Therefore, those who suffer by the will of God must intrust their souls to a Creator who is faithful, and continue to do what is right.

I appeal therefore to those who are elders among you; I am their brother-elder and a witness to what the Christ suffered, and I am to share in the glory that is to be revealed??2 be shepherds of the flock of God that is among you, not as though it were forced upon you but of your own free will, and not from base love of gain but freely,

By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I think him, I have written you this short letter to encourage you and bear my testimony that this is what the true mercy of God means. Stand fast in it.

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,

and saved the upright Lot who was so distressed by the immoral conduct of unprincipled men??8 for as long as that upright man lived among them, day after day his upright soul was tormented by what he saw and heard of their lawless actions??9 then the Lord knows how to rescue God-fearing people from trial and to punish wrongdoers while they are being kept for the Day of Judgment,

These men, like unreasoning animals, mere creatures of instinct created to be caught and killed, abuse what they do not understand and will be destroyed like animals,

What has happened to them shows the truth of the proverb, "A dog returns to what he has vomited up, and a sow that has washed goes back to wallow in the mire."

If all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what holy and pious lives you ought to lead,

It is what existed from the beginning, that we announce; what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have beheld, and touched with our hands; it is the very message of life??2 for life has been revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it and announce to you that eternal life that was with the Father and has been revealed to us??3 it is what we have seen and heard that we announce to you also, so that you may share our fellowship, for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ,

Do not love the world or what is in the world. If anyone loves the world, there is no love for the Father in his heart,

Keep what you have heard from the beginning in your hearts; then you will always be in union with the Son and the Father.

And what he himself has promised us is eternal life.

Think what love the Father has had for us, in letting us be called God's children, for that is what we are. This is why the world does not know what we are??ecause it has never come to know him.

Dear friends, we are God's children now; it has not yet been disclosed what we are to be. We know that if he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

We know what love means from the fact that he laid down his life for us; so we also ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

We are God's children. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not a child of God will not listen to us. In this way we can tell what is inspired by truth from what is inspired by error.

Look out for yourselves, take care not to lose what we have worked for, but make sure that you are paid for it in full.

I have written briefly to the church, but Diotrephes who likes to be their leader will not accept what I say.

But you, dear friends, must remember what was foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,

A revelation made by Jesus Christ which God gave him to disclose to his slaves of what must very soon happen. He sent and communicated it by his angel to his slave John,

who testifies to what he saw??o the message of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the man who reads this prophecy and those who hear it read and heed what is written in it, for the time is near.

say, "Write what you see in a roll and send it to the seven churches??o Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."

So write what you have seen, what is now and what is to happen hereafter.

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.

Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will permit him who is victorious to eat the fruit of the tree of life that stands in the Paradise of God.'

Do not be afraid of what you are going to suffer. See! The devil is going to put some of you into prison to be tested there, and for ten days to endure persecution. Prove faithful even unto death and I will give you the crown of life.

Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. He who is victorious will not be hurt by the second death.'

Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give him who is victorious some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white pebble with a new name written on it which no one knows except the man who receives it.'

and I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches men's hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you for what you have done.

but keep hold of what you have, until I come.

Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.'

"To the angel of the church in Sardis write: " 'He who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars speaks thus: I know what you are doing; you are supposed to be alive, but you are dead.

Wake up, and strengthen what is left, although it is already on the point of death, for I have found nothing you have done complete in the sight of my God.

So remember what you received and heard, and obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I am coming upon you.

Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.'

I know what you are doing. See! I have put before you an open door that no one can close. I know that you have little strength, but you have obeyed my message and you have not disowned my name.

Because you have kept in mind the message of what I endured, I also will keep you safe in the time of testing that is going to come upon the whole world, to test the inhabitants of the earth.

I am coming soon. Keep hold of what you have, so that no one may deprive you of your crown.

Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.'

I know what you are doing, and that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot!

Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.' "

Afterward I had another vision: There was a door standing open in the heavens and the first voice like a trumpet that I had heard speak to me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place."

In front of the throne was what looked like a sea of glass, like crystal. Around the throne, in the middle of each side, were four animals covered with eyes in front and behind.

Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and what looked like a great mountain ablaze with fire was thrown into the sea, and one third of the sea turned into blood,

In appearance the locusts were like war-horses armed for battle; on their heads were what appeared to be crowns like gold; their faces were like human faces;

Yet what was left of mankind, those who escaped being killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands and give up worshiping demons and gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wooden idols, which cannot either see or hear or move,

When the seven thunders had spoken I was going to write it down, but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said! Do not write it down!"

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who from this time forth die as Christians!" "Yes!" answers the Spirit, "Let them rest from their toil, for what they have done will go with them!"

And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and standing upon the sea of glass those who had come off victorious from the animal and its statue and the number corresponding to its name. They had harps that God had given them,

and reviled the God of heaven for their sufferings and sores, but they would not repent of what they had done.

but the angel said to me, "Why are you amazed? I will explain to you what the woman and the animal with seven heads and ten horns that carries her symbolize.

Pay her back in her own coin, and give her double for what she has done. In the cup she mixed for others, mix her a double draught.

and cried out when they saw the smoke from her burning, 'What city was like the great city?'

After that I heard what sounded like the loud shout of a great multitude in heaven saying, "Praise the Lord! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,

Then I heard what sounded like the shout of a great multitude and the noise of many waters and the sound of mighty thunders, saying, "Praise the Lord; for the Lord our God, the Almighty now reigns!

I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not do that. I am only a fellow-slave of yours and of your brothers who have accepted the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is what inspires prophecy."

I saw the dead, high and low, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened; it was the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books about what they had done.

The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and the underworld gave up the dead that were in them, and they were all judged by what they had done.

"These words are trustworthy and true," he said to me; "For the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his slaves what must happen very soon.

"See! I am coming very soon, bringing with me my rewards, to repay everyone for what he has done.