2 John

Greeting

1 ^aThe elder to the elect lady and her children, ^bwhom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who ^cknow ^dthe truth, 2 ^ebecause of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

3 ^fGrace, 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 ^gI rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—^hnot as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—ⁱthat we love one another. 6 And ^jthis is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just ^kas you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 7 For ^lmany deceivers ^mhave gone out into the world, ⁿthose who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, ^oso that you may not lose what we¹ have worked for, but ^pmay win a full reward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, ^qdoes not have God. Whoever abides 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 ^stakes part in his wicked works.

Final Greetings

12 ^tThough I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. ^uInstead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, ^vso that our joy may be complete.

13 The children of your elect sister greet you.

3 John

Greeting

1 ^aThe elder to the beloved Gaius, ^bwhom 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 ^cI rejoiced greatly when the brothers¹ came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that ^dmy children are walking in the truth.

Support and Opposition

5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for ^ethese brothers, ^fstrangers 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 ^gworthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of ^hthe name, ⁱaccepting nothing from 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, who 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, ^jdo not imitate evil but imitate good. ^kWhoever does good is from God; ^lwhoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius ^mhas received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and ⁿyou know that our testimony is true.

Final Greetings

13 ^oI had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, ^peach by name.

Jude

Greeting

1 Jude, a servant¹ of Jesus Christ and brother of James,

^aTo those who are called, ^bbeloved in God the Father and ^ckept for² Jesus Christ:

2 May ^dmercy, ^epeace, and love be multiplied to you.

Judgment on False Teachers

3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our ^fcommon salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you ^gto contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For ^hcertain people ⁱhave crept in unnoticed ^jwho long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert ^kthe grace of our God into sensuality and ^ldeny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

5 Now I want ^mto remind you, although you once fully knew it, that ⁿJesus, who saved³ a people out of the land of Egypt, ^oafterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And ^pthe 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 just as ^qSodom and Gomorrah and ^rthe surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and ^spursued unnatural 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, reject authority, and ^tblaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when ^uthe archangel ^vMichael, contending with the devil, was disputing ^wabout the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ^x“The Lord rebuke you.” 10 ^yBut these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in ^zthe way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain ^ato Balaam’s error and ^bperished in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs^{5 c}at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, ^dshepherds feeding themselves; ^ewaterless clouds, ^fswept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, ^guprooted; 13 ^hwild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of ⁱtheir own shame; ^jwandering stars, ^kfor whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

14 It was also about these that Enoch, ^lthe seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ^m“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 ⁿto execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have ^ocommitted in such an ungodly way, and of all ^pthe harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, ^qfollowing their own sinful desires; ^rthey are loud-mouthed boasters, ^sshowing favoritism to gain advantage.

A Call to Persevere

17 But you must ^tremember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They⁶ said to you, ^u“In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, ^vdevoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, ^wbuilding yourselves up in your most holy faith and ^xpraying in the Holy Spirit, 21 ^ykeep yourselves in the love of God, ^zwaiting 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 ^asnatching them out of ^bthe fire; to others show mercy ^cwith fear, hating even ^dthe garment⁷ stained by the flesh.

Doxology

24 ^eNow to him who is able ^fto keep you from stumbling and ^gto present you ^hblameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to ⁱthe only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, ^jbe glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time⁸ and now and forever. Amen.

Revelation

Prologue

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God ^agave him ^bto show to his servants¹ the things that must soon take place. ^cHe made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 ^dwho bore witness to the word of God and to ^ethe testimony of Jesus Christ, even ^fto all that he saw. 3 ^gBlessed 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, ^hfor the time is near.

Greeting to the Seven Churches

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from ⁱhim ^jwho is and ^kwho was and who is to come, and from ^lthe seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ ^mthe faithful witness, ⁿthe firstborn of the dead, and ^othe ruler of kings on earth.

To ^phim who loves us and ^qhas freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us ^ra kingdom, ^rpriests to ^shis God and Father, to him be ^tglory and ^udominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, ^vhe is coming with the clouds, and ^wevery eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail² on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8 ^x“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, ^y“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Vision of the Son of Man

9 I, John, your brother and ^zpartner in ^athe tribulation and ^bthe kingdom and ^cthe patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos ^don account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 ^eI was in the Spirit ^fon the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice ^glike a trumpet 11 saying, ^h“Write what you see in a book and send 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 ⁱseven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands ^jone like ^ka son of man, ^lclothed with a long robe and ^mwith a golden sash around his chest. 14 ⁿThe hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. ^oHis eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 ^phis feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and ^qhis voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 ^rIn his right hand he held seven stars, ^sfrom his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and ^this face was like the sun shining ^uin full strength.

17 ^vWhen I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But ^vhe laid his right hand on me, ^wsaying, “Fear not, ^xI am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. ^yI died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and ^zI have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 ^aWrite therefore ^bthe 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 ^cthe seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and ^dthe seven lampstands are the seven churches.

To the Church in Ephesus

2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of ^ehim who holds the seven stars in his right hand, ^fwho walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2 ^g“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but ^hhave tested those ⁱwho call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up ^jfor my name’s sake, and you ^khave not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned ^lthe love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do ^mthe works you did at first. If not, ⁿI will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of ^othe Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 ^pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^qTo the one who conquers I will grant to eat of ^rthe tree of life, which is in ^sthe paradise of God.’

To the Church in Smyrna

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of ^tthe first and the last, ^uwho died and came to life.

9 “‘I know your tribulation and ^vyour poverty (^vbut you are rich) and the slander¹ of ^wthose who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, ^wthat you may be tested, and for ^xten days ^yyou will have tribulation. ^zBe faithful ^aunto death, and I will give you ^bthe crown of life. 11 ^cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^cThe one who conquers will not be hurt by ^dthe second death.’

To the Church in Pergamum

12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has ^ethe sharp two-edged sword.

13 “‘I know where you dwell, ^fwhere Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not ^gdeny my faith² even in the days of Antipas ^hmy 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 the teaching of ⁱBalaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might ^jeat food sacrificed to idols and ^kpractice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of ^lthe Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, ^mI will come to you soon and ⁿwar against them with ^ethe sword of my mouth. 17 ^cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^cTo the one who conquers I will give some of ^othe hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with ^pa new name written on the stone ^qthat 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, ^rwho has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

19 ^s“‘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 ^tJezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants ^uto practice sexual immorality and ^uto eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but ^vshe refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those 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 ^wwho searches mind and heart, and ^xI 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 ^ythe deep things of Satan, to you I say, I ^zdo not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast ^awhat you have until I come. 26 ^bThe one who conquers and who keeps my works ^cuntil the end, ^dto him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and ^ehe will ^frule³ them with a rod of iron, ^gas when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him ^hthe morning star. 29 ^pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’