If we say, 'We are not guilty,' we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us;

but whoever obeys his word, in him love to God is really complete. This is how we may be sure we are in him:

My dear children, I am writing to you, because your sins are forgiven for his sake:

fathers, I have written to you, because you know him who is from the very beginning: young men, I have written to you, because you are strong, and the word of God remains within you, and you have conquered the evil One.

They withdrew from us, but they did not belong to us; had they belonged to us, they would have remained with us, but they withdrew to make it plain that they are none of us.

'Born of him!' Think what a love the Father has for us, in letting us be called 'children of God!' That is what we are. The world does not recognize us? That is simply because it did not recognize him.

We are children of God now, beloved; what we are to be is not apparent yet, but we do know that when he appears, we are to be like him ??for we are to see him as he is.

Anyone who is born of God does not commit sin, for the offspring of God remain in Him, and they cannot sin, because they are born of God.

Here is how the children of God and the children of the devil are recognized; anyone who does not practise righteousness does not belong to God, and neither does he who has no love for his brother.

For this is the message you have learned from the very beginning, that we are to love one another:

we are not to be like Cain, who belonged to the evil One and slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's just.

Love is complete with us when we have absolute confidence about the day of judgment, since in this world we are living as He lives.

This is how we are sure that we love God's children, by loving God and obeying his commands

(for love to God means keeping his commands). And his commands are not irksome,

The witnesses are three, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three of them are in accord.

All iniquity is sin, but there are sins which are not deadly.

We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us insight to know Him who is the Real God; and we are in Him who is real, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the real God, this is life eternal.

Beloved, you are acting loyally in rendering any service to the brothers and especially to strangers;

hence we are bound to support such men, to prove ourselves allies of the Truth.

Judas, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who have been called, who are beloved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:

Now I want to remind you of what you are perfectly aware, that though the Lord once brought the People safe out of Egypt, he subsequently destroyed the unbelieving,

while the angels who abandoned their own domain, instead of preserving their proper rank, are reserved by him within the nether gloom, in chains eternal, for the doom of the great Day ??7 just as Sodom and Gomorra and the adjacent cities, which similarly glutted themselves with vice and sensual perversity, are exhibited as a warning of the everlasting fire they are sentenced to suffer.

These people are stains on your love-feasts; they have no qualms about carousing in your midst, they look after none but themselves ??rainless clouds, swept along by the wind, trees in autumn without fruit, doubly dead and so uprooted,

For these people are murmurers, grumbling at their lot in life ??they fall in with their own passions, their talk is arrogant, they pay court to men to benefit themselves.

These are the people who set up divisions and distinctions, sensuous creatures, destitute of the Spirit.

As for the secret symbol of the seven stars which you have seen in my right hand, and of the seven golden lamp stands ??the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

To the angel of the church at Ephesus write thus: ??These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who moves among the seven golden lampstands:

I know that you are enduring patiently and have borne up for my sake and have not wearied.

Then to the angel of the church at Smyrna write thus: ??These are the words of the First and Last, who was dead and came to life:

I know your distress and your poverty (but you are rich!): I know how you are being slandered by those who style themselves Jews (no Jews are they, but a mere synagogue of Satan!).

Have no fear of what you are to suffer. The devil indeed is going to put some of you in prison, that you may be tested; you will have a distressful ten days. Be faithful, though you have to die for it, and I will give you the crown of Life.

Then to the angel of the church at Pergamum write thus: ??These are the words of him who wields the sharp sword with the double edge:

Then to the angel of the church at Thyatira write thus: ??These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes flash like fire and whose feet glow like bronze.

I know your doings, your love and loyalty and service and patient endurance; I know you are doing more than you did at first.

Still I have this against you: you are tolerating that Jezebel of a woman who styles herself a prophetess and seduces my servants by teaching them to give way to sexual vice and to eat food which has been sacrificed to idols.

Then to the angel of the church at Sardis write thus: ??These are the words of him who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your doings, you have the name of being alive, but you are dead.

Then to the angel of the church at Philadelphia write thus: ??These are the words of the true Holy One, who holds the key of David, who opens and none shall shut, who shuts and none shall open.

Lo, I will make those who belong to that synagogue of Satan, who style themselves Jews (no Jews are they, but liars!) ??lo, I will have them come and do homage before your feet and learn that I did love you.

Then to the angel of the church at Laodicea write thus: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation.

I know your doings, you are neither cold nor hot ??would you were either cold or hot!

So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth.

You declare, 'I am rich, I am well off, I lack nothing!' ??not knowing you are a miserable creature, pitiful, poor, blind, naked.

