but has come [back] to life:

I know your persecution and your poverty--yet you are rich! I know, too, the slander that come from those who declare that they are Jews, though they are not, but are a Congregation of Satan.

He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not come under the power of the second death.

But be converted, or else I will come unto thee shortly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Her children too shall surely die; and all the Churches shall come to know that I am He who searches into men's inmost thoughts; and to each of you I will give a requital which shall be in accordance with what your conduct has been.

But, unto you, I say, - the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as have not this teaching, such as have not come to know the deep things of Satan, as they say, I do not cast upon you any other burden;