Online Bible - Blog: The Good Book In Plain English, Extra Bible Study And Christian Content

Proving The Existence Of God, My Conclusion

2010-01-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

Does God really exists? It is a question by most in this day in age. It is now a very controversial debate, because while some are so sure that God exists, others would just deny His existence because by their way of thinking that the evidence of there being one is absent.

What do you think? Do you come to a conclusion that God made the Universe as the Bible says, or do you discard the Bible being true, and believe science which states that everything evolved over billions of years?

Personally I believe in God, and I have my reasons for my belief. I was born in a Catholic family. Not much of a big deal I think, I remember when I was a young boy, my grandmother used to say to me: "You must overcome the bad things you do by doing good things like going to church". So at least on Sunday morning I would attend church and try to learn something good. Any Sunday that I did not go to church, I would feel bad. Like I had disappointed God in some way. I felt that my conscience would tell me so.

Later on in my life I went to a Christian church. The Bible was not a book I would be interested in reading anytime. But in the Christian church I went, reading some verses of the bible then having a teacher explain the verses to us (we were a bunch of students) made sense. Nobody comes to this world knowing anything, so we need teachers to teach us. I then started reading the Bible outside of church. I then see, what I could not before.

Really, it took me about 15 years to know that the Bible is the word of God; That Jesus is the Lord. That everything we see, and even everything we don't see is clue that God created everything (The heavens are sounding the glory of God; the arch of the sky makes clear the work of his hands. - Psalms 19:1). Do not go far trying to find God, when He is so close to His creation. Delusional might atheist say? Ha! Well, let me be then! See, I have realized that life on earth is not coincidental, we are not here by mere chance. God had a purpose when he created the human race. His purpose was to have a family of his own. To have communication with His children.

Faith is a word that Atheist refute. God requires us to have faith. While the clues to God's existence is there in His creation of the Universe. I think that faith is sometimes needed to validate the this point. God will not visually show himself in the sky to the human race just to prove the point that he exists. Then, faith would not be required at all. God wants us to have it, and not for the solely purpose of His existence, but to do works too.

Do you ever wonder about this: Something had to create everything, because nothing can't create anything. Zero will always equal zero. Nothing can't create something. A house had an architect, a painting had a painter, a car had an engineer, anything man-made we can think of, had a designer. Equally, the Universe had also a designer.

Revelation 22

2008-08-12T11:20:00.001-07:00

1	And I saw a river of water of life, clear as glass, coming out of the high seat of God and of the Lamb,
2	In the middle of its street. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, having twelve sorts of fruits, giving its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree give life to the nations.
3	And there will be no more curse: and the high seat of God and of the Lamb will be there; and his servants will be worshipping him;
4	And they will see his face; and his name will be on their brows.
5	And there will be no more night; and they have no need of a light or of the shining of the sun; for the Lord God will give them light: and they will be ruling for ever and ever.
6	And he said to me, These words are certain and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to make clear to his servants the things which are now to come about.
7	See, I come quickly. A blessing on him who keeps the words of this book of the prophet.
8	And I, John, am he who saw these things and to whose ears they came. And when I had seen and given ear, I went down on my face to give worship at the feet of the angel who made these things clear to me.
9	And he said to me, See you do it not; I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book: give worship to God.
10	And he said to me, Let not the words of this prophet's book be kept secret, because the time is near.
11	Let the evil man go on in his evil: and let the unclean be still unclean: and let the upright go on in his righteousness: and let the holy be holy still.
12	See, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man the outcome of his works.
13	I am the First and the Last, the start and the end.
14	A blessing on those whose robes are washed, so that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may go in by the doors into the town.
15	Outside are the dogs, and those who make use of evil powers, those who make themselves unclean, and the takers of life, and those who give worship to images, and everyone whose delight is in what is false.
16	I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give witness to you of these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star.
17	And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who gives ear, say, Come. And let him who is in need come; and let everyone desiring it take of the water of life freely.
18	For I say to every man to whose ears have come the words of this prophet's book, If any man makes an addition to them, God will put on him the punishments which are in this book:
19	And if any man takes away from the words of this book, God will take away from him his part in the tree of life and the holy town, even the things which are in this book.
20	He who gives witness to these things says, Truly, I come quickly. Even so come, Lord Jesus.
21	The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. So be it.

Revelation 21

2008-08-12T11:18:00.000-07:00

1	And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were gone; and there was no more sea.
2	And I saw the holy town, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, like a bride made beautiful for her husband.
3	And there came to my ears a great voice out of the high seat, saying, See, the Tent of God is with men, and he will make his living-place with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God.
4	And he will put an end to all their weeping; and there will be no more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain; for the first things have come to an end.
5	And he who is seated on the high seat said, See, I make all things new. And he said, Put it in the book; for these words are certain and true.
6	And he said to me, It is done. I am the First and the Last, the start and the end. I will freely give of the fountain of the water of life to him who is in need.
7	He who overcomes will have these things for his heritage; and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
8	But those who are full of fear and without faith, the unclean and takers of life, those who do the sins of the flesh, and those who make use of evil powers or who give worship to images, and all those who are false, will have their part in the sea of ever-burning fire which is the second death.
9	And one of the seven angels who had the seven vessels in which were the seven last punishments, came and said to me, Come here, and see the bride, the Lamb's wife.
10	And he took me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and let me see the holy town Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11	Having the glory of God: and her light was like a stone of great price, a jasper stone, clear as glass:
12	She had a wall great and high, with twelve doors, and at the doors twelve angels; and names on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
13	And on the east were three doors; and on the north three doors; and on the south three doors; and on the west three doors.
14	And the wall of the town had twelve bases, and on them the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
15	And he who was talking with me had a gold measuring-rod to take the measure of the town, and of its doors, and its wall.
16	And the town is square, as wide as it is long; and he took the measure of the town with the rod, one thousand and five hundred miles: it is equally long and wide and high.
17	And he took the measure of its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits, after the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
18	And the building of its wall was of jasper, and the town was clear gold, clear as glass.
19	The bases of the wall of the town had ornaments of all sorts of beautiful stones. The first base was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
20	The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
21	And the twelve doors were twelve pearls; every door was made of one pearl; and the street of the town was clear gold, as clear as glass.
22	And I saw no Temple there; because the Lord God, the Ruler of all, and the Lamb are its Temple.
23	And the town has no need of the sun, or of the moon, to give it light: for the glory of God did make it light, and the light of it is the Lamb.
24	And the nations will go in its light: and the kings of the earth will take their glory into it.
25	And the doors of it will never be shut by day (for there is no night there):
26	And the glory and honour of the nations will come into it:
27	And nothing unclean may come into it, or anyone whose works are cursed or false; but only those whose names are in the Lamb's book of life.

Revelation 20

2008-08-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

1	And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the great deep and a great chain in his hand.
2	And he took the dragon, the old snake, which is the Evil One and Satan, and put chains on him for a thousand years,
3	And put him into the great deep, and it was shut and locked over him, so that he might put the nations in error no longer, till the thousand years were ended: after this he will be let loose for a little time.
4	And I saw high seats, and they were seated on them, and the right of judging was given to them: and I saw the souls of those who were put to death for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and those who did not give worship to the beast, or to his image, and had not his mark on their brows or on their hands; and they were living and ruling with Christ a thousand years.
5	The rest of the dead did not come to life again till the thousand years were ended. This is the first coming back from the dead.
6	Happy and holy is he who has a part in this first coming: over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will be ruling with him a thousand years.
7	And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be let loose out of his prison,
8	And will go out to put in error the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to get them together to the war, the number of whom is like the sands of the sea.
9	And they went up over the face of the earth, and made a circle about the tents of the saints, and the well loved town: and fire came down out of heaven for their destruction.
10	And the Evil One who put them in error was sent down into the sea of ever-burning fire, where the beast and the false prophet are, and their punishment will go on day and night for ever and ever.
11	And I saw a great white seat, and him who was seated on it, before whose face the earth and the heaven went in flight; and there was no place for them.
12	And I saw the dead, great and small, taking their places before the high seat; and the books were open, and another book was open, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged by the things which were in the books, even by their works.
13	And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hell gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man by his works.
14	And death and Hell were put into the sea of fire. This is the second death, even the sea of fire.
15	And if anyone's name was not in the book of life, he went down into the sea of fire.

Revelation 19

2008-08-12T11:16:00.002-07:00

1	After these things there came to my ears a sound like the voice of a great band of people in heaven, saying, Praise to the Lord; salvation and glory and power be to our God:
2	For true and upright are his decisions; for by him has the evil woman been judged, who made the earth unclean with the sins of her body; and he has given her punishment for the blood of his servants.
3	And again they said, Praise to the Lord. And her smoke went up for ever and ever.
4	And the four and twenty rulers and the four beasts went down on their faces and gave worship to God who was seated on the high seat, saying, Even so, praise to the Lord.
5	And a voice came from the high seat, saying, Give praise to our God, all you his servants, small and great, in whom is the fear of him.
6	And there came to my ears the voice of a great army, like the sound of waters, and the sound of loud thunders, saying, Praise to the Lord: for the Lord our God, Ruler of all, is King.
7	Let us be glad with delight, and let us give glory to him: because the time is come for the Lamb to be married, and his wife has made herself ready.
8	And to her it was given to be clothed in delicate linen, clean and shining: for the clean linen is the righteousness of the saints.
9	And he said to me, Put in the book, Happy are the guests at the bride-feast of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God.
10	And I went on my face before his feet to give him worship. And he said to me, See you do it not: I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers who keep the witness of Jesus: give worship to God: for the witness of Jesus is the spirit of the prophet's word.
11	And the heaven was open; and I saw a white horse, and he who was seated on it was named Certain and True; and he is judging and making war in righteousness.
12	And his eyes are a flame of fire, and crowns are on his head; and he has a name in writing, of which no man has knowledge but himself.
13	And he is clothed in a robe washed with blood: and his name is The Word of God.
14	And the armies which are in heaven went after him on white horses, clothed in delicate linen, white and clean.
15	And out of his mouth comes a sharp sword, with which he overcomes the nations: and he has rule over them with a rod of iron: and he is crushing with his feet the grapes of the strong wrath of God the Ruler of all.
16	And on his robe and on his leg is a name, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
17	And I saw an angel taking his place in the sun; and he was crying with a loud voice, saying to all the birds in flight in the heavens, Come together to the great feast of God;
18	So that you may take for your food the flesh of kings, and of captains, and of strong men, and of horses and of those who are seated on them, and the flesh of all men, free and unfree, small and great.
19	And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, come together to make war against him who was seated on the horse and against his army.
20	And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who did the signs before him, by which they were turned from the true way who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image: these two were put living into the sea of ever-burning fire.
21	And the rest were put to death with the sword of him who was on the horse, even the sword which came out of his mouth: and all the birds were made full with their flesh.

Revelation 18

2008-08-12T11:16:00.001-07:00

1	After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was bright with his glory.
2	And he gave a loud cry, saying, Babylon the great has come down from her high place, she has come to destruction and has become a place of evil spirits, and of every unclean spirit, and a hole for every unclean and hated bird.
3	For through the wine of the wrath of her evil desires all the nations have come to destruction; and the kings of the earth made themselves unclean with her, and the traders of the earth had their wealth increased by the power of her evil ways.
4	And another voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Come out of her, my people, so that you may have no part in her sins and in her punishments.
5	For her sins have gone up even to heaven, and God has taken note of her evil-doing.
6	Give to her as she gave, even an increased reward for her works; in the cup which was mixed by her, let there be mixed as much again for herself.
7	As she gave glory to herself, and became more evil in her ways, in the same measure give her pain and weeping: for she says in her heart, I am seated here a queen, and am no widow, and will in no way see sorrow.
8	For this reason in one day will her troubles come, death and sorrow and need of food; and she will be completely burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who is her judge.
9	And the kings of the earth, who made themselves unclean with her, and in her company gave themselves up to evil, will be weeping and crying over her, when they see the smoke of her burning,
10	Watching from far away, for fear of her punishment, saying, Sorrow, sorrow for Babylon, the great town, the strong town! for in one hour you have been judged.
11	And the traders of the earth are weeping and crying over her, because no man has any more desire for their goods,
12	Gold, and silver, and stones of great price, and jewels, and delicate linen, and robes of purple and silk and red; and perfumed wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of fair wood, and of brass, and iron, and stone;
13	And sweet-smelling plants, and perfumes, and wine, and oil, and well crushed grain, and cattle and sheep; and horses and carriages and servants; and souls of men.
14	And the fruit of your soul's desire has gone from you, and all things delicate and shining have come to an end and will never again be seen.
15	The traders in these things, by which their wealth was increased, will be watching far off for fear of her punishment, weeping and crying;
16	Saying, Sorrow, sorrow for the great town, she who was clothed in delicate linen, and purple, and red; with ornaments of gold and stones of great price and jewels!
17	For in one hour such great wealth has come to nothing. And every shipmaster, and all who are sailing on the sea, and sailors and all who get their living by the sea, were watching from far away,
18	And crying out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What town is like the great town?
19	And they put dust on their heads, and were sad, weeping and crying, and saying, Sorrow, sorrow for the great town, in which was increased the wealth of all who had their ships on the sea because of her great stores! for in one hour she is made waste.
20	Be glad over her, heaven, and you saints, and Apostles, and prophets; because she has been judged by God on your account.
21	And a strong angel took up a stone like the great stone with which grain is crushed, and sent it into the sea, saying, So, with a great fall, will Babylon, the great town, come to destruction, and will not be seen any more at all.
22	And the voice of players and makers of music will never again be sounding in you: and no worker, expert in art, will ever again be living in you; and there will be no sound of the crushing of grain any more at all in you;
23	And never again will the shining of lights be seen in you; and the voice of the newly-married man and the bride will never again be sounding in you: for your traders were the lords of the earth, and by your evil powers were all the nations turned out of the right way.
24	And in her was seen the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been put to death on the earth.

