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.

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

But most of all, my brothers, do not take oaths, not by the heaven, or by the earth, or by any other thing: but let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No: so that you may not be judged.

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.

But be holy in every detail of your lives, as he, whose servants you are, is holy;

But through holy blood, like that of a clean and unmarked lamb, even the blood of Christ:

Who was marked out by God before the making of the world, but was caused to be seen in these last times for you,

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.

But the word of the Lord is eternal. And this is the word of the good news which was given to you.

To whom you come, as to a living stone, not honoured by men, but of great and special value to God;

Because it is said in the Writings, See, I am placing a keystone in Zion, of great and special value; and the man who has faith in him will not be put to shame.

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;

But you are a special people, a holy nation, priests and kings, a people given up completely to God, so that you may make clear the virtues of him who took you out of the dark into the light of heaven.

In the past you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; then there was no mercy for you, but now mercy has been given to you.

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

As those who are free, not using your free position as a cover for wrongdoing, but living as the servants of God;

Servants, take orders from your masters with all respect; not only if they are good and gentle, but even if they are bad-humoured.

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.

To sharp words he gave no sharp answer; when he was undergoing pain, no angry word came from his lips; but he put himself into the hands of the judge of righteousness:

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

But let them be those of the unseen man of the heart, the ever-shining ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great price in the eyes of God.

As Sarah was ruled by Abraham, naming him lord; whose children you are if you do well, and are not put in fear by any danger.

And you husbands, give thought to your way of life with your wives, giving honour to the woman who is the feebler vessel, but who has an equal part in the heritage of the grace of life; so that you may not be kept from prayer.

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.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the upright, and his ears are open to their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

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

But give honour to Christ in your hearts as your Lord; and be ready at any time when you are questioned about the hope which is in you, to give an answer in the fear of the Lord and without pride;

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 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;

Who, in the days of Noah, went against God's orders; but God in his mercy kept back the punishment, while Noah got ready the ark, in which a small number, that is to say eight persons, got salvation through water:

And baptism, of which this is an image, now gives you salvation, not by washing clean the flesh, but by making you free from the sense of sin before God, through the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead;

Who has gone into heaven, and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been put under his rule.

So that as Jesus was put to death in the flesh, do you yourselves be of the same mind; for the death of the flesh puts an end to sin;

So that you may give the rest of your lives in the flesh, not to the desires of men, but to the purpose of God.

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.

For this was the reason why the good news of Jesus was given even to the dead, so that they might be judged as men in the flesh, but might be living before God in the spirit.

But the end of all things is near: so be serious in your behaviour and keep on the watch with prayer;

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.

But if he undergoes punishment as a Christian, that is no shame to him; let him give glory to God in this name.

For the time has come for the judging, starting with the church of God; but if it makes a start with us, what will be the end of those who are not under the rule of God?

For this reason let those who by the purpose of God undergo punishment, keep on in well-doing and put their souls into the safe hands of their Maker.

Keep watch over the flock of God which is in your care, using your authority, not as forced to do so, but gladly; and not for unclean profit but with a ready mind;

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

And in the same way, let the younger men be ruled by the older ones. Let all of you put away pride and make yourselves ready to be servants: for God is a hater of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low.

Do not give way to him but be strong in your faith, in the knowledge that your brothers who are in the world undergo the same troubles.

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.

For when we gave you news of the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our teaching was not based on stories put together by art, but we were eye-witnesses of his glory.

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 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;

But his wrongdoing was pointed out to him: an ass, talking with a man's voice, put a stop to the error of the prophet.

They are an example of that true saying, The dog has gone back to the food it had put out, and the pig which had been washed to its rolling in the dirty earth.

But in taking this view they put out of their minds the memory that in the old days there was a heaven, and an earth lifted out of the water and circled by water, by the word of God;

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, my loved ones, keep in mind this one thing, that with the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years are no more than one day.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his word, as he seems to some, but he is waiting in mercy for you, not desiring the destruction of any, but that all may be turned from their evil ways.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; and in that day the heavens will be rolled up with a great noise, and the substance of the earth will be changed by violent heat, and the world and everything in it will be burned up.

But having faith in his word, we are looking for a new heaven and a new earth, which will be the resting-place of righteousness.

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.

But if we are walking in the light, as he is in the light, we are all united with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son makes us clean from all sin.

He is the offering for our sins; and not for ours only, but for all the world.

But in every man who keeps his word, the love of God is made complete. By this we may be certain that we are in him:

My loved ones, I do not give you a new law, but an old law which you had from the first; this old law is the word which came to your ears.

But he who has hate for his brother is in the dark, walking in the dark with no knowledge of where he is going, unable to see because of the dark.

Because everything in the world, the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but of the world.

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

They went out from us but they were not of us; if they had been of us they would still be with us: but they went out from us so that it might be made clear that they were not of us.

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.

Who is false but he who says that Jesus is not the Christ? He is the Antichrist who has no belief in the Father or the Son.

But as for you, keep in your hearts the things which were made clear to you from the first. If you keep these things in your hearts you will be kept in the Father and the Son.

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.

The sinner is a child of the Evil One; for the Evil One has been a sinner from the first. And the Son of God was seen on earth so that he might put an end to the works of the Evil One.

Not being of the Evil One like Cain, who put his brother to death. And why did he put him to death? Because his works were evil and his brother's works were good.

But if a man has this world's goods, and sees that his brother is in need, and keeps his heart shut against his brother, how is it possible for the love of God to be in him?

My little children, do not let our love be in word and in tongue, but let it be in act and in good faith.

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.

And this is love, not that we had love for God, but that he had love for us, and sent his Son to be an offering for our sins.

Who is able to overcome the world but the man who has faith that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is he who came by water and by blood, Jesus Christ; not by water only but by water and by blood.

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.

If a man sees his brother doing a sin which is not bad enough for death, let him make a prayer to God, and God will give life to him whose sin was not bad enough for death. There is a sin whose punishment is death: I do not say that he may make such a request then.

All evil-doing is sin: but death is not the punishment for every sort of sin.

We are certain that one who is a child of God will do no sin, but the Son of God keeps him so that he is not touched by the Evil One.

We are certain that we are of God, but all the world is in the power of the Evil One.

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.

Keep watch over yourselves, so that you do not make our work of no effect, but may get your full reward.

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

My loved one, do not be copying what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God: he who does evil has not seen God.

I had much to say to you, but it is not my purpose to put it all down with ink and pen:

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.

Now it is my purpose to put you in mind, though you once had knowledge of all these things, of how the Lord, having taken a people safely out of Egypt, later sent destruction on those who had no faith;

And the angels who did not keep to their kingdom but went out from the place which was theirs, he has put in eternal chains and in dark night till the great day of the judging.

But these men say evil about such things as they have no knowledge of; and the things of which they have natural knowledge, like beasts without reason, are the cause of their destruction.

But you, my loved ones, keep in memory the words which were said before by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,