Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

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.

Because it is God's pleasure that foolish and narrow-minded men may be put to shame by your good behaviour:

This is God's purpose for you: because Jesus himself underwent punishment for you, giving you an example, so that you might go in his footsteps:

Not as lords over God's heritage, but making yourselves examples to the flock.

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.

And the world and its desires is coming to an end: but he who does God's pleasure is living for ever.

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;

The children of your noble sister, who is of God's selection, send you their love.

who has gone to heaven and is now at God's right hand, with angels, heavenly authorities and powers made subject to Him.

While Athaliah ruled over the land, he was hiding with them in God’s temple six years.

And the angel said to her, Have no fear, Mary, for you have God's approval.

Therefore, those who suffer in accordance with God's will must also, in doing right, entrust their souls to the Creator who is faithful.

Then a proclamation was issued in Judah and Jerusalem that the tax God’s servant Moses imposed on Israel in the wilderness be brought to the Lord.

The workmen did their work, and through them the repairs progressed. They restored God’s temple to its specifications and reinforced it.

Therefore, brothers, be all the more in earnest to make certain to yourselves God's call and choice of you. For if you cultivate these qualities, you will never slip,

For they willfully ignore the fact that long ago the heavens existed and the earth that had been formed by God's command out of water and through water,

I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and God's message is always in your hearts, and you have conquered the evil one.

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.

But the unbeliever does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it.

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God’s glory.

Be on the watch, and make strong the rest of the things which are near to death; because as judged by me your works have not come up to God's measure.

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea say: These things says the true and certain witness, the head of God's new order:

There is nothing better for man than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,

And [when] the centurion who was standing opposite him saw that he expired like this, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!"

For which cause, I put thee in remembrance, to be stirring up God's gift of favour, which is in thee through means of the laying on of my hands;

And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that thou wilt give me I will without fail give the tenth to thee.

Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: the righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands.People don’t know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them.

To him will be given of the wine of God's wrath which is ready unmixed in the cup of his wrath and he will have cruel pain, burning with fire before the holy angels and before the Lamb:

And I saw a sea which seemed like glass mixed with fire; and those who had overcome the beast and his image and the number of his name, were in their places by the sea of glass, with God's instruments of music in their hands.

Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were deputies under the authority of Conaniah and his brother Shimei by appointment of King Hezekiah and of Azariah the chief official of God’s temple.

Dearly beloved, while I was doing my best to begin writing you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write and urge you to carry on a vigorous defense of the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's people.

I, John, your brother and companion with you in the trouble, the kingdom, and the patient endurance which Jesus gives, found myself on the island called Patmos, for preaching God's message and testifying to Jesus.

So they went to Hilkiah the high priest, and gave him the money brought into God’s temple. The Levites and the doorkeepers had collected money from Manasseh, Ephraim, and from the entire remnant of Israel, and from all Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

His officials also donated willingly for the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, chief officials of God’s temple, gave 2,600 Passover sacrifices and 300 bulls for the priests.

When He took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each with a harp, and golden bowls that were full of incense, which represent the prayers of God's people.

And the tempter came up and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn to bread."

and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the Scripture says: "'He will give His angels directions about you, And they will bear you up on their hands, so you will never strike your foot against a stone.'"

For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I persecuted God’s church to an extreme degree and tried to destroy it.

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beautiful town which is the pride of the Chaldaeans, will be like God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly be by the law.

And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and God's grace was upon him.

When He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for being faithful to God's message and for the testimony they bore to it.

Then another angel with a censer of gold came and stood at the altar, and a great quantity of incense was given to him to mingle with the prayers of all God's people, on the altar of gold that stood before the throne.

They were told not to injure the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only the people who did not have the mark of God's seal on their foreheads.

but in the days when the seventh angel speaks, when he is about to blow his trumpet, then God's mysterious message, in accordance with the good news He gave to His slaves, the prophets, would be accomplished.

Permission was given to him to make war on God's people and to conquer them; authority was given to him over every tribe, people, language, and nation.

Whoever leads others into captivity will go into captivity himself. Whoever kills with the sword must be killed with the sword himself. In this way will be shown the patient endurance and the fidelity of God's people.