Revelation 17

2008-08-12T11:15:00.002-07:00

1	And one of the seven angels who had the seven vessels came and said to me, Come here, so that you may see the judging of the evil woman who is seated on the great waters;
2	With whom the kings of the earth made themselves unclean, and those who are on the earth were full of the wine of her evil desires.
3	And he took me away in the Spirit into a waste land: and I saw a woman seated on a bright red beast, full of evil names, having seven heads and ten horns,
4	And the woman was clothed in purple and bright red, with ornaments of gold and stones of great price and jewels; and in her hand was a gold cup full of evil things and her unclean desires;
5	And on her brow was a name, SECRET, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE EVIL WOMEN AND OF THE UNCLEAN THINGS OF THE EARTH.
6	And I saw the woman overcome as with the wine of the blood of the saints, and the blood of those put to death because of Jesus. And when I saw her, I was overcome with a great wonder.
7	And the angel said to me, Why were you surprised? I will make clear to you the secret of the woman, and of the beast on which she is seated, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
8	The beast which you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the great deep, and to go into destruction. And those who are on the earth, whose names have not been put in the book of life from the first, will be full of wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and still will be.
9	Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman is seated:
10	And they are seven kings; the five have come to an end, the one is, the other has not come; and when he comes, he will have to go on for a little time.
11	And the beast which was, and is not, is himself the eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes into destruction.
12	And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which still have been given no kingdom; but they are given authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.
13	These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast.
14	These will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because he is the Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with him are named, marked out, and true.
15	And he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the evil woman is seated, are peoples, and armies, and nations and languages.
16	And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will be turned against the evil woman, and will make her waste and uncovered, and will take her flesh for food, and will have her burned with fire.
17	Because God has put it in their hearts to do his purpose, and to be of one mind, giving their kingdom to the beast, till the words of God have effect and are complete.
18	And the woman whom you saw is the great town, which is ruling over the kings of the earth.

Revelation 16

2008-08-12T11:15:00.001-07:00

1	And a great voice out of the house of God came to my ears, saying to the seven angels, Go, and let that which is in the seven vessels of the wrath of God come down on the earth.
2	And the first went, and let what was in his vessel come down on the earth; and it became an evil poisoning wound on the men who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image.
3	And the second let what was in his vessel come out into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea came to an end.
4	And the third let what was in his vessel come out into the rivers and the fountains of water; and they became blood.
5	And the voice of the angel of the waters came to my ears, saying, True and upright is your judging, O Holy One, who is and was from all time:
6	For they made the blood of saints and prophets come out like a stream, and blood have you given them for drink; which is their right reward.
7	And a voice came from the altar, saying, Even so, O Lord God, Ruler of all, true and full of righteousness is your judging.
8	And the fourth let what was in his vessel come out on the sun; and power was given to it that men might be burned with fire.
9	And men were burned with great heat: and they said evil things against the name of the God who has authority over these punishments; and they were not turned from their evil ways to give him glory.
10	And the fifth let what was in his vessel come out on the high seat of the beast; and his kingdom was made dark; and they were biting their tongues for pain.
11	And they said evil things against the God of heaven because of their pain and their wounds; and they were not turned from their evil works.
12	And the sixth let what was in his vessel come out on the great river Euphrates; and it became dry, so that the way might be made ready for the kings from the east.
13	And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, like frogs.
14	For they are evil spirits, working signs; who go out even to the kings of all the earth, to get them together to the war of the great day of God, the Ruler of all.
15	(See, I come as a thief. Happy is he who is watching and keeps his robes, so that he may not go unclothed, and his shame be seen.)
16	And they got them together into the place which is named in Hebrew Armageddon.
17	And the seventh let what was in his vessel come out on the air; and there came out a great voice from the house of God, from the high seat, saying, It is done.
18	And there were flames and voices and thunders; and there was a great earth-shock so that never, from the time when men were on the earth, had there been so great an earth-shock, so full of power.
19	And the great town was cut into three parts, and the towns of the nations came to destruction: and Babylon the great came into mind before God, to be given the cup of the wine of his wrath.
20	And every island went in flight, and the mountains were seen no longer.
21	And great drops of ice, every one about the weight of a talent, came down out of heaven on men: and men said evil things against God because of the punishment of the ice-drops; for it is very great.

Revelation 15

2008-08-12T11:14:00.002-07:00

1	And I saw another sign in heaven, great and strange; seven angels having the seven last punishments, for in them the wrath of God is complete.
2	And I saw a sea which seemed like glass mixed with fire; and those who had overcome the beast and his image and the number of his name, were in their places by the sea of glass, with God's instruments of music in their hands.
3	And they give the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and full of wonder are your works, O Lord God, Ruler of all; true and full of righteousness are your ways, eternal King.
4	What man is there who will not have fear before you, O Lord, and give glory to your name? because you only are holy; for all the nations will come and give worship before you; for your righteousness has been made clear.
5	And after these things I saw, and the house of the Tent of witness in heaven was open:
6	And the seven angels who had the seven punishments came out from the house of God, clothed with linen, clean and bright and with bands of gold about their breasts.
7	And one of the four beasts gave to the seven angels seven gold vessels full of the wrath of God, who is living for ever and ever.
8	And the house of God was full of smoke from the glory of God, and from his power, and no one was able to go into the house of God, till the seven punishments of the seven angels were ended.

Revelation 14

2008-08-12T11:14:00.001-07:00

1	And I saw the Lamb on the mountain of Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, marked on their brows with his name and the name of his Father.
2	And a voice from heaven came to my ears, like the sound of great waters, and the sound of loud thunder: and the voice which came to me was like the sound of players, playing on instruments of music.
3	And they made as it seemed a new song before the high seat, and before the four beasts and the rulers: and no man might have knowledge of the song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, even those from the earth whom God has made his for a price.
4	These are they who have not made themselves unclean with women; for they are virgins. These are they who go after the Lamb wherever he goes. These were taken from among men to be the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.
5	And in their mouth there was no false word, for they are untouched by evil.
6	And I saw another angel in flight between heaven and earth, having eternal good news to give to those who are on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and language and people,
7	Saying with a loud voice, Have fear of God and give him glory; because the hour of his judging is come; and give worship to him who made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of water.
8	And a second angel came after, saying, Destruction has come to Babylon the great, which gave to all the nations the wine of the wrath of her evil ways.
9	And a third angel came after them, saying with a loud voice, If any man gives worship to the beast and his image, and has his mark on his brow or on his hand,
10	To him will be given of the wine of God's wrath which is ready unmixed in the cup of his wrath and he will have cruel pain, burning with fire before the holy angels and before the Lamb:
11	And the smoke of their pain goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, who give worship to the beast and his image, and have on them the mark of his name.
12	Here is the quiet strength of the saints, who keep the orders of God, and the faith of Jesus.
13	And a voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Put in writing, There is a blessing on the dead who from now on come to their end in the Lord: yes, says the Spirit, that they may have rest from their troubles; for their works go with them.
14	And I saw a white cloud, and on the cloud I saw one seated, like a son of man, having on his head a crown of gold, and in his hand a sharp curved blade.
15	And another angel came out from the house of God, crying with a loud voice to him who was seated on the cloud, Put in your blade, and let the grain be cut: because the hour for cutting it is come; for the grain of the earth is over-ready.
16	And he who was seated on the cloud sent in his blade on the earth; and the grain of the earth was cut.
17	And another angel came out from the house of God which is in heaven, having a sharp curved blade.
18	And another angel came out from the altar, who has power over fire; and he gave a loud cry to him who had the sharp curved blade, saying, Put in your sharp blade, and let the grapes of the vine of the earth be cut; for her grapes are fully ready.
19	And the angel sent his blade into the earth, and the vine of the earth was cut, and he put it into the great wine-crusher of the wrath of God.
20	And the grapes were crushed under foot outside the town, and blood came out from them, even to the head-bands of the horses, two hundred miles.

Revelation 13

2008-08-12T11:13:00.002-07:00

1	And he took his place on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads unholy names.
2	And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority.
3	And I saw one of his heads as if it had been given a death-wound; and his death-wound was made well: and all the earth was wondering at the beast.
4	And they gave worship to the dragon, because he gave authority to the beast; and worshipping the beast, they said, Who is like the beast? and who is able to go to war with him?
5	And there was given to him a mouth to say words of pride against God; and there was given to him authority to go on for forty-two months.
6	And his mouth was open to say evil against God, and against his name and his Tent, even against those who are in heaven.
7	And it was given to him to make war on the saints and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and language and nation.
8	And all who are on the earth will give him worship, everyone whose name has not been from the first in the book of life of the Lamb who was put to death.
9	If any man has ears, let him give ear.
10	If any man sends others into prison, into prison he will go: if any man puts to death with the sword, with the sword will he be put to death. Here is the quiet strength and the faith of the saints.
11	And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and his voice was like that of a dragon.
12	And he makes use of all the authority of the first beast before his eyes. And he makes the earth and those who are in it give worship to the first beast, whose death-wound was made well.
13	And he does great signs, even making fire come down from heaven on the earth before the eyes of men.
14	And those who are on the earth are turned from the true way by him through the signs which he was given power to do before the beast; giving orders to those who are on the earth to make an image to the beast, who was wounded by the sword, and came to life.
15	And he had power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that words might come from the image of the beast, and that he might have all those who did not give worship to the image of the beast put to death.
16	And he gives to all, small and great, the poor and those who have wealth, the free and those who are not free, a mark on their right hand or on their brows;
17	So that no man might be able to do trade but he who has the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name.
18	Here is wisdom. He who has knowledge let him get the number of the beast; because it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred and sixty-six.

Revelation 12

2008-08-12T11:13:00.001-07:00

1	And a great sign was seen in heaven: a A woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
2	And she was with child; and she gave a cry, in the pains of childbirth.
3	And there was seen another sign in heaven; a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns.
4	And his tail was pulling a third part of the stars of heaven down to the earth, and the dragon took his place before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when the birth had taken place he might put an end to her child.
5	And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who was to have rule over all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was taken up to God and to his high seat.
6	And the woman went in flight to the waste land, where she has a place made ready by God, so that there they may give her food a thousand, two hundred and sixty days.
7	And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going out to the fight with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels made war,
8	And they were overcome, and there was no more place for them in heaven.
9	And the great dragon was forced down, the old snake, who is named the Evil One and Satan, by whom all the earth is turned from the right way; he was forced down to the earth, and his angels were forced down with him.
10	And a great voice in heaven came to my ears, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: because he who says evil against our brothers before our God day and night is forced down.
11	And they overcame him through the blood of the Lamb and the word of their witness; and loving not their lives they freely gave themselves up to death.
12	Be glad then, O heavens, and you who are in them. But there is trouble for the earth and the sea: because the Evil One has come down to you, being very angry, having the knowledge that he has but a short time.
13	And when the dragon saw that he was forced down to the earth, he made cruel attacks on the woman who gave birth to the male child.
14	And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, so that she might go in flight into the waste land, to her place, where she is given food for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the snake.
15	And the snake sent out of his mouth after the woman a river of water, so that she might be taken away by the stream.
16	And the earth gave help to the woman, and with open mouth took up the river which the dragon sent out of his mouth.
17	And the dragon was angry with the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her seed, who keep the orders of God, and the witness of Jesus:

Revelation 11

2008-08-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

1	And there was given to me a measuring rod: and one said, Go up and take the measure of the house of God, and the altar, and the worshippers in it.
2	But do not take the measure of the space outside the house; because it has been given to the nations: and the holy town will be under their feet for forty-two months.
3	And I will give orders to my two witnesses, and they will be prophets for a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed with haircloth.
4	These are the two olive-trees and the two lights, which are before the Lord of the earth.
5	And if any man would do them damage, fire comes out of their mouth and puts an end to those who are working against them: and if any man has a desire to do them damage, in this way will he be put to death.
6	These have the power to keep the heaven shut, so that there may be no rain in the days when they are prophets: and they have power over the waters to make them into blood, and to send every sort of disease on the earth as their pleasure is.
7	And when they have come to the end of their witness, the beast which comes up out of the great deep will make war on them and overcome them and put them to death.
8	And their dead bodies will be in the open street of the great town, which in the spirit is named Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was put to death on the cross.
9	And the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will be looking on their dead bodies three days and a half, and will not let their dead bodies be put in the earth.
10	And those who are on the earth will have pleasure and delight over them; and they will send offerings one to another because these two prophets gave great trouble to all on the earth.
11	And after three days and a half the breath of life from God went into them, and they got up on their feet; and great fear came on those who saw them.
12	And a great voice from heaven came to their ears, saying to them, Come up here. And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and were seen by those desiring their death.
13	And in that hour there was a great earth-shock and a tenth part of the town came to destruction; and in the earth-shock seven thousand persons came to their end: and the rest were in fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14	The second Trouble is past: see, the third Trouble comes quickly.
15	And at the sounding of the seventh angel there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he will have rule for ever and ever.
16	And the four and twenty rulers, who are seated before God on their high seats, went down on their faces and gave worship to God, saying,
17	We give you praise, O Lord God, Ruler of all, who is and who was; because you have taken up your great power and are ruling your kingdom.
18	And the nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and the time of reward for your servants, the prophets, and for the saints, and for those in whom is the fear of your name, small and great, and the time of destruction for those who made the earth unclean.
19	And the house of God which is in heaven was open; and the ark of his agreement was seen in his house, and there were flames and voices and thunders and an earth-shock and a rain of ice.