From the throne issue flashes of lightning and loud blasts and peals of thunder. And in front of the throne seven torches of fire burn (they are the seven Spirits of God);

The four living Creatures, each with six wings apiece, are full of eyes all over their bodies and under their wings, and day and night they never cease the chant, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God almighty, who was and is and is coming."

Then I noticed a Lamb standing in the midst of the throne and the four living Creatures and the Presbyters; it seemed to have been slain, but it had seven horns and seven eyes (they are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth),

Then one of the Presbyters addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clad in white robes? where have they come from?"

I said to him, "You know, my lord." So he told me, "These are the people who have come out of the great Distress, who washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

For this they are now before the throne of God, serving him day and night within his temple. and he who is seated on the throne shall overshadow them.

Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven with a loud cry, "Woe, woe, woe to the dwellers on earth, for the rest of the trumpet-blasts that the three angels are about to blow!"

The first woe has passed: two woes are still to come.

telling the sixth angel with the trumpet, "Let loose the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."

for the power of the horses lies in their mouths ??and also in their tails (their tails are like serpents, they have heads, and it is with their heads that they hurt).

(they are the two olive-trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth):

They have power to shut up the sky, so that no rain falls during the days when they are prophesying; and they have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and also to smite the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they choose.

Then the four and twenty Presbyters who are seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God,

Now for the gift of interpretation! Let the discerning calculate the cipher of the Beast; it is the cipher of a man, and the figures are six hundred and sixty-six.

They have not been defiled by intercourse with women ??they are celibates; they follow the Lamb wherever he goes; they have been ransomed from among men, as the first to be reaped for God and the Lamb.

And on their lips no lie was ever detected; they are stainless.

the smoke of their torture rises for ever and ever, and they get no rest from it, day and night, these worshippers of the Beast and his statue, and all who are marked with his name."

Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: ??'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth! Even so, it is the voice of the Spirit ??blessed in resting from their toils; for what they have done goes with them.'"

and another angel came from the altar ??he who has power over fire ??and called loudly to the one who had the sharp sickle, "Thrust your sharp sickle in, cull the clusters from the Vine of earth, for its grapes are fully ripe."

and they were singing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb ??"Great and marvellous are thy deeds, Lord God almighty! Just and true thy ways, O King of nations!

Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou alone art holy. Yea, all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are disclosed."

And I heard the altar cry, "Even so, Lord God almighty: true and just are thy sentences of doom."

Now for the interpretation of the discerning mind! The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman is seated:

also, they are seven kings, of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not arrived yet ??and when he does arrive, he can only stay a little while.

As for the ten horns you have seen, they are ten kings who have no royal power as yet, but receive royal authority for an hour along with the Beast;

they are of one mind, and they confer their power and authority upon the Beast.

They will wage war on the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings ??the Lamb and the elect, the chosen, the faithful who are with him."

He also told me, "The waters you saw, on which the woman is seated, are peoples and hosts, nations and tongues.

for God has put it into their hearts to execute his purpose, by having one mind and by conferring their royal power upon the Beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

for high as heaven her sins are heaped, and God calls her misdeeds to the reckoning.

After that I heard what was like the shout of a great host in heaven, crying, "Hallelujah! salvation and glory and power are our God's!

True and just are his sentences of doom; he has doomed the great Harlot who destroyed earth with her vice, he has avenged on her the blood of his servants."

Then I was told, "Write this: ??'Blessed are those who have been called to the marriage-banquet of the Lamb!'" The angel also told me, "These are genuine words of God."

Then I saw heaven open wide ??and there was a white horse: his rider is faithful and true, yea, just are his judgments and his warfare.

His eyes are a flame of fire, on his head are many diadems, he bears a written name which none knows but himself.

But when the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison,

Then he who was seated on the throne said, "Lo, I make all things new." And he said, "Write this: 'these words are trustworthy and genuine.'"

it has a huge, high wall with twelve gates, twelve angels at the twelve gates, and names inscribed thereon which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel,

The foundation-stones of the city-wall are adorned with all sorts of precious stones, the first foundation-stone being of jasper, the second of sapphire, the third of agate, the fourth of emerald,

The twelve gates are twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl; and the streets of the City are pure gold, clear as crystal.

Nothing profane, none who practises abomination or falsehood shall enter, but those alone whose names are written in the Lamb's book of Life.

& 10] And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and genuine, for the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets has sent his angel to show his servants what must very soon come to pass.

Blessed are those who wash their robes, that theirs may be the right to the tree of Life, the right to enter the gates of the City!