Now the construction of God’s house in Jerusalem had stopped and remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.

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He also took from the temple in Babylon the gold and silver articles of God’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and carried them to the temple in Babylon. He released them from the temple in Babylon to a man named Sheshbazzar, the governor by the appointment of King Cyrus.

Then this same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of God’s house in Jerusalem. It has been under construction from that time until now, yet it has not been completed.

Then I saw another symbol in heaven, great and wonderful: seven angels bringing seven plagues which are to be the last, because with them God's wrath is completely expressed.

Then I heard a loud voice from the sanctuary say to the seven angels: "Go and empty the seven bowls of God's wrath upon the earth."

For the dedication of God’s house they offered 100 bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs, as well as 12 male goats as a sin offering for all Israel—one for each Israelite tribe.

And when Jacob saw them he said, This is God's camp. And he called the name of that place Two Camps.

I saw the woman drinking herself drunk with the blood of God's people and the blood of the martyred witnesses to Jesus. When I saw her, I was utterly astonished,

But He answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you?

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother:

and that they may come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and recognized God’s grace in the truth.

I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery—Christ.

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

Because of these, God’s wrath comes on the disobedient,

All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with all of you.

because I hear of your love and of your faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints (God’s people).

For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you.

For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, since you have also suffered the same things from people of your own country, just as they did from the Jews

You also are being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things.

Take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit,
which is God’s word.

Now if you are exempt from correction and without discipline, in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate children and not sons [at all].

Give our greetings to all of your [spiritual] leaders and to all of the saints (God’s people). Those [Christians] from Italy send you their greetings.

And the seed whose fruit is righteousness (spiritual maturity) is sown in peace by those who make peace [by actively encouraging goodwill between individuals].

who are being protected and shielded by the power of God through your faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time.

Then I saw an angel standing on the sun, and in a loud voice shouting to all the birds that fly in mid-air: "Come! Gather for God's great banquet,

For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak [frail, sinful, dying men], but the word of the oath [of God], which came after [the institution of] the Law, permanently appoints [as priest] a Son who has been made perfect forever.

So even the first covenant was not put in force without [the shedding of] blood.

All these died in faith [guided and sustained by it], without receiving the [tangible fulfillment of God’s] promises, only having seen (anticipated) them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested [that is, as the testing of his faith was still in progress], offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises [of God] was ready to sacrifice his only son [of promise];

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, for the promise of life in Christ Jesus:

But it was our pain he took, and our diseases were put on him: while to us he seemed as one diseased, on whom God's punishment had come.

Has a people heard God’s voice speaking from the fire as you have, and lived?

Therefore, we ourselves boast about you among God’s churches—about your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you endure.

and they have testified before the church of your love and friendship. You will do well to [assist them and] send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

(If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?)

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.

On the day of the assembly the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by God’s finger. The exact words were on them, which the Lord spoke to you from the fire on the mountain.

And if those days had not been cut short, nobody would have escaped, but for the sake of God's chosen people those days will be cut short.

All who are under the yoke as slaves must regard their own masters to be worthy of all respect, so that God’s name and His teaching will not be blasphemed.

for false Christs and false prophets will announce themselves, and they will show great signs and wonders to mislead, if possible, God's chosen people.

Come to Him [the risen Lord] as to a living Stone which men rejected and threw away, but which is choice and precious in the sight of God.

Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

In the same way, you husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way [with great gentleness and tact, and with an intelligent regard for the marriage relationship], as with someone physically weaker, since she is a woman. Show her honor and respect as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered or ineffective.

He was afraid, and said, "How dreadful is this place. This is none other than God's house, and this is the gate of heaven."

As free, yet, not as a cloak of vice, holding your freedom, but, as God's servants.

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [ignoring God’s law by action or neglect or by tolerating wrongdoing—being unrestrained by His commands and His will].

I say to you, This man went back to his house with God's approval, and not the other: for everyone who makes himself high will be made low and whoever makes himself low will be made high.

having God’s glory [filled with His radiant light]. The brilliance of it resembled a rare and very precious jewel, like jasper, shining and clear as crystal.

Seraiah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the chief official of God’s temple,