Revelation 10

2008-08-12T11:11:00.002-07:00

1	And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and an arch of coloured light was round his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;
2	And he had in his hand a little open book: and he put his right foot on the sea, and his left on the earth;
3	And he gave a loud cry, like the angry voice of a lion: and at his cry the voices of the seven thunders were sounding.
4	And when the seven thunders had given out their voices, I was about to put their words down: and a voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Keep secret the things which the seven thunders said, and do not put them in writing.
5	And the angel which I saw taking his position on the sea and on the earth, put up his right hand to heaven,
6	And took his oath by him who is living for ever and ever, who made the heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there would be no more waiting:
7	But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when the sound of his horn is about to come, then will the secret of God be complete, of which he gave the good news to his servants the prophets.
8	And the voice came to me again from heaven, saying, Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who has his place on the sea and on the earth.
9	And I went to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me: Put it in your mouth; and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.
10	And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and did as he said; and it was sweet as honey in my mouth: and when I had taken it, my stomach was made bitter.
11	And they said to me, You are to give word again of what is coming in the future to the peoples and nations and languages and kings.

Revelation 09

2008-08-12T11:11:00.001-07:00

1	And at the sounding of the fifth angel I saw a star falling from heaven to the earth: and there was given to him the key of the great deep.
2	And he made the great deep open and a smoke went up from it, like the smoke of a great oven; and the sun and the air were made dark because of the smoke.
3	And from the smoke locusts came out on the earth; and power was given them, like the power of scorpions.
4	And they were ordered to do no damage to the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only to such men as have not the mark of God on their brows.
5	And orders were given them not to put them to death, but to give them great pain for five months: and their pain was as the pain from the wound of a scorpion.
6	And in those days men will be hoping for death, and it will not come to them; and they will have a great desire for death, and death will go in flight from them.
7	And the forms of the locusts were like horses made ready for war; and on their heads they had crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8	And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9	And they had breastplates like iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of carriages, like an army of horses rushing to the fight.
10	And they have pointed tails like scorpions; and in their tails is their power to give men wounds for five months.
11	They have over them as king the angel of the great deep: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek language Apollyon.
12	The first Trouble is past: see, there are still two Troubles to come.
13	And at the sounding of the sixth angel a voice came to my ears from the horns of the gold altar which is before God,
14	Saying to the sixth angel who had the horn, Make free the four angels who are chained at the great river Euphrates.
15	And the four angels were made free, who were ready for the hour and day and month and year, that they might put to death a third part of men.
16	And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: the number of them came to my ears.
17	And so I saw the horses in the vision, and those who were seated on them, having breastplates of fire and glass and of burning stone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and a smell of burning.
18	By these evils a third part of men was put to death, by the fire, and the smoke, and the burning smell which came out of their mouths.
19	For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails: because their tails are like snakes, and have heads, and with them they give wounds.
20	And the rest of the people, who were not put to death by these evils, were not turned from the works of their hands, but went on giving worship to evil spirits, and images of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood which have no power of seeing or hearing or walking:
21	And they had no regret for putting men to death, or for their use of secret arts, or for the evil desires of the flesh, or for taking the property of others.

Revelation 08

2008-08-12T11:10:00.002-07:00

1	And when the seventh stamp was undone there was quiet in heaven for about half an hour.
2	And I saw the seven angels who had their place before God; and seven horns were given to them.
3	And another angel came and took his place at the altar, having a gold vessel for burning perfume; and there was given to him much perfume, so that he might put it with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar which was before the high seat.
4	And the smoke of the perfume, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand.
5	And the angel took the vessel; and he made it full of the fire of the altar, and sent it down on the earth: and there came thunders and voices and flames and a shaking of the earth.
6	And the seven angels who had the seven horns made ready for sounding them.
7	And at the sounding of the first, a rain of ice and fire, mixed with blood, was sent on the earth: and a third part of the earth, and of the trees, and all green grass was burned up.
8	And at the sounding of the second angel, it was as if a great mountain burning with fire was sent into the sea: and a third part of the sea became blood,
9	And destruction came on a third part of the living things which were in the sea, and on a third part of the ships.
10	And at the sounding of the third angel, there went down from heaven a great star, burning like a flame, and it came on a third part of the rivers, and on the fountains of water.
11	And the name of the star is Wormwood: and a third part of the waters became bitter; and a number of men came to their end because of the waters, for they were made bitter.
12	And at the sounding of the fourth angel, a third part of the sun, and of the moon, and of the stars was made dark, so that there was no light for a third part of the day and of the night.
13	And there came to my ears the cry of an eagle in flight in the middle of heaven, saying with a great voice, Trouble, trouble, trouble, to all on the earth, because of the other voices of the horns of the three angels, whose sounding is still to come.

Revelation 07

2008-08-12T11:10:00.001-07:00

1	After this I saw four angels in their places at the four points of the earth, keeping back the four winds in their hands, so that there might be no moving of the wind on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.
2	And I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the mark of the living God: and he said with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to do damage to the earth and the sea,
3	Do no damage to the earth, or the sea, or the trees, till we have put a mark on the servants of our God.
4	And there came to my ears the number of those who had the mark on their brows, a hundred and forty-four thousand, who were marked out of every tribe of the people of Israel.
5	Of the tribe of Judah were marked twelve thousand: of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand: of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand:
6	Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand: of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand: of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand:
7	Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand: of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand: of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand:
8	Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand: of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand: of the tribe of Benjamin were marked twelve thousand.
9	After these things I saw a great army of people more than might be numbered, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and languages, taking their places before the high seat and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, and with branches in their hands,
10	Saying with a loud voice, Salvation to our God who is seated on the high seat, and to the Lamb.
11	And all the angels were round about the high seat, and about the rulers and the four beasts; and they went down on their faces before the high seat, and gave worship to God, saying,
12	So be it. Let blessing and glory and wisdom and praise and honour and power and strength be given to our God for ever and ever. So be it.
13	And one of the rulers made answer, saying to me, These who have on white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?
14	And I said to him, My lord, you have knowledge. And he said to me, These are they who came through the great testing, and their robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.
15	This is why they are before the high seat of God; and they are his servants day and night in his house: and he who is seated on the high seat will be a tent over them.
16	They will never be in need of food or drink: and they will never again be troubled by the burning heat of the sun:
17	For the Lamb who is on the high seat will be their keeper and their guide to fountains of living water: and God will make glad their eyes for ever.

Revelation 06

2008-08-12T11:09:00.002-07:00

1	And I saw when the Lamb undid one of the stamps, and the voice of one of the four beasts came to my ears, saying as with a voice of thunder, Come and see.
2	And I saw a white horse, and he who was seated on it had a bow; and there was given to him a crown: and he went out with power to overcome.
3	And when the second stamp was undone, the voice of the second beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see.
4	And another horse came out, a red horse; and it was given to him who was seated on it to take peace from the earth, so that people might put one another to death: and there was given to him a great sword.
5	And when the third stamp was undone, the voice of the third beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see. And I saw a black horse; and he who was seated on it had scales in his hand.
6	And a voice came to my ears, from the middle of the four beasts, saying, A measure of grain for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny: and see that you do no damage to the oil and the wine.
7	And when the fourth stamp was undone, the voice of the fourth beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see.
8	And I saw a grey horse, and the name of him who was seated on it was Death; and Hell came after him. And there was given to them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to put to destruction by the sword, and by taking away their food, and by death, and by the beasts of the earth.
9	And when the fifth stamp was undone, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been put to death for the word of God, and for the witness which they kept.
10	And they gave a great cry, saying, How long will it be, O Ruler, holy and true, before you take your place as judge and give punishment for our blood to those on the earth?
11	And there was given to every one a white robe, and they were ordered to take their rest for a little time, till the number was complete of the other servants, their brothers, who would be put to death, even as they had been.
12	And I saw when the sixth stamp was undone, and there was a great earth-shock; and the sun became black as haircloth, and all the moon became as blood;
13	And the stars of heaven were falling to the earth, like green fruit from a tree before the force of a great wind.
14	And the heaven was taken away like the roll of a book when it is rolled up; and all the mountains and islands were moved out of their places.
15	And the kings of the earth, and the rulers, and the chief captains, and the men of wealth, and the strong, and every servant and free man, took cover in the holes and the rocks of the mountains;
16	And they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Come down on us, covering us from the face of him who is seated on the high seat, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17	For the great day of their wrath is come, and who may keep his place?

Revelation 05

2008-08-12T11:09:00.001-07:00

1	And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the high seat, a book with writing inside it and on the back, shut with seven stamps of wax.
2	And I saw a strong angel saying in a loud voice, Who is able to make the book open, and to undo its stamps?
3	And no one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to get the book open, or to see what was in it.
4	And I was very sad, because there was no one able to get the book open or to see what was in it.
5	And one of the rulers said to me, Do not be sad: see, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, and has power to undo the book and its seven stamps.
6	And I saw in the middle of the high seat and of the four beasts, and in the middle of the rulers, a Lamb in his place, which seemed as if it had been put to death, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.
7	And he came and took it out of the right hand of him who was seated on the high seat.
8	And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty rulers went down on their faces before the Lamb, having every one an instrument of music, and gold vessels full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints.
9	And their voices are sounding in a new song, saying, It is right for you to take the book and to make it open: for you were put to death and have made an offering to God of your blood for men of every tribe, and language, and people, and nation,
10	And have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are ruling on the earth.
11	And I saw, and there came to my ears the sound of a great number of angels round about the high seat and the beasts and the rulers; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
12	Saying with a great voice, It is right to give to the Lamb who was put to death, power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing.
13	And to my ears came the voice of everything in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and of all things which are in them, saying, To him who is seated on the high seat, and to the Lamb, may blessing and honour and glory and power be given for ever and ever.
14	And the four beasts said, So be it. And the rulers went down on their faces and gave worship.

Revelation 04

2008-08-12T11:08:00.001-07:00

1	After these things I saw a door open in heaven, and the first voice came to my ears, like the sound of a horn, saying, Come up here, and I will make clear to you the things which are to come.
2	Straight away I was in the Spirit: and I saw a high seat in heaven, and one was seated on it;
3	And to my eyes he was like a jasper and a sardius stone: and there was an arch of light round the high seat, like an emerald.
4	And round about the high seat were four and twenty seats: and on them I saw four and twenty rulers seated, clothed in white robes; and on their heads crowns of gold.
5	And out of the high seat came flames and voices and thunders. And seven lights of fire were burning before the high seat, which are the seven Spirits of God;
6	And before the high seat there was, as it seemed, a clear sea of glass; and in the middle of the high seat, and round about it, four beasts full of eyes round about.
7	And the first beast was like a lion, and the second like an ox, and the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.
8	And the four beasts, having every one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and inside: and without resting day and night, they say, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, Ruler of all, who was and is and is to come.
9	And when the beasts give glory and honour to him who is seated on the high seat, to him who is living for ever and ever,
10	The four and twenty rulers go down on their faces before him who is seated on the high seat, and give worship to him who is living for ever and ever, and take off their crowns before the high seat, saying,
11	It is right, our Lord and our God, for you to have glory and honour and power: because by you were all things made, and by your desire they came into being.

Revelation 03

2008-08-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

1	And to the angel of the church in Sardis say: These things says he who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I have knowledge of your works, that you seem to be living but are dead.
2	Be on the watch, and make strong the rest of the things which are near to death; because as judged by me your works have not come up to God's measure.
3	Keep in mind, then, the teaching which was given to you, and be ruled by it and have a change of heart. If then you do not keep watch, I will come like a thief, and you will have no knowledge of the hour when I will come on you.
4	But you have some names in Sardis who have kept clean their robes; and as a reward they will go in white with me.
5	He who overcomes will be dressed in white, and I will not take his name from the book of life, and I will give witness to his name before my Father, and before his angels.
6	He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches.
7	And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia say: These things says he who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, opening the door so that it may be shut by no one, and shutting it so that it may be open to no one.
8	I have knowledge of your works (see, I have put before you an open door which may be shut by no one), and that you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have been true to my name.
9	See, I will make those of the Synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews, and are not, but say what is false; I will make them come and give worship before your feet, and see my love for you.
10	Because you have kept my word in quiet strength, I will keep you from the hour of testing which is coming on all the world, to put to the test those who are on earth.
11	I come quickly: keep that which you have, so that no one may take your crown.
12	Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the house of my God, and he will go out no more: and I will put on him the name of my God, and the name of the town of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name.
13	He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches.
14	And to the angel of the church in Laodicea say: These things says the true and certain witness, the head of God's new order:
15	I have knowledge of your works, that you are not cold or warm: it would be better if you were cold or warm.
16	So because you are not one thing or the other, I will have no more to do with you.
17	For you say, I have wealth, and have got together goods and land, and have need of nothing; and you are not conscious of your sad and unhappy condition, that you are poor and blind and without clothing.
18	If you are wise you will get from me gold tested by fire, so that you may have true wealth; and white robes to put on, so that your shame may not be seen; and oil for your eyes, so that you may see.
19	To all those who are dear to me, I give sharp words and punishment: then with all your heart have sorrow for your evil ways.
20	See, I am waiting at the door and giving the sign; if my voice comes to any man's ears and he makes the door open, I will come in to him, and will take food with him and he with me.
21	To him who overcomes I will give a place with me on my high seat, even as I overcame, and am seated with my Father on his high seat.
22	He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 02

