to an inheritance imperishable, undefiled and unfading, which has been reserved in Heaven for you,

but--in imitation of the holy One who has called you--you also must be holy in all your habits of life.

He was pre-destined indeed to this work, even before the creation of the world, but has been plainly manifested in these last days for the sake of you who, through Him,

But the word of the Lord remains for ever." And that means the Message which has been proclaimed among you in the Good News.

To you believers, therefore, that honour belongs; but for unbelievers-- "A Stone which the builders rejected has been made the Cornerstone,"

Since, then, Christ has suffered in the flesh, you also must arm yourselves with a determination to do the same--because he who has suffered in the flesh has done with sin--

Whatever be the gifts which each has received, you must use them for one another's benefit, as good stewards of God's many-sided kindness.

For the time has come for judgement to begin, and to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who reject God's Good News?

And God, the giver of all grace, who has called you to share His eternal glory, through Christ, after you have suffered for a short time, will Himself make you perfect, firm, and strong.

Simon Peter, a bondservant and Apostle of Jesus Christ: To those to whom there has been allotted the same precious faith as that which is ours through the righteousness of our God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

seeing that His divine power has given us all things that are needful for life and godliness, through our knowledge of Him who has appealed to us by His own glorious perfections.

It is by means of these that He has granted us His precious and wondrous promises, in order that through them you may, one and all, become sharers in the very nature of God, having completely escaped the corruption which exists in the world through earthly cravings.

For the man in whom they are lacking is blind and cannot see distant objects, in that he has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his old sins.

For this reason, brethren, be all the more in earnest to make sure that God has called you and chosen you; for it is certain that so long as you practise these things, you will never stumble.

For I know that the time for me to lay aside my body is now rapidly drawing near, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to me.

But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be teachers of falsehood among you also, who will cunningly introduce fatal divisions, disowning even the Sovereign Lord who has redeemed them, and bringing on themselves swift destruction.

Thirsting for riches, they will trade on you with their canting talk. From of old their judgement has been working itself out, and their destruction has not been slumbering.

These people are wells without water, mists driven along by a storm, men for whom the dense darkness has been reserved.

And they promise them freedom, although they are themselves the slaves of what is corrupt. For a man is the slave of any one by whom he has been worsted in fight.

For if, after escaping from the pollutions of the world through a full knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, people are once more entangled in these pollutions and are overcome, their last state has become worse than their first.

Their case is that described in the true proverb, "A dog returns to what he has vomited," and also in the other proverb, "The sow has washed itself and now goes back to roll in its filth."

and, asking, "What has become of His promised Return? For from the time our forefathers fell asleep all things continue as they have been ever since the creation of the world."

And always regard the patient forbearance of our Lord as salvation, as our dear brother Paul also has written to you in virtue of the wisdom granted to him.

If we claim to be already free from sin, we lead ourselves astray and the truth has no place in our hearts.

If we deny that we have sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Message has no place in our hearts.

He who professes to know Him, and yet does not obey His commands, is a liar, and the truth has no place in his heart.

But whoever obeys His Message, in him love for God has in very deed reached perfection. By this we can know that we are in Him.

But he who hates his brother man is in darkness and is walking in darkness; and he does not know where he is going--because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the very beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the Evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.

I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the very beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and God's Message still has a place in your hearts, and you have overcome the Evil one.

Dear children, the last hour has come; and as you once heard that there was to be an anti-Christ, so even now many anti-Christs have appeared. By this we may know that the last hour has come.

No one who disowns the Son has the Father. He who acknowledges the Son has also the Father.

And this is the promise which He Himself has given us--the Life of the Ages.

And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains within you, and there is no need for any one to teach you. But since His anointing gives you instruction in all things--and is true and is no falsehood--you are continuing in union with Him even as it has taught you to do.

See what marvellous love the Father has bestowed upon us--that we should be called God's children: and that is what we are. For this reason the world does not recognize us--because it has not known Him.

Dear friends, we are now God's children, but what we are to be in the future has not yet been fully revealed. We know that if Christ reappears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.

And every man who has this hope fixed on Him, purifies himself so as to be as pure as He is.

No one who continues in union with Him lives in sin: no one who lives in sin has seen Him or knows Him.

He who is habitually guilty of sin is a child of the Devil, because the Devil has been a sinner from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for the purpose of undoing the work of the Devil.

Every one who hates his brother man is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has the Life of the Ages continuing in him.

But if any one has this world's wealth and sees that his brother man is in need, and yet hardens his heart against him--how can such a one continue to love God?

And this is His command--that we are to believe in His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us to do.

The man who obeys His commands continues in union with God, and God continues in union with him; and through His Spirit whom He has given us we can know that He continues in union with us.

The test by which you may recognize the Spirit of God is that every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come as man is from God,

Dear friends, let us love one another; for love has its origin in God, and every one who loves has become a child of God and is beginning to know God.

He who is destitute of love has never had any knowledge of God; because God is love.

God's love for us has been manifested in that He has sent His only Son into the world so that we may have Life through Him.

Dear friends, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has ever yet seen God. If we love one another, God continues in union with us, and His love in all its perfection is in our hearts.

We can know that we are continuing in union with Him and that He is continuing in union with us, by the fact that He has given us a portion of His Spirit.

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

And, as for us, we know the love which God has for us, and we confide in it. God is love, and he who continues to love continues in union with God, and God continues in union with him.

Love has in it no element of fear; but perfect love drives away fear, because fear involves pain, and if a man gives way to fear, there is something imperfect in his love.

If any one says that he loves God, while he hates his brother man, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother man whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

For every child of God overcomes the world; and the victorious principle which has overcome the world is our faith.

