2 John
Greeting
1 aThe elder to the belect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who cknow the truth, 2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:
3 dGrace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.
Walking in Truth and Love
4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children ewalking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—fnot as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we glove one another. 6 And hthis is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, ijust as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 7 For jmany kdeceivers have gone out into the world, those who ldo not confess the coming of Jesus Christ min the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the nantichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we1 have worked for, but may win a full oreward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever pabides in the teaching qhas both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, rdo not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
Final Greetings
12 sThough I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead tI hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that uour joy may be complete.
13 The children of your elect sister greet you.
3 John
Greeting
1 aThe elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers1 came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are bwalking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Support and Opposition
5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, cstrangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing dfrom the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, ewho likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. fWhoever does good is from God; gwhoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that hour testimony is true.
Final Greetings
13 iI had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 jI hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, keach by name.
Jude
Greeting
1 Jude, a servant1 of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are acalled, bbeloved in God the Father and kept for2 Jesus Christ:
2 May mercy, peace, and love be cmultiplied to you.
Judgment on False Teachers
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our dcommon salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have ecrept in unnoticed who flong ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into gsensuality and hdeny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, iwho saved3 a people out of the land of Egypt, jafterward destroyed kthose who did not believe. 6 lAnd the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 mjust as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise nindulged in sexual immorality and pursued ounnatural desire,4 serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, preject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the qarchangel rMichael, contending with the devil, was disputing about sthe body of Moses, he tdid not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, u“The Lord rebuke you.” 10 vBut these people blaspheme all that wthey do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in xthe way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to yBalaam’s zerror and perished in aKorah’s rebellion. 12 bThese are hidden reefs5 at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, cshepherds feeding themselves; dwaterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 ewild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these that fEnoch, gthe seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with hten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are iloud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
A Call to Persevere
17 But jyou must remember, beloved, the predictions of the kapostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They6 said to you, l“In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who mcause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, nbuilding yourselves up in your most holy faith and opraying in the Holy Spirit, 21 pkeep yourselves in the love of God, qwaiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even rthe garment7 stained by the flesh.
Doxology
24 sNow to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you tblameless ubefore the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, vbe glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time8 and now and forever. Amen.
Revelation
Prologue
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants1 athe things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his bangel to his servant cJohn, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 dBlessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, efor the time is fnear.
Greeting to the Seven Churches
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him gwho is and who was and who is to come, and from hthe seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the ifaithful witness, jthe firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who kloves us land has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, mpriests to his God and Father, nto him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 oBehold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who ppierced him, and qall tribes of the earth will wail2 on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 r“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Vision of the Son of Man
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was sin the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice tlike a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and usend it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw vseven golden wlampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands xone like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and ywith a golden sash around his chest. 14 zThe hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. aHis eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like bburnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was clike the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, dfrom his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and ehis face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I ffell at his feet as though dead. gBut he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, hI am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have ithe keys jof Death and Hades. 19 kWrite therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
To the Church in Ephesus
2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds lthe seven stars in his right hand, mwho walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and nyou have onot grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; prepent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the qNicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 rHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the stree of life, which is in the tparadise of God.’
To the Church in Smyrna
8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of uthe first and the last, who vdied and came to life.
9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are wrich) and the slander1 of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a xsynagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the ydevil is about to throw some of you into zprison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have atribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the bcrown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by cthe second death.’
To the Church in Pergamum
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp dtwo-edged sword.
13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith2 even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold ethe teaching of fBalaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to gidols and practice hsexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them iwith the sword of my mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden jmanna, and I will give him a white stone, with a knew name written on the stone lthat no one knows except the one who receives it.’
To the Church in Thyatira
18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, mwho has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like nburnished bronze.
19 “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman oJezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she prefuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and qthose who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who rsearches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only shold fast what you have tuntil I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him uI will give vauthority over the nations, 27 and whe will rule3 them xwith a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received yauthority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the zmorning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