2008-08-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

1	To the angel of the church in Ephesus say: These things says he who has the seven stars in his right hand, who is walking in the middle of the seven gold lights:
2	I have knowledge of your doings, and of your hard work and long waiting, and that you will not put up with evil men, and have put to the test those who say they are Apostles and are not, and have seen that they are false;
3	And you have the power of waiting, and have undergone trouble because of my name, without weariness.
4	But I have this against you, that you are turned away from your first love.
5	So keep in mind where you were at first, and be changed in heart and do the first works; or I will come to you, and will take away your light from its place, if your hearts are not changed.
6	But at least you have the credit of hating the works of the Nicolaitans, as I do.
7	He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give of the fruit of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
8	And to the angel of the church in Smyrna say: These things says the first and the last, who was dead and is living:
9	I have knowledge of your troubles and how poor you are (but you have true wealth), and the evil words of those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are a Synagogue of Satan.
10	Have no fear of the things which you will have to undergo: see, the Evil One will send some of you into prison, so that you may be put to the test; and you will have great trouble for ten days. Be true till death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11	He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not come under the power of the second death.
12	And to the angel of the church in Pergamos say: These things says he who has the sharp two-edged sword:
13	I have knowledge that your living-place is where Satan has his seat: and you are true to my name, and were not turned away from your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my true witness, who was put to death among you, where Satan has his place.
14	But I have some things against you, because you have with you those who keep the teaching of Balaam, by whose suggestion Balak made the children of Israel go out of the right way, taking food which was offered to false gods, and going after the desires of the flesh.
15	And you have those who keep the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
16	See, then, that you have a change of heart; or I will come to you quickly, and will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.
17	He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give of the secret manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name, of which no one has knowledge but he to whom it is given.
18	And to the angel of the church in Thyatira say: These things says the Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, and his feet like polished brass:
19	I have knowledge of your works, and your love and faith and help and strength in trouble, and that your last works are more than the first.
20	But I have this against you, that you let the woman Jezebel say she is a prophet and give false teaching, making my servants go after the desires of the flesh and take food offered to false gods.
21	And I gave her time for a change of heart, but she has no mind to give up her unclean ways.
22	See, I will put her into a bed, and those who make themselves unclean with her, into great trouble, if they go on with her works.
23	And I will put her children to death; and all the churches will see that I am he who makes search into the secret thoughts and hearts of men: and I will give to every one of you the reward of your works.
24	But to you I say, to the rest in Thyatira, even to those who have not this teaching, and have no knowledge of the secrets of Satan, as they say; I put on you no other weight.
25	But what you have, keep safe till I come.
26	He who overcomes, and keeps my works to the end, to him I will give rule over the nations,
27	And he will be ruling them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of the potter they will be broken, even as I have power from my Father:
28	And I will give him the morning star.
29	He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 01

2008-08-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

1	The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him so that his servants might have knowledge of the things which will quickly take place: and he sent and made it clear by his angel to his servant John;
2	Who gave witness of the word of God, and of the witness of Jesus Christ, even of all the things which he saw.
3	A blessing be on the reader, and on those who give ear to the prophet's words, and keep the things which he has put in the book: for the time is near.
4	John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and was and is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his high seat;
5	And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood;
6	And has made us to be a kingdom and priests to his God and Father; to him let glory and power be given for ever and ever. So be it.
7	See, he comes with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those by whom he was wounded; and all the tribes of the earth will be sorrowing because of him. Yes, so be it.
8	I am the First and the Last, says the Lord God who is and was and is to come, the Ruler of all.
9	I, John, your brother, who have a part with you in the trouble and the kingdom and the quiet strength of Jesus, was in the island which is named Patmos, for the word of God and the witness of Jesus.
10	I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and a great voice at my back, as of a horn, came to my ears,
11	Saying, What you see, put in a book, and send it to the seven churches; to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.
12	And turning to see the voice which said these words to me, I saw seven gold vessels with lights burning in them;
13	And in the middle of them one like a son of man, clothed with a robe down to his feet, and with a band of gold round his breasts.
14	And his head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15	And his feet like polished brass, as if it had been burned in a fire; and his voice was as the sound of great waters.
16	And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword: and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.
17	And when I saw him, I went down on my face at his feet as one dead. And he put his right hand on me, saying, Have no fear; I am the first and the last and the Living one;
18	And I was dead, and see, I am living for ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hell.
19	Put in writing, then, the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will be after these;
20	The secret of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold vessels with burning lights. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven lights are the seven churches.

Jude 1

2008-08-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

1	Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, to those of God's selection who have been made holy by God the Father and are kept safe for Jesus Christ:
2	May mercy and peace and love be increased in you.
3	My loved ones, while my thoughts were full of a letter which I was going to send you about our common salvation, it was necessary for me to send you one requesting you with all my heart to go on fighting strongly for the faith which has been given to the saints once and for ever.
4	For certain men have come among you secretly, marked out before in the holy Writings for this evil fate, men without the fear of God, turning his grace into an unclean thing, and false to our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5	Now it is my purpose to put you in mind, though you once had knowledge of all these things, of how the Lord, having taken a people safely out of Egypt, later sent destruction on those who had no faith;
6	And the angels who did not keep to their kingdom but went out from the place which was theirs, he has put in eternal chains and in dark night till the great day of the judging.
7	Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the towns near them, having like these, given themselves up to unclean desires and gone after strange flesh, have been made an example, undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
8	In the same way these dreamers make the flesh unclean, having no respect for authorities, and say evil of rulers.
9	Now when Michael, one of the chief angels, was fighting against the Evil One for the body of Moses, fearing to make use of violent words against him, he only said, May the Lord be your judge.
10	But these men say evil about such things as they have no knowledge of; and the things of which they have natural knowledge, like beasts without reason, are the cause of their destruction.
11	A curse on them! They have gone in the way of Cain, running uncontrolled into the error of Balaam for reward, and have come to destruction by saying evil against the Lord, like Korah.
12	These men are unseen rocks at your love-feasts, when they take part in them with you, keepers of sheep who without fear take the food of the sheep; clouds without water rushing before the wind, wasted trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots,
13	Violent waves of the sea, streaming with their shame, wandering stars for whom the darkest night is kept in store for ever.
14	The prophet Enoch, who was the seventh after Adam, said of these men, The Lord came with tens of thousands of his saints,
15	To be the judge of all, and to give a decision against all those whose lives are unpleasing to him, because of the evil acts which they have done, and because of all the hard things which sinners without fear of God have said against him.
16	These are the men who make trouble, ever desiring change, going after evil pleasures, using high-sounding words, respecting men's position in the hope of reward.
17	But you, my loved ones, keep in memory the words which were said before by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,
18	How they said to you, In the last days there will be men who, guided by their evil desires, will make sport of holy things.
19	These are the men who make divisions, natural men, not having the Spirit.
20	But you, my loved ones, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, and making prayers in the Holy Spirit,
21	Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for life eternal through the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.
22	And have pity on those who are in doubt;
23	And to some give salvation, pulling them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the clothing which is made unclean by the flesh.
24	Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to give you a place in his glory, free from all evil, with great joy,
25	To the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, let us give glory and honour and authority and power, before all time and now and for ever. So be it.

3rd John 1

2008-08-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

1	I, a ruler in the church, send word to the well loved Gaius, for whom I have true love.
2	My loved one, it is my prayer that you may do well in all things, and be healthy in body, even as your soul does well.
3	For it gave me great joy when some of the brothers came and gave witness that you had the true faith and were walking in the true way.
4	I have no greater joy than to have news that my children are walking in the true way.
5	My loved one, you are doing a good work in being kind to those brothers who come from other places;
6	Who have given witness to the church of your love for them: and you will do well to send them on their way well cared for, as is right for servants of God:
7	For they went out for love of the Name, taking nothing from the Gentiles.
8	So it is right for us to take in such men as guests, so that we may take our part in the work of the true faith.
9	I sent a letter to the church, but Diotrephes, whose desire is ever to have the first place among them, will not have us there.
10	So if I come, I will keep in mind the things he does, talking against us with evil words: and as if this was not enough, he does not take the brothers into his house, and those who are ready to take them in, he keeps from doing so, putting them out of the church if they do.
11	My loved one, do not be copying what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God: he who does evil has not seen God.
12	Demetrius has the approval of all men and of what is true: and we give the same witness, and you are certain that our witness is true.
13	I had much to say to you, but it is not my purpose to put it all down with ink and pen:
14	But I am hoping to see you in a short time, and to have talk with you face to face.

2nd John 1

2008-08-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

1	I, a ruler in the church, send word to the noble sister who is of God's selection, and to her children, for whom I have true love; and not only I, but all who have knowledge of what is true;
2	Because of this true knowledge which is in us, and will be with us for ever:
3	May grace, mercy, and peace be with us from God the Father, and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in all true love.
4	It gave me great joy to see some of your children walking in the true way, even as we were ordered to do by the Father.
5	And now, my sister, I make a request to you, not sending you a new law, but the law which we had from the first, that we have love for one another.
6	And love is the keeping of his laws. This is the law which was given to you from the first, so that you might keep it.
7	Because a number of false teachers have gone out into the world, who do not give witness that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Such a one is a false teacher and Antichrist.
8	Keep watch over yourselves, so that you do not make our work of no effect, but may get your full reward.
9	Anyone who goes on and does not keep to the teaching of Christ, has not God: he who keeps to the teaching has the Father and the Son.
10	If anyone comes to you not having this teaching, do not take him into your house or give him words of love:
11	For he who gives him words of love has a part in his evil works.
12	Having much to say to you, it is not my purpose to put it all down with paper and ink: but I am hoping to come to you, and to have talk with you face to face, so that your joy may be full.
13	The children of your noble sister, who is of God's selection, send you their love.

1st John 5

2008-08-12T10:58:00.001-07:00

1	Everyone who has faith that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God: and everyone who has love for the Father has love for his child.
2	In this way, we are certain that we have love for the children of God, when we have love for God and keep his laws.
3	For loving God is keeping his laws: and his laws are not hard.
4	Anything which comes from God is able to overcome the world: and the power by which we have overcome the world is our faith.
5	Who is able to overcome the world but the man who has faith that Jesus is the Son of God?
6	This is he who came by water and by blood, Jesus Christ; not by water only but by water and by blood.
7	And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is true.
8	There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood: and all three are in agreement.
9	If we take the witness of men to be true, the witness of God is greater: because this is the witness which God has given about his Son.
10	He who has faith in the Son of God has the witness in himself: he who has not faith in God makes him false, because he has not faith in the witness which God has given about his Son.
11	And his witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12	He who has the Son has the life; he who has not the Son of God has not the life.
13	I have put these things in writing for you who have faith in the name of the Son of God, so that you may be certain that you have eternal life.
14	And we are certain that if we make any request to him which is right in his eyes, he will give ear to us:
15	And if we are certain that he gives ear to all our requests, we are equally certain that we will get our requests.
16	If a man sees his brother doing a sin which is not bad enough for death, let him make a prayer to God, and God will give life to him whose sin was not bad enough for death. There is a sin whose punishment is death: I do not say that he may make such a request then.
17	All evil-doing is sin: but death is not the punishment for every sort of sin.
18	We are certain that one who is a child of God will do no sin, but the Son of God keeps him so that he is not touched by the Evil One.
19	We are certain that we are of God, but all the world is in the power of the Evil One.
20	And we are certain that the Son of God has come, and has given us a clear vision, so that we may see him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21	My little children, keep yourselves from false gods.

1st John 4

2008-08-12T10:57:00.001-07:00

1	My loved ones, do not put your faith in every spirit, but put them to the test, to see if they are from God: because a great number of false prophets have gone out into the world.
2	By this you may have knowledge of the Spirit of God: every spirit which says that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God:
3	And every spirit which does not say this is not from God: this is the spirit of Antichrist, of which you have had word; and it is in the world even now.
4	You are of God, my little children, and you have overcome them because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5	They are of the world, so their talk is the world's talk, and the world gives ear to them.
6	We are of God: he who has the knowledge of God gives ear to us; he who is not of God does not give ear to us. By this we may see which is the true spirit, and which is the spirit of error.
7	My loved ones, let us have love for one another: because love is of God, and everyone who has love is a child of God and has knowledge of God.
8	He who has no love has no knowledge of God, because God is love.
9	And the love of God was made clear to us when he sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
10	And this is love, not that we had love for God, but that he had love for us, and sent his Son to be an offering for our sins.
11	My loved ones, if God had such love for us, it is right for us to have love for one another.
12	No man has ever seen God: if we have love for one another, God is in us and his love is made complete in us:
13	And his Spirit which he has given us is the witness that we are in him and he is in us.
14	And we have seen and give witness that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
15	Everyone who says openly that Jesus is the Son of God, has God in him and is in God.
16	And we have seen and had faith in the love which God has for us. God is love, and everyone who has love is in God, and God is in him.
17	In this way love is made complete in us, so that we may be without fear on the day of judging, because as he is, so are we in this world.
18	There is no fear in love: true love has no room for fear, because where fear is, there is pain; and he who is not free from fear is not complete in love.
19	We have the power of loving, because he first had love for us.
20	If a man says, I have love for God, and has hate for his brother, his words are false: for how is the man who has no love for his brother whom he has seen, able to have love for God whom he has not seen?
21	And this is the word which we have from him, that he who has love for God is to have the same love for his brother.