If we accept the testimony of men, God's testimony is greater: for God's testimony consists of the things which He has testified about His Son.

He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in his own heart: he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, in that he has refused to accept the testimony which God has given about His Son.

And that testimony is to the effect that God has given us the Life of the Ages, and that this Life is in His Son.

He who has the Son has the Life: he who has not the Son of God has not the Life.

And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we know the true One, and are in union with the true One--that is, we are in union with His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and the Life of the Ages.

For many deceivers have gone out into the world--men who do not acknowledge Jesus as Christ who has come in human nature. Such a one is 'the deceiver' and 'the anti-Christ.'

No one has God, who instead of remaining true to the teaching of Christ, presses on in advance: but he who remains true to that teaching has both the Father and the Son.

My dear friend, do not follow wrong examples, but right ones. He who habitually does what is right is a child of God: he who habitually does what is wrong has not seen God.

The character of Demetrius has the approval of all men, and of the truth itself. We also express our approval of it, and you know that we only give our approval to that which is true.

It was also about these that Enoch, who belonged to the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "The Lord has come, attended by myriads of His people, to execute judgement upon all,

and from Jesus Christ, the truthful witness, the first of the dead to be born to Life, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins with His own blood,

and has formed us into a Kingdom, to be priests to God, His Father--to Him be ascribed the glory and the power until the Ages of the Ages. Amen.

"To the minister of the Church at Smyrna write as follows: "'This is what the First and the Last says--He who died and has returned to life.

"To the minister of the Church at Pergamum write as follows: "'This is what He who has the sharp, two-edged sword says. I know where you dwell.

"To the minister of the Church at Thyateira write as follows: "'This is what the Son of God says--He who has eyes like a flame of fire, and feet resembling silver-bronze.

Yet I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and by her teaching leads astray My servants, so that they commit fornication and eat what has been sacrificed to idols.

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.

"To the minister of the Church at Sardis write as follows: "'This is what He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars says. I know your doings--you are supposed to be alive, but in reality you are dead.

"To the minister of the Church at Philadelphia write as follows: "'This is what the holy One and the true says--He who has the key of David--He who opens and no one shall shut, and shuts and no one shall open.

one of the Elders said to me, "Do not weep. The Lion which belongs to the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed, and will open the book and break its seven seals."

So He comes, and now He has taken the book out of the right hand of Him who is seated on the throne.

And now they sing a new song. "It is fitting," they say, "that Thou shouldst be the One to take the book And break its seals; Because Thou hast been offered in sacrifice, And hast purchased for God with Thine own blood Some out of every tribe and language and people and nation,

And hast formed them into a Kingdom to be priests to our God, And they reign over the earth."

and in loud voices they were singing, "It is fitting that the Lamb which has been offered in sacrifice should receive all power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."

for the day of His anger--that great day--has come, and who is able to stand?"

But as for the court which is outside the sanctuary, pass it over. Do not measure it; for it has been given to the Gentiles, and for forty-two months they will trample the holy city under foot.

saying, "We give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Ruler of all, Who art and wast, because Thou hast exerted Thy power, Thy great power, and hast become King.

The nations grew angry, and Thine anger has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and the time for Thee to give their reward to Thy servants the Prophets and to Thy people, and to those who fear Thee, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

Then I heard a loud voice speaking in Heaven. It said, "The salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God have now come, and the sovereignty of His Christ; for the accuser of our brethren has been hurled down--he who, day after day and night after night, was wont to accuse them in the presence of God.

For this reason be glad, O Heaven, and you who live in Heaven! Alas for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you; full of fierce anger, because he knows that his appointed time is short."

And all the inhabitants of the earth will be found to be worshipping him: every one whose name is not recorded in the Book of Life--the Book of the Lamb who has been offered in sacrifice ever since the creation of the world.

And his power of leading astray the inhabitants of the earth is due to the marvels which he has been permitted to work in the presence of the Wild Beast. And he told the inhabitants of the earth to erect a statue to the Wild Beast who had received the sword-stroke and yet had recovered.

And no lie has ever been found upon their lips: they are faultless.

He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give Him glory, because the time of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made sky and earth, the sea and the water-springs."

And another, a second angel, followed, exclaiming, "Great Babylon has fallen, has fallen--she who made all the nations drink the wine of the anger provoked by her fornication."

And the smoke of their torment goes up until the Ages of the Ages; and the worshipers of the Wild Beast and his statue have no rest day or night, nor has any one who receives the mark of his name.

And another, an angel, came out of the sanctuary, calling in a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, and saying, "Use your sickle and reap the harvest, for the hour for reaping it has come: the harvest of the earth is over-ripe."

Then I saw another marvel in Heaven, great and wonderful--there were seven angels bringing seven plagues. These are the last plagues, because in them God's anger has found full expression.

Who shall not be afraid, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy. All nations shall come and shall worship Thee, because the righteousness of all that Thou hast done has been made manifest."

And I heard the angel of the waters say, "Righteous art Thou, who art and wast, the holy One, because Thou hast thus taken vengeance.

For they poured out the blood of Thy people and of the Prophets, and in return Thou hast given them blood to drink. And this they deserved."

Here is scope for the exercise of a mind that has wisdom! The seven heads are the seven hills on which the woman sits.

And they are seven kings: five of them have fallen, and the one is still reigning. The seventh has not yet come, but when he comes he must continue for a short time.

For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose, and to carry out a common purpose and to give their kingdom to the Wild Beast until God's words have come to pass.

And the woman whom you have seen is the great city which has kingly power over the kings of the earth."