1st John 3

2008-08-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

1	See what great love the Father has given us in naming us the children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not see who we are, because it did not see who he was.
2	My loved ones, now we are children of God, and at present it is not clear what we are to be. We are certain that at his revelation we will be like him; for we will see him as he is.
3	And everyone who has this hope in him makes himself holy, even as he is holy.
4	Everyone who is a sinner goes against the law, for sin is going against the law.
5	And you have knowledge that he came to take away sin: and in him there is no sin.
6	Anyone who is in him does no sin; anyone who is a sinner has not seen him and has no knowledge of him.
7	My little children, let no man take you out of the true way: he who does righteousness is upright, even as he is upright;
8	The sinner is a child of the Evil One; for the Evil One has been a sinner from the first. And the Son of God was seen on earth so that he might put an end to the works of the Evil One.
9	Anyone who is a child of God does no sin, because he still has God's seed in him; he is not able to be a sinner, because God is his Father.
10	In this way it is clear who are the children of God and who are the children of the Evil One; anyone who does not do righteousness or who has no love for his brother, is not a child of God.
11	Because this is the word which was given to you from the first, that we are to have love for one another;
12	Not being of the Evil One like Cain, who put his brother to death. And why did he put him to death? Because his works were evil and his brother's works were good.
13	Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world has no love for you.
14	We are conscious that we have come out of death into life because of our love for the brothers. He who has no love is still in death.
15	Anyone who has hate for his brother is a taker of life, and you may be certain that no taker of life has eternal life in him.
16	In this we see what love is, because he gave his life for us; and it is right for us to give our lives for the brothers.
17	But if a man has this world's goods, and sees that his brother is in need, and keeps his heart shut against his brother, how is it possible for the love of God to be in him?
18	My little children, do not let our love be in word and in tongue, but let it be in act and in good faith.
19	In this way we may be certain that we are true, and may give our heart comfort before him,
20	When our heart says that we have done wrong; because God is greater than our heart, and has knowledge of all things.
21	My loved ones, if our heart does not say that we have done wrong, we have no fear before him;
22	And he gives us all our requests, because we keep his laws and do the things which are pleasing in his eyes.
23	And this is his law, that we have faith in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love for one another, even as he said to us.
24	He who keeps his laws is in God and God is in him. And the Spirit which he gave us is our witness that he is in us.

1st John 2

2008-08-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

1	My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may be without sin. And if any man is a sinner, we have a friend and helper with the Father, Jesus Christ, the upright one:
2	He is the offering for our sins; and not for ours only, but for all the world.
3	And by this we may be certain that we have knowledge of him, if we keep his laws.
4	The man who says, I have knowledge of him, and does not keep his laws, is false, and there is nothing true in him:
5	But in every man who keeps his word, the love of God is made complete. By this we may be certain that we are in him:
6	He who says that he is living in him, will do as he did.
7	My loved ones, I do not give you a new law, but an old law which you had from the first; this old law is the word which came to your ears.
8	Again, I give you a new law, which is true in him and in you; for the night is near its end and the true light is even now shining out.
9	He who says that he is in the light, and has hate in his heart for his brother, is still in the dark.
10	He who has love for his brother is in the light, and there is no cause of error in him.
11	But he who has hate for his brother is in the dark, walking in the dark with no knowledge of where he is going, unable to see because of the dark.
12	I am writing to you, my children, because you have forgiveness of sins through his name.
13	I am writing to you, fathers, because you have knowledge of him who was from the first. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the Evil One. I have sent a letter to you, children, because you have knowledge of the Father.
14	I have sent a letter to you, fathers, because you have knowledge of him who was from the first. I have sent a letter to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God is in you, and because you have overcome the Evil One.
15	Have no love for the world or for the things which are in the world. If any man has love for the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16	Because everything in the world, the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but of the world.
17	And the world and its desires is coming to an end: but he who does God's pleasure is living for ever.
18	Little children, it is the last hour; and as you were given word that the Antichrist would come, so now a number of Antichrists have come to you; and by this we are certain that it is the last hour.
19	They went out from us but they were not of us; if they had been of us they would still be with us: but they went out from us so that it might be made clear that they were not of us.
20	And you have the Spirit from the Holy One and you all have knowledge.
21	I have not sent you this letter because you have no knowledge of what is true, but because you have knowledge, and because that which is false has nothing in common with that which is true.
22	Who is false but he who says that Jesus is not the Christ? He is the Antichrist who has no belief in the Father or the Son.
23	He who has no belief in the Son has not the Father: he who makes clear his belief in the Son has the Father.
24	But as for you, keep in your hearts the things which were made clear to you from the first. If you keep these things in your hearts you will be kept in the Father and the Son.
25	And this is the hope which he gave you, even eternal life.
26	I am writing these things to you about those whose purpose is that you may be turned out of the true way.
27	As for you, the Spirit which he gave you is still in you, and you have no need of any teacher; but as his Spirit gives you teaching about all things, and is true and not false, so keep your hearts in him, through the teaching which he has given you.
28	And now, my children, keep your hearts in him; so that at his revelation, we may have no fear or shame before him at his coming.
29	If you have knowledge that he is upright, it is clear to you that everyone who does righteousness is his offspring.

1st John 1

2008-08-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

1	That which was from the first, which has come to our ears, and which we have seen with our eyes, looking on it and touching it with our hands, about the Word of life
2	(And the life was made clear to us, and we have seen it and are witnessing to it and giving you word of that eternal life which was with the Father and was seen by us);
3	We give you word of all we have seen and everything which has come to our ears, so that you may be united with us; and we are united with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ:
4	And we are writing these things to you so that our joy may be made complete.
5	This is the word which came to us from him and which we give to you, that God is light and in him there is nothing dark.
6	If we say we are joined to him, and are walking still in the dark, our words are false and our acts are untrue:
7	But if we are walking in the light, as he is in the light, we are all united with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son makes us clean from all sin.
8	If we say that we have no sin, we are false to ourselves and there is nothing true in us.
9	If we say openly that we have done wrong, he is upright and true to his word, giving us forgiveness of sins and making us clean from all evil.
10	If we say that we have no sin, we make him false and his word is not in us.

2nd Peter 3

2008-08-12T10:52:00.002-07:00

1	My loved ones, this is now my second letter to you, and in this as in the first, I am attempting to keep your true minds awake;
2	So that you may keep in mind the words of the holy prophets in the past, and the law of the Lord and Saviour which was given to you by his Apostles.
3	Having first of all the knowledge that in the last days there will be men who, ruled by their evil desires, will make sport of holy things,
4	Saying, Where is the hope of his coming? From the death of the fathers till now everything has gone on as it was from the making of the world.
5	But in taking this view they put out of their minds the memory that in the old days there was a heaven, and an earth lifted out of the water and circled by water, by the word of God;
6	And that the world which then was came to an end through the overflowing of the waters.
7	But the present heaven and the present earth have been kept for destruction by fire, which is waiting for them on the day of the judging and destruction of evil men.
8	But, my loved ones, keep in mind this one thing, that with the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years are no more than one day.
9	The Lord is not slow in keeping his word, as he seems to some, but he is waiting in mercy for you, not desiring the destruction of any, but that all may be turned from their evil ways.
10	But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; and in that day the heavens will be rolled up with a great noise, and the substance of the earth will be changed by violent heat, and the world and everything in it will be burned up.
11	Seeing then that all these things are coming to such an end, what sort of persons is it right for you to be, in all holy behaviour and righteousness,
12	Looking for and truly desiring the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will come to an end through fire, and the substance of the earth will be changed by the great heat?
13	But having faith in his word, we are looking for a new heaven and a new earth, which will be the resting-place of righteousness.
14	For this reason, my loved ones, as you are looking for these things, take great care that when he comes you may be in peace before him, free from sin and every evil thing.
15	And be certain that the long waiting of the Lord is for salvation; even as our brother Paul has said in his letters to you, from the wisdom which was given to him;
16	And as he said in all his letters, which had to do with these things; in which are some hard sayings, so that, like the rest of the holy Writings, they are twisted by those who are uncertain and without knowledge, to the destruction of their souls.
17	For this reason, my loved ones, having knowledge of these things before they take place, take care that you are not turned away by the error of the uncontrolled, so falling from your true faith.
18	But be increased in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May he have glory now and for ever. So be it.

2nd Peter 2

2008-08-12T10:52:00.001-07:00

1	But there were false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly put forward wrong teachings for your destruction, even turning away from the Lord who gave himself for them; whose destruction will come quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it.
2	And a great number will go with them in their evil ways, through whom the true way will have a bad name.
3	And in their desire for profit they will come to you with words of deceit, like traders doing business in souls: whose punishment has been ready for a long time and their destruction is watching for them.
4	For if God did not have pity for the angels who did evil, but sent them down into hell, to be kept in chains of eternal night till they were judged;
5	And did not have mercy on the world which then was, but only kept safe Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he let loose the waters over the world of the evil-doers;
6	And sent destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah, burning them up with fire as an example to those whose way of life might in the future be unpleasing to him;
7	And kept safe Lot, the upright man, who was deeply troubled by the unclean life of the evil-doers
8	(Because the soul of that upright man living among them was pained from day to day by seeing and hearing their crimes):
9	The Lord is able to keep the upright safe in the time of testing, and to keep evil-doers under punishment till the day of judging;
10	But specially those who go after the unclean desires of the flesh, and make sport of authority. Ready to take chances, uncontrolled, they have no fear of saying evil of those in high places:
11	Though the angels, who are greater in strength and power, do not make use of violent language against them before the Lord.
12	But these men, like beasts without reason, whose natural use is to be taken and put to death, crying out against things of which they have no knowledge, will undergo that same destruction which they are designing for others;
13	For the evil which overtakes them is the reward of their evil-doing: such men take their pleasure in the delights of the flesh even in the daytime; they are like the marks of a disease, like poisoned wounds among you, feasting together with you in joy;
14	Having eyes full of evil desire, never having enough of sin; turning feeble souls out of the true way; they are children of cursing, whose hearts are well used to bitter envy;
15	Turning out of the true way, they have gone wandering in error, after the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who was pleased to take payment for wrongdoing;
16	But his wrongdoing was pointed out to him: an ass, talking with a man's voice, put a stop to the error of the prophet.
17	These are fountains without water, and mists before a driving storm; for whom the eternal night is kept in store.
18	For with high-sounding false words, making use of the attraction of unclean desires of the flesh, they get into their power those newly made free from those who are living in error;
19	Saying that they will be free, while they themselves are the servants of destruction; because whatever gets the better of a man makes a servant of him.
20	For if, after they have got free from the unclean things of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again taken in the net and overcome, their last condition is worse than their first.
21	For it would have been better for them to have had no knowledge of the way of righteousness, than to go back again from the holy law which was given to them, after having knowledge of it.
22	They are an example of that true saying, The dog has gone back to the food it had put out, and the pig which had been washed to its rolling in the dirty earth.

2nd Peter 1

2008-08-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

1	Simon Peter, a servant and Apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who with us have a part in the same holy faith in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:
2	May grace and peace ever be increasing in you, in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
3	Because by his power he has given us everything necessary for life and righteousness, through the knowledge of him who has been our guide by his glory and virtue;
4	And through this he has given us the hope of great rewards highly to be valued; so that by them we might have our part in God's being, and be made free from the destruction which is in the world through the desires of the flesh.
5	So, for this very cause, take every care; joining virtue to faith, and knowledge to virtue,
6	And self-control to knowledge, and a quiet mind to self-control, and fear of God to a quiet mind,
7	And love of the brothers to fear of God, and to love of the brothers, love itself.
8	For if you have these things in good measure, they will make you fertile and full of fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9	For the man who has not these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having no memory of how he was made clean from his old sins.
10	For this reason, my brothers, take all the more care to make your selection and approval certain; for if you do these things you will never have a fall:
11	For so the way will be open to you into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
12	For this reason I will be ready at all times to keep your memory of these things awake, though you have the knowledge of them now and are well based in your present faith.
13	And it seems right to me, as long as I am in this tent of flesh, to keep your minds awake by working on your memory;
14	For I am conscious that in a short time I will have to put off this tent of flesh, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
15	And I will take every care so that you may have a clear memory of these things after my death.
16	For when we gave you news of the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our teaching was not based on stories put together by art, but we were eye-witnesses of his glory.
17	For God the Father gave him honour and glory, when such a voice came to him out of the great glory, saying, This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
18	And this voice came from heaven even to our ears, when we were with him on the holy mountain.
19	And so the words of the prophets are made more certain; and it is well for you to give attention to them as to a light shining in a dark place, till the dawn comes and the morning star is seen in your hearts;
20	Being conscious in the first place that no man by himself may give a special sense to the words of the prophets.
21	For these words did not ever come through the impulse of men: but the prophets had them from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

1st Peter 5

2008-08-12T10:49:00.002-07:00

1	I who am myself one of the rulers of the church, and a witness of the death of Christ, having my part in the coming glory, send this serious request to the chief men among you:
2	Keep watch over the flock of God which is in your care, using your authority, not as forced to do so, but gladly; and not for unclean profit but with a ready mind;
3	Not as lords over God's heritage, but making yourselves examples to the flock.
4	And at the coming of the chief Keeper of the sheep, you will be given the eternal crown of glory.
5	And in the same way, let the younger men be ruled by the older ones. Let all of you put away pride and make yourselves ready to be servants: for God is a hater of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low.
6	For this cause make yourselves low under the strong hand of God, so that when the time comes you may be lifted up;
7	Putting all your troubles on him, for he takes care of you.
8	Be serious and keep watch; the Evil One, who is against you, goes about like a lion with open mouth in search of food;
9	Do not give way to him but be strong in your faith, in the knowledge that your brothers who are in the world undergo the same troubles.
10	And after you have undergone pain for a little time, the God of all grace who has given you a part in his eternal glory through Christ Jesus, will himself give you strength and support, and make you complete in every good thing;
11	His is the power for ever. So be it.
12	I have sent you this short letter by Silvanus, a true brother, in my opinion; comforting you and witnessing that this is the true grace of God; keep to it.
13	She who is in Babylon, who has a part with you in the purpose of God, sends you her love; and so does my son Mark.
14	Give one another the kiss of love. Peace be to you all in Christ.

1st Peter 4

2008-08-12T10:49:00.001-07:00

1	So that as Jesus was put to death in the flesh, do you yourselves be of the same mind; for the death of the flesh puts an end to sin;
2	So that you may give the rest of your lives in the flesh, not to the desires of men, but to the purpose of God.
3	Because for long enough, in times past, we have been living after the way of the Gentiles, given up to the desires of the flesh, to drinking and feasting and loose behaviour and unclean worship of images;
4	And they are wondering that you no longer go with them in this violent wasting of life, and are saying evil things of you:
5	But they will have to give an account of themselves to him who is ready to be the judge of the living and the dead.
6	For this was the reason why the good news of Jesus was given even to the dead, so that they might be judged as men in the flesh, but might be living before God in the spirit.
7	But the end of all things is near: so be serious in your behaviour and keep on the watch with prayer;
8	And most of all be warm in your love for one another; because in love there is forgiveness for sins without number:
9	Keep open house for all with a glad heart;
10	Making distribution among one another of whatever has been given to you, like true servants of the unmeasured grace of God;
11	If anyone has anything to say, let it be as the words of God; if anyone has the desire to be the servant of others, let him do it in the strength which is given by God; so that in all things God may have the glory through Jesus Christ, whose are the glory and the power for ever.
12	Dear brothers, do not be surprised, as if it was something strange, if your faith is tested as by fire:
13	But be glad that you are given a part in the pains of Christ; so that at the revelation of his glory you may have great joy.
14	If men say evil things of you because of the name of Christ, happy are you; for the Spirit of glory and of God is resting on you.
15	Let no one among you undergo punishment as a taker of life, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as one who is over-interested in other men's business;
16	But if he undergoes punishment as a Christian, that is no shame to him; let him give glory to God in this name.
17	For the time has come for the judging, starting with the church of God; but if it makes a start with us, what will be the end of those who are not under the rule of God?
18	And if it is hard for even the good man to get salvation, what chance has the man without religion or the sinner?
19	For this reason let those who by the purpose of God undergo punishment, keep on in well-doing and put their souls into the safe hands of their Maker.

1st Peter 3

2008-08-12T10:48:00.000-07:00

1	Wives, be ruled by your husbands; so that even if some of them give no attention to the word, their hearts may be changed by the behaviour of their wives,
2	When they see your holy behaviour in the fear of God.
3	Do not let your ornaments be those of the body such as dressing of the hair, or putting on of jewels of gold or fair clothing;
4	But let them be those of the unseen man of the heart, the ever-shining ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great price in the eyes of God.
5	And these were the ornaments of the holy women of the past, whose hope was in God, being ruled by their husbands:
6	As Sarah was ruled by Abraham, naming him lord; whose children you are if you do well, and are not put in fear by any danger.
7	And you husbands, give thought to your way of life with your wives, giving honour to the woman who is the feebler vessel, but who has an equal part in the heritage of the grace of life; so that you may not be kept from prayer.
8	Last of all, see that you are all in agreement; feeling for one another, loving one another like brothers, full of pity, without pride:
9	Not giving back evil for evil, or curse for curse, but in place of cursing, blessing; because this is the purpose of God for you that you may have a heritage of blessing.
10	For it is said, Let the man who has a love of life, desiring to see good days, keep his tongue from evil and his lips from words of deceit:
11	And let him be turned from evil and do good; searching for peace and going after it with all his heart.
12	For the eyes of the Lord are on the upright, and his ears are open to their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
13	Who will do you any damage if you keep your minds fixed on what is good?
14	But you are happy if you undergo pain because of righteousness; have no part in their fear and do not be troubled;
15	But give honour to Christ in your hearts as your Lord; and be ready at any time when you are questioned about the hope which is in you, to give an answer in the fear of the Lord and without pride;
16	Being conscious that you have done no wrong; so that those who say evil things about your good way of life as Christians may be put to shame.
17	Because if it is God's purpose for you to undergo pain, it is better to do so for well-doing than for evil-doing.
18	Because Christ once went through pain for sins, the upright one taking the place of sinners, so that through him we might come back to God; being put to death in the flesh, but given life in the Spirit;
19	By whom he went to the spirits in prison, preaching to those
20	Who, in the days of Noah, went against God's orders; but God in his mercy kept back the punishment, while Noah got ready the ark, in which a small number, that is to say eight persons, got salvation through water:
21	And baptism, of which this is an image, now gives you salvation, not by washing clean the flesh, but by making you free from the sense of sin before God, through the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead;
22	Who has gone into heaven, and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been put under his rule.

1st Peter 2

2008-08-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

1	So putting away all wrongdoing, and all tricks and deceits and envies and evil talk,
2	Be full of desire for the true milk of the word, as babies at their mothers' breasts, so that you may go on to salvation;
3	If you have had a taste of the grace of the Lord:
4	To whom you come, as to a living stone, not honoured by men, but of great and special value to God;
5	You, as living stones, are being made into a house of the spirit, a holy order of priests, making those offerings of the spirit which are pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.
6	Because it is said in the Writings, See, I am placing a keystone in Zion, of great and special value; and the man who has faith in him will not be put to shame.
7	And the value is for you who have faith; but it is said for those without faith, The very stone which the builders put on one side, was made the chief stone of the building;
8	And, A stone of falling, a rock of trouble; the word is the cause of their fall, because they go against it, and this was the purpose of God.
9	But you are a special people, a holy nation, priests and kings, a people given up completely to God, so that you may make clear the virtues of him who took you out of the dark into the light of heaven.
10	In the past you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; then there was no mercy for you, but now mercy has been given to you.
11	My loved ones, I make this request with all my heart, that, as those for whom this world is a strange country, you will keep yourselves from the desires of the flesh which make war against the soul;
12	Being of good behaviour among the Gentiles; so that though they say now that you are evil-doers, they may see your good works and give glory to God when he comes to be their judge.
13	Keep all the laws of men because of the Lord; those of the king, who is over all,
14	And those of the rulers who are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and for the praise of those who do well.
15	Because it is God's pleasure that foolish and narrow-minded men may be put to shame by your good behaviour:
16	As those who are free, not using your free position as a cover for wrongdoing, but living as the servants of God;
17	Have respect for all, loving the brothers, fearing God, honouring the king.
18	Servants, take orders from your masters with all respect; not only if they are good and gentle, but even if they are bad-humoured.
19	For it is a sign of grace if a man, desiring to do right in the eyes of God, undergoes pain as punishment for something which he has not done.
20	What credit is it if, when you have done evil, you take your punishment quietly? but if you are given punishment for doing right, and take it quietly, this is pleasing to God.
21	This is God's purpose for you: because Jesus himself underwent punishment for you, giving you an example, so that you might go in his footsteps:
22	Who did no evil, and there was no deceit in his mouth:
23	To sharp words he gave no sharp answer; when he was undergoing pain, no angry word came from his lips; but he put himself into the hands of the judge of righteousness:
24	He took our sins on himself, giving his body to be nailed on the tree, so that we, being dead to sin, might have a new life in righteousness, and by his wounds we have been made well.
25	Because, like sheep, you had gone out of the way; but now you have come back to him who keeps watch over your souls.

1st Peter 1

2008-08-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

1	Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the saints who are living in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2	Who, through the purpose of God, have been made holy by the Spirit, disciples of Jesus, made clean by his blood: May you have grace and peace in full measure.
3	Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his great mercy has given us a new birth and a living hope by the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4	And a heritage fair, holy and for ever new, waiting in heaven for you,
5	Who, by the power of God are kept, through faith, for that salvation, which will be seen at the last day.
6	You have cause for great joy in this, though it may have been necessary for you to be troubled for a little time, being tested in all sorts of ways,
7	So that the true metal of your faith, being of much greater value than gold (which, though it comes to an end, is tested by fire), may come to light in praise and glory and honour, at the revelation of Jesus Christ:
8	To whom your love is given, though you have not seen him; and the faith which you have in him, though you do not see him now, gives you joy greater than words and full of glory:
9	For so you have the true end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10	For the prophets who gave the news of the grace which would come to you, made search with all care for knowledge of this salvation;
11	Attempting to see what sort of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was pointing to, when it gave witness to the pains which Christ would undergo and the glories which would come after them.
12	And it was made clear to those prophets that they were God's servants not for themselves but for you, to give you word of the things which have now come to your ears from the preachers of the good news through the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; things which even angels have a desire to see.
13	So make your minds ready, and keep on the watch, hoping with all your power for the grace which is to come to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14	Like children ruled by God, do not go back to the old desires of the time when you were without knowledge:
15	But be holy in every detail of your lives, as he, whose servants you are, is holy;
16	Because it has been said in the Writings, You are to be holy, for I am holy.
17	And if you give the name of Father to him who, judging every man by his acts, has no respect for a man's position, then go in fear while you are on this earth:
18	Being conscious that you have been made free from that foolish way of life which was your heritage from your fathers, not through a payment of things like silver or gold which come to destruction,
19	But through holy blood, like that of a clean and unmarked lamb, even the blood of Christ:
20	Who was marked out by God before the making of the world, but was caused to be seen in these last times for you,
21	Who through him have faith in God who took him up again from the dead into glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.
22	And as you have made your souls clean, being ruled by what is true, and loving one another without deceit, see that your love is warm and from the heart:
23	Because you have had a new birth, not from the seed of man, but from eternal seed, through the word of a living and unchanging God.
24	For it is said, All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass becomes dry and the flower dead:
25	But the word of the Lord is eternal. And this is the word of the good news which was given to you.

James 5

2008-08-12T10:44:00.002-07:00

1	Come now, you men of wealth, give yourselves to weeping and crying because of the bitter troubles which are coming to you.
2	Your wealth is unclean and insects have made holes in your clothing.
3	Your gold and your silver are wasted and their waste will be a witness against you, burning into your flesh. You have put by your store in the last days.
4	See, the money which you falsely kept back from the workers cutting the grass in your field, is crying out against you; and the cries of those who took in your grain have come to the ears of the Lord of armies.
5	You have been living delicately on earth and have taken your pleasure; you have made your hearts fat for a day of destruction.
6	You have given your decision against the upright man and have put him to death. He puts up no fight against you.
7	Go on waiting calmly, my brothers, till the coming of the Lord, like the farmer waiting for the good fruit of the earth till the early and late rains have come.
8	Be as calm in your waiting; let your hearts be strong: because the coming of the Lord is near.
9	Say no hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged; see, the judge is waiting at the doors.
10	Take as an example of pain nobly undergone and of strength in trouble, the prophets who gave to men the words of the Lord.
11	We say that those men who have gone through pain are happy: you have the story of Job and the troubles through which he went and have seen that the Lord was full of pity and mercy in the end.
12	But most of all, my brothers, do not take oaths, not by the heaven, or by the earth, or by any other thing: but let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No: so that you may not be judged.
13	Is anyone among you in trouble? let him say prayers. Is anyone glad? let him make a song of praise.
14	Is anyone among you ill? let him send for the rulers of the church; and let them say prayers over him, putting oil on him in the name of the Lord.
15	And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will have forgiveness.
16	So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working.
17	Elijah was a man of flesh and blood as we are, and he made a strong prayer that there might be no rain; and there was no rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18	And he made another prayer, and the heaven sent down rain and the earth gave her fruit.
19	My brothers, if one of you has gone out of the way of the true faith and another has made him see his error,
20	Be certain that he through whom a sinner has been turned from the error of his way, keeps a soul from death and is the cause of forgiveness for sins without number.

James 4

2008-08-12T10:44:00.001-07:00

1	What is the cause of wars and fighting among you? is it not in your desires which are at war in your bodies?
2	You are burning with desire, and have not your desire, so you put men to death; you are full of envy, and you are not able to get your desire, so you are fighting and making war; you have not your desire, because you do not make request for it.
3	You make your request but you do not get it, because your request has been wrongly made, desiring the thing only so that you may make use of it for your pleasure.
4	O you who are false to God, do you not see that the friends of this world are not God's friends? Every man desiring to be a friend of this world makes himself a hater of God.
5	Or does it seem to you that it is for nothing that the holy Writings say, The spirit which God put into our hearts has a strong desire for us?
6	But he gives more grace. So that the Writings say, God is against the men of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low before him.
7	For this cause be ruled by God; but make war on the Evil One and he will be put to flight before you.
8	Come near to God and he will come near to you. Make your hands clean, you evil-doers; put away deceit from your hearts, you false in mind.
9	Be troubled, with sorrow and weeping; let your laughing be turned to sorrow and your joy to grief.
10	Make yourselves low in the eyes of the Lord and you will be lifted up by him.
11	Do not say evil against one another, my brothers. He who says evil against his brother or makes himself his brother's judge, says evil against the law and is judging the law: and in judging the law you become, not a doer of the law but a judge.
12	There is only one judge and law-giver, even he who has the power of salvation and of destruction; but who are you to be your neighbour's judge?
13	How foolish it is to say, Today or tomorrow we will go into this town, and be there for a year and do business there and get wealth:
14	When you are not certain what will take place tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist, which is seen for a little time and then is gone.
15	But the right thing to say would be, If it is the Lord's pleasure and if we are still living, we will do this and that.
16	But now you go on glorying in your pride: and all such glorying is evil.
17	The man who has knowledge of how to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

James 3

2008-08-12T10:43:00.001-07:00

1	Do not all be teachers, my brothers, because we teachers will be judged more hardly than others.
2	For we all go wrong in a number of things. If a man never makes a slip in his talk, then he is a complete man and able to keep all his body in control.
3	Now if we put bits of iron into horses' mouths so that they may be guided by us, we have complete control of their bodies.
4	And again ships, though they are so great and are moved by violent winds, are turned by a very small guiding-blade, at the impulse of the man who is using it.
5	Even so the tongue is a small part of the body, but it takes credit for great things. How much wood may be lighted by a very little fire!
6	And the tongue is a fire; it is the power of evil placed in our bodies, making all the body unclean, putting the wheel of life on fire, and getting its fire from hell.
7	For every sort of beast and bird and every living thing on earth and in the sea has been controlled by man and is under his authority;
8	But the tongue may not be controlled by man; it is an unresting evil, it is full of the poison of death.
9	With it we give praise to our Lord and Father; and with it we put a curse on men who are made in God's image.
10	Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, it is not right for these things to be so.
11	Does the fountain send from the same outlet sweet and bitter water?
12	Is a fig-tree able to give us olives, my brothers, or do we get figs from a vine, or sweet water from the salt sea?
13	Who has wisdom and good sense among you? let him make his works clear by a life of gentle wisdom.
14	But if you have bitter envy in your heart and the desire to get the better of others, have no pride in this, talking falsely against what is true.
15	This wisdom is not from heaven, but is of the earth and the flesh and the Evil One.
16	For where envy is, and the desire to get the better of others, there is no order, but every sort of evil-doing.
17	But the wisdom which is from heaven is first holy, then gentle, readily giving way in argument, full of peace and mercy and good works, not doubting, not seeming other than it is.
18	And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace for those who make peace.

James 2

2008-08-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

1	My brothers, if you have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, do not take a man's position into account.
2	For if a man comes into your Synagogue in fair clothing and with a gold ring, and a poor man comes in with dirty clothing,
3	And you do honour to the man in fair clothing and say, Come here and take this good place; and you say to the poor man, Take up your position there, or be seated at my feet;
4	Is there not a division in your minds? have you not become judges with evil thoughts?
5	Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him?
6	But you have put the poor man to shame. Are not the men of wealth rulers over you? do they not take you by force before their judges?
7	Do they not say evil of the holy name which was given to you?
8	But if you keep the greatest law of all, as it is given in the holy Writings, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself, you do well:
9	But if you take a man's position into account, you do evil, and are judged as evil-doers by the law.
10	For anyone who keeps all the law, but makes a slip in one point, is judged to have gone against it all.
11	For he who said, Do not be untrue in married life, is the same who said, Put no man to death. Now if you are not untrue in married life, but you put a man to death, the law is broken.
12	Let your words and your acts be those of men who are to be judged by the law which makes free.
13	For the man who has had no mercy will be judged without mercy, but mercy takes pride in overcoming judging.
14	What use is it, my brothers, for a man to say that he has faith, if he does nothing? will such a faith give him salvation?
15	If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of the day's food,
16	And one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warm and full of food; but you do not give them the things of which their bodies have need, what profit is there in this?
17	Even so faith without works is dead.
18	But a man may say, You have faith and I have works; let me see your faith without your works, and I will make my faith clear to you by my works.
19	You have the belief that God is one, and you do well: the evil spirits have the same belief, shaking with fear.
20	Do you not see, O foolish man, that faith without works is of no use?
21	Was not the righteousness of Abraham our father judged by his works, when he made an offering of Isaac his son on the altar?
22	You see that his faith was helping his works and was made complete by them;
23	And the holy Writings were put into effect which said, And Abraham had faith in God and it was put to his account as righteousness; and he was named the friend of God.
24	You see that a man's righteousness is judged by his works and not by his faith only.
25	And in the same way, was not the righteousness of Rahab, the loose woman, judged by her works, when she took into her house those who were sent and let them go out by another way?
26	For as the body without the spirit is dead even so faith without works is dead.

James 1

2008-08-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

1	James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends words of love to the twelve tribes of the Jews living in all parts of the earth.
2	Let it be all joy to you, my brothers, when you undergo tests of every sort;
3	Because you have the knowledge that the testing of your faith gives you the power of going on in hope;
4	But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.
5	But if any man among you is without wisdom, let him make his request to God, who gives freely to all without an unkind word, and it will be given to him.
6	Let him make his request in faith, doubting nothing; for he who has doubt in his heart is like the waves of the sea, which are troubled by the driving of the wind.
7	Let it not seem to such a man that he will get anything from the Lord;
8	For there is a division in his mind, and he is uncertain in all his ways.
9	But let the brother of low position be glad that he is lifted up;
10	But the man of wealth, that he is made low; because like the flower of the grass he will come to his end.
11	For when the sun comes up with its burning heat, the grass gets dry and the grace of its form is gone with the falling flower; so the man of wealth comes to nothing in his ways.
12	There is a blessing on the man who undergoes testing; because, if he has God's approval, he will be given the crown of life, which the Lord has said he will give to those who have love for him.
13	Let no man say when he is tested, I am tested by God; for it is not possible for God to be tested by evil, and he himself puts no man to such a test:
14	But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire.
15	Then when its time comes, desire gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is of full growth, gives birth to death.
16	Do not be turned from the right way, dear brothers.
17	Every good and true thing is given to us from heaven, coming from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or any shade made by turning.
18	Of his purpose he gave us being, by his true word, so that we might be, in a sense, the first-fruits of all the things which he had made.
19	You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry;
20	For the righteousness of God does not come about by the wrath of man.
21	For this reason, putting away all dirty behaviour and the overweight of evil, take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation.
22	But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas.
23	Because if any man is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a glass;
24	For after looking at himself he goes away, and in a short time he has no memory of what he was like.
25	But he who goes on looking into the true law which makes him free, being not a hearer without memory but a doer putting it into effect, this man will have a blessing on his acts.
26	If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man's religion is of no value.
27	The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.

Hebrews 13

2008-08-12T10:39:00.001-07:00

1	Go on loving your brothers in the faith.
2	Take care to keep open house: because in this way some have had angels as their guests, without being conscious of it.
3	Keep in mind those who are in chains, as if you were chained with them, and those who are in trouble, as being yourselves in the body.
4	Let married life be honoured among all of you and not made unclean; for men untrue in married life will be judged by God.
5	Be free from the love of money and pleased with the things which you have; for he himself has said, I will be with you at all times.
6	So that we say with a good heart, The Lord is my helper; I will have no fear: what is man able to do to me?
7	Keep in mind those who were over you, and who gave you the word of God; seeing the outcome of their way of life, let your faith be like theirs.
8	Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.
9	Do not be turned away by different strange teachings, because it is good for your hearts to be made strong by grace, and not by meats, which were of no profit to those who took so much trouble over them.
10	We have an altar from which those priests who are servants in the Tent may not take food.
11	For the bodies of the beasts whose blood is taken into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the circle of the tents.
12	For this reason Jesus was put to death outside the walls, so that he might make the people holy by his blood.
13	Let us then go out to him outside the circle of the tents, taking his shame on ourselves.
14	For here we have no fixed resting-place, but our search is for the one which is to come.
15	Let us then make offerings of praise to God at all times through him, that is to say, the fruit of lips giving witness to his name.
16	But go on doing good and giving to others, because God is well-pleased with such offerings.
17	Give ear to those who are rulers over you, and do as they say: for they keep watch over your souls, ready to give an account of them; let them be able to do this with joy and not with grief, because that would be of no profit to you.
18	Make prayers for us, for we are certain that our hearts are free from the sense of sin, desiring the right way of life in all things.
19	I make this request more strongly, in the hope of coming back to you more quickly.
20	Now may the God of peace, who made that great keeper of his flock, even our Lord Jesus, come back from the dead through the blood of the eternal agreement,
21	Make you full of every good work and ready to do all his desires, working in us whatever is pleasing in his eyes through Jesus Christ; and may the glory be given to him for ever and ever. So be it.
22	But, brothers, take kindly the words which I have said for your profit; for I have not sent you a long letter.
23	Our brother Timothy has been let out of prison; and if he comes here in a short time, he and I will come to you together.
24	Give words of love from me to those who are rulers over you, and to all the saints. Those who are in Italy send you their love.
25	May grace be with you all.

Hebrews 12

2008-08-12T10:38:00.002-07:00

1	For this reason, as we are circled by so great a cloud of witnesses, putting off every weight, and the sin into which we come so readily, let us keep on running in the way which is marked out for us,
2	Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of God's seat of power.
3	Give thought to him who has undergone so much of the hate of sinners against himself, so that you may not be tired and feeble of purpose.
4	Till now you have not given your blood in your fight against sin:
5	And you have not kept in mind the word which says to you as to sons, My son, do not make little of the Lord's punishment, and do not give up hope when you are judged by him;
6	For the Lord sends punishment on his loved ones; everyone whom he takes as his son has experience of his rod.
7	It is for your training that you undergo these things; God is acting to you as a father does to his sons; for what son does not have punishment from his father?
8	But if you have not that punishment of which we all have our part, then you are not true sons, but children of shame.
9	And again, if the fathers of our flesh gave us punishment and had our respect, how much more will we be under the authority of the Father of spirits, and have life?
10	For they truly gave us punishment for a short time, as it seemed good to them; but he does it for our profit, so that we may become holy as he is.
11	At the time all punishment seems to be pain and not joy: but after, those who have been trained by it get from it the peace-giving fruit of righteousness.
12	For this cause let the hands which are hanging down be lifted up, and let the feeble knees be made strong,
13	And make straight roads for your feet, so that the feeble may not be turned out of the way, but may be made strong.
14	Let your desire be for peace with all men, and to be made holy, without which no man may see the Lord;
15	Looking with care to see that no man among you in his behaviour comes short of the grace of God; for fear that some bitter root may come up to be a trouble to you, and that some of you may be made unclean by it;
16	And that there may not be any evil liver, or any man without respect for God, like Esau, who let his birthright go for a plate of food.
17	For you have knowledge that even long after, when he was desiring the blessing for his heritage, he was turned away, though he made his request frequently and with weeping; because the past might not be changed.
18	You have not come to a mountain which may be touched, and is burning with fire, and to a black cloud, and a dark smoke, and a violent wind,
19	And to the sound of a horn, and the voice of words, the hearers of which made request that not a word more might be said to them:
20	For the order which said, If the mountain is touched even by a beast, the beast is to be stoned, seemed hard to them;
21	And the vision was so overpowering that even Moses said, I am shaking and full of fear.
22	But you have come to the mountain of Zion, to the place of the living God, to the Jerusalem which is in heaven, and to an army of angels which may not be numbered,
23	To the great meeting and church of the first of those who are named in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of good men made complete,
24	And to Jesus by whom the new agreement has been made between God and man, and to the sign of the blood which says better things than Abel's blood.
25	See that you give ear to his voice which comes to you. For if those whose ears were shut to the voice which came to them on earth did not go free from punishment, what chance have we of going free if we give no attention to him whose voice comes from heaven?
26	Whose voice was the cause of the shaking of the earth; but now he has made an oath, saying, There will be still one more shaking, not only of the earth, but of heaven.
27	And the words, Still one more, make it clear that there will be a taking away of those things which are shaking, as of things which are made, so that there may be only those things of which no shaking is possible.
28	If then, we have a kingdom which will never be moved, let us have grace, so that we may give God such worship as is pleasing to him with fear and respect:
29	For our God is an all-burning fire.

Hebrews 11

2008-08-12T10:38:00.001-07:00

1	Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true.
2	For by it our fathers had God's approval.
3	By faith it is clear to us that the order of events was fixed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made from things which only seem to be.
4	By faith Abel made a better offering to God than Cain, and he had witness through it of his righteousness, God giving his approval of his offering: and his voice still comes to us through it though he is dead.
5	By faith Enoch was taken up to heaven so that he did not see death; he was seen no longer, for God took him away: for before he was taken, witness had been given that he was well-pleasing to God:
6	And without faith it is not possible to be well-pleasing to him, for it is necessary for anyone who comes to God to have the belief that God is, and that he is a rewarder of all those who make a serious search for him.
7	By faith Noah, being moved by the fear of God, made ready an ark for the salvation of his family, because God had given him news of things which were not seen at the time; and through it the world was judged by him, and he got for his heritage the righteousness which is by faith.
8	By faith Abraham did as God said when he was ordered to go out into a place which was to be given to him as a heritage, and went out without knowledge of where he was going.
9	By faith he was a wanderer in the land of the agreement, as in a strange land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who had a part with him in the same heritage:
10	For he was looking for the strong town, whose builder and maker is God.
11	And by faith Sarah herself had power to give birth, when she was very old, because she had faith in him who gave his word;
12	So that from one man, who was near to death, came children in number as the stars in heaven, or as the sand by the seaside, which may not be numbered.
13	All these came to their end in faith, not having had the heritage; but having seen it with delight far away, they gave witness that they were wanderers and not of the earth.
14	For those who say such things make it clear that they are searching for a country for themselves.
15	And truly if they had kept in mind the country from which they went out, they would have had chances of turning back.
16	But now their desire is for a better country, that is to say, for one in heaven; and so it is no shame to God to be named their God; for he has made ready a town for them.
17	By faith Abraham made an offering of Isaac, when he was tested: and he with whom the agreement had been made gave up as an offering the only son of his body,
18	Of whom it had been said, From Isaac will your seed take their name:
19	Judging that God was able to give life even to the dead; and because of this he did get him back as if from death.
20	By faith Isaac, blessing Jacob and Esau, gave news of things to come.
21	By faith Jacob gave a blessing to the two sons of Joseph, when he was near to death; and gave God worship, supported by his stick.
22	By faith Joseph, when his end was near, said that the children of Israel would go out of Egypt; and gave orders about his bones.
23	By faith Moses was kept secretly by his father and mother for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a fair child; and they had no fear of the king's orders.
24	By faith Moses, when he became a man, had no desire to be named the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
25	Feeling that it was better to undergo pain with the people of God, than for a short time to have a taste of the pleasures of sin;
26	Judging a part in the shame of Christ to be better than all the wealth of Egypt; for he was looking forward to his reward.
27	By faith he went out of Egypt, not being turned from his purpose by fear of the wrath of the king; for he kept on his way, as seeing him who is unseen.
28	By faith he kept the Passover, and put the sign of the blood on the houses, so that the angel of destruction might not put their oldest sons to death.
29	By faith they went through the Red Sea as if it had been dry land, though the Egyptians were overcome by the water when they made an attempt to do the same.
30	By faith the walls of Jericho came down, after they had been circled for seven days.
31	By faith Rahab, the loose woman, was not put to death with those who had gone against God's orders, because she had taken into her house in peace those sent to see the land.
32	What more am I to say? For there would not be time to give the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets:
33	Who through faith overcame kingdoms, did righteousness, got their reward, kept the mouths of lions shut,
34	Put out the power of fire, got safely away from the edge of the sword, were made strong when they had been feeble, became full of power in war, and put to flight the armies of the nations.
35	Women had their dead given back to them living; others let themselves be cruelly attacked, having no desire to go free, so that they might have a better life to come;
36	And others were tested by being laughed at or by blows, and even with chains and prisons:
37	They were stoned, they were cut up with knives, they were tested, they were put to death with the sword, they went about in sheepskins and in goatskins; being poor and in pain and cruelly attacked,
38	Wandering in waste places and in mountains and in holes in the rocks; for whom the world was not good enough.
39	And not one of these got the good things of the agreement, though they all had a good record through faith,
40	Because God had kept some better thing for us, so that it was not possible for them to become complete without us.

Hebrews 10

2008-08-12T10:37:00.002-07:00

1	For the law, being only a poor copy of the future good things, and not the true image of those things, is never able to make the people who come to the altar every year with the same offerings completely clean.
2	For if this had been possible, would there not have been an end of those offerings, because the worshippers would have been made completely clean and would have been no longer conscious of sins?
3	But year by year there is a memory of sins in those offerings.
4	Because it is not possible for the blood of oxen and goats to take away sins.
5	So that when he comes into the world, he says, You had no desire for offerings, but you made a body ready for me;
6	You had no joy in burned offerings or in offerings for sin.
7	Then I said, See, I have come to do your pleasure, O God (as it is said of me in the roll of the book).
8	After saying, You had no desire for offerings, for burned offerings or offerings for sin (which are made by the law) and you had no pleasure in them,
9	Then he said, See, I have come to do your pleasure. He took away the old order, so that he might put the new order in its place.
10	By that pleasure we have been made holy, by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for ever.
11	And every priest takes his place at the altar day by day, doing what is necessary, and making again and again the same offerings which are never able to take away sins.
12	But when Jesus had made one offering for sins for ever, he took his place at the right hand of God;
13	And has been waiting there from that time, till all who are against him are made a foot-rest for his feet.
14	Because by one offering he has made complete for ever those who are made holy.
15	And the Holy Spirit is a witness for us: for after he had said,
16	This is the agreement which I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws in their hearts, writing them in their minds; he said,
17	And I will keep no more memory of their sins and of their evil-doings.
18	Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no more offering for sin.
19	So then, my brothers, being able to go into the holy place without fear, because of the blood of Jesus,
20	By the new and living way which he made open for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21	And having a great priest over the house of God,
22	Let us go in with true hearts, in certain faith, having our hearts made free from the sense of sin and our bodies washed with clean water:
23	Let us keep the witness of our hope strong and unshaking, for he is true who has given his word:
24	And let us be moving one another at all times to love and good works;
25	Not giving up our meetings, as is the way of some, but keeping one another strong in faith; and all the more because you see the day coming near.
26	For if we do evil on purpose after we have had the knowledge of what is true, there is no more offering for sins,
27	But only a great fear of being judged, and of the fire of wrath which will be the destruction of the haters of God.
28	A man who has gone against the law of Moses is put to death without pity on the word of two or three witnesses:
29	But will not the man by whom the Son of God has been crushed under foot, and the blood of the agreement with which he was washed clean has been taken as an unholy thing, and who has had no respect for the Spirit of grace, be judged bad enough for a very much worse punishment?
30	For we have had experience of him who says, Punishment is mine, I will give reward. And again, The Lord will be judge of his people.
31	We may well go in fear of falling into the hands of the living God.
32	But give thought to the days after you had seen the light, when you went through a great war of troubles;
33	In part, in being attacked by angry words and cruel acts, before the eyes of everyone, and in part, in being united with those who were attacked in this way.
34	For you had pity on those who were in prison, and had joy in the loss of your property, in the knowledge that you still had a better property and one which you would keep for ever.
35	So do not give up your hope which will be greatly rewarded.
36	For, having done what was right in God's eyes, you have need of waiting before his word has effect for you.
37	In a very little time he who is coming will come; he will not be slow.
38	But the upright man will be living by his faith; and if he goes back, my soul will have no pleasure in him.
39	But we are not of those who go back to destruction; but of those who have faith even to the salvation of the soul.

Hebrews 09

2008-08-12T10:37:00.001-07:00

1	Now the first agreement had its rules of worship, and a holy order.
2	For the first Tent was made ready, having in it the vessels for the lights and the table and the ordering of the bread; and this is named the holy place.
3	And inside the second veil was the place which is named the Holy of holies;
4	Having a vessel of gold in it for burning perfumes, and the ark of the agreement, which was covered with gold and which had in it a pot made of gold for the manna, and Aaron's rod which put out buds, and the stones with the writing of the agreement;
5	And over it were the winged ones of glory with their wings covering the mercy-seat; about which it is not possible now to say anything in detail.
6	Now while these things were in existence, the priests went into the first Tent at all times, for prayer and the making of offerings.
7	But only the high priest went into the second, once a year, not without making an offering of blood for himself and for the errors of the people:
8	The Holy Spirit witnessing by this that the way into the holy place had not at that time been made open, while the first Tent was still in being;
9	And this is an image of the present time; when the offerings which are given are not able to make the heart of the worshipper completely clean,
10	Because they are only rules of the flesh, of meats and drinks and washings, which have their place till the time comes when things will be put right.
11	But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things of the future, through this greater and better Tent, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this world,
12	And has gone once and for ever into the holy place, having got eternal salvation, not through the blood of goats and young oxen, but through his blood.
13	For if the blood of goats and oxen, and the dust from the burning of a young cow, being put on the unclean, make the flesh clean:
14	How much more will the blood of Christ, who, being without sin, made an offering of himself to God through the Holy Spirit, make your hearts clean from dead works to be servants of the living God?
15	And for this cause it is through him that a new agreement has come into being, so that after the errors under the first agreement had been taken away by his death, the word of God might have effect for those who were marked out for an eternal heritage.
16	Because where there is a testament, there has to be the death of the man who made it.
17	For a testament has effect after death; for what power has it while the man who made it is living?
18	So that even the first agreement was not made without blood.
19	For when Moses had given all the rules of the law to the people, he took the blood of goats and young oxen, with water and red wool and hyssop, and put it on the book itself and on all the people,
20	Saying, This blood is the sign of the agreement which God has made with you.
21	And the blood was put on the Tent and all the holy vessels in the same way.
22	And by the law almost all things are made clean with blood, and without blood there is no forgiveness.
23	For this cause it was necessary to make the copies of the things in heaven clean with these offerings; but the things themselves are made clean with better offerings than these.
24	For Christ did not go into a holy place which had been made by men's hands as the copy of the true one; but he went into heaven itself, and now takes his place before the face of God for us.
25	And he did not have to make an offering of himself again and again, as the high priest goes into the holy place every year with blood which is not his;
26	For then he would have undergone a number of deaths from the time of the making of the world: but now he has come to us at the end of the old order, to put away sin by the offering of himself.
27	And because by God's law death comes to men once, and after that they are judged;
28	So Christ, having at his first coming taken on himself the sins of men, will be seen a second time, without sin, by those who are waiting for him, for their salvation.

Hebrews 08

2008-08-12T10:36:00.001-07:00

1	Now of the things we are saying this is the chief point: We have such a high priest, who has taken his place at the right hand of God's high seat of glory in heaven,
2	As a servant of the holy things and of the true Tent, which was put up by God, not by man.
3	Now every high priest is given authority to take to God the things which are given and to make offerings; so that it is necessary for this man, like them, to have something for an offering.
4	If he had been on earth he would not have been a priest at all, because there are other priests who make the offerings ordered by the law;
5	Being servants of that which is a copy and an image of the things in heaven, as Moses, when he was about to make the Tent, had special orders from God: for, See, he said, that you make everything like the design which you saw in the mountain.
6	But now his position as priest is higher. because through him God has made a better agreement with man, based on the giving of better things.
7	For if that first agreement had been as good as possible, there would have been no place for a second.
8	For, protesting against them, he says, See, the days are coming when I will make a new agreement with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah;
9	Not like the agreement which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand, to be their guide out of the land of Egypt; for they did not keep the agreement with me, and I gave them up, says the Lord.
10	For this is the agreement which I will make with the people of Israel after those days: I will put my laws into their minds, writing them in their hearts: and I will be their God, and they will be my people:
11	And there will be no need for every man to be teaching his brother, or his neighbour, saying, This is the knowledge of the Lord: for they will all have knowledge of me, great and small.
12	And I will have mercy on their evil-doing, and I will not keep their sins in mind.
13	When he says, A new agreement, he has made the first agreement old. But anything which is getting old and past use will not be seen much longer.

Hebrews 07

2008-08-12T10:35:00.002-07:00

1	For this Melchizedek, the king of Salem, a priest of the Most High God, who gave Abraham his blessing, meeting him when he came back after putting the kings to death,
2	And to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of everything which he had, being first named King of righteousness, and then in addition, King of Salem, that is to say, King of peace;
3	Being without father or mother, or family, having no birth or end to his life, being made like the Son of God, is a priest for ever.
4	Now see how great this man was, to whom our father Abraham gave a tenth part of what he had got in the fight.
5	And it is true that by the law, those of the sons of Levi who have the position of priests may take a tenth part of the people's goods; that is to say, they take it from their brothers though these are the sons of Abraham.
6	But this man, who was not of their family, took the tenth from Abraham, and gave a blessing to him to whom God had given his undertaking.
7	But there is no doubt that the less gets his blessing from the greater.
8	Now at the present time, men over whom death has power take the tenth; but then it was taken by one of whom it is witnessed that he is living.
9	And we may say that in Abraham, even Levi, who has a right to take the tenth part, gave it;
10	Because he was still in his father's body when Melchizedek came to him.
11	Now if it was possible for things to be made complete through the priests of the house of Levi (for the law was given to the people in connection with them), what need was there for another priest who was of the order of Melchizedek and not of the order of Aaron?
12	Because if the priests are changed, it is necessary to make a change in the law.
13	For he of whom these things are said comes of another tribe, of which no man has ever made offerings at the altar.
14	Because it is clear that our Lord comes out of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests from that tribe.
15	And this is even more clear if a second priest has come up who is like Melchizedek,
16	That is to say, not made by a law based on the flesh, but by the power of a life without end:
17	For it has been witnessed of him, You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
18	So the law which went before is put on one side, because it was feeble and without profit.
19	(Because the law made nothing complete), and in its place there is a better hope, through which we come near to God.
20	And as this is not without the taking of an oath
21	(For those were made priests without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by him who says of him, The Lord gave his oath, which he will not take back, that you are a priest for ever);
22	By so much is it a better agreement which we have through Jesus.
23	And it is true that there have been a great number of those priests, because death does not let them go on for ever;
24	But this priest, because his life goes on for ever, is unchanging.
25	So that he is fully able to be the saviour of all who come to God through him, because he is ever living to make prayer to God for them.
26	It was right for us to have such a high priest, one who is holy and without evil, doing no wrong, having no part with sinners, and made higher than the heavens:
27	Who has no need to make offerings for sins every day, like those high priests, first for himself, and then for the people; because he did this once and for ever when he made an offering of himself.
28	The law makes high priests of men who are feeble; but the word of the oath, which was made after the law, gives that position to a Son, in whom all good is for ever complete.

Hebrews 06

2008-08-12T10:35:00.001-07:00

1	For this reason let us go on from the first things about Christ to full growth; not building again that on which it is based, that is, the turning of the heart from dead works, and faith in God,
2	The teaching of baptisms, and of the putting on of hands, and of the future life of the dead, and of the judging on the last day.
3	Now we will do this, if God lets us.
4	As for those who at one time saw the light, tasting the good things from heaven, and having their part in the Holy Spirit,
5	With knowledge of the good word of God, and of the powers of the coming time,
6	And then let themselves be turned away, it is not possible for their hearts to be made new a second time; because they themselves put the Son of God on the cross again, openly shaming him.
7	For a land, drinking in the frequent rain and producing good plants for those for whom it is worked, has a blessing from God:
8	But if it sends up thorns and evil plants, it is of no use and is ready to be cursed; its only end is to be burned.
9	But, my loved ones, though we say this, we are certain that you have better things in you, things which go with salvation;
10	For God is true, and will not put away from him the memory of your work and of your love for his name, in the help which you gave and still give to the saints.
11	And it is our desire that you may all keep the same high purpose in certain hope to the end:
12	So that you may not be slow in heart, but may take as your example those to whom God has given their heritage, because of their faith and their long waiting.
13	For when God made his oath to Abraham, because there was no greater oath, he made it by himself,
14	Saying, Be certain that I will give you my blessing, and make your numbers very great.
15	And so, when he had been waiting calmly for a long time, God's word to him was put into effect.
16	For men at all times make their oaths by what is greater; and any argument is ended by the decision of the oath.
17	So that when it was God's desire to make it specially clear to those who by his word were to have the heritage, that his purpose was fixed, he made it more certain with an oath;
18	So that we, who have gone in flight from danger to the hope which has been put before us, may have a strong comfort in two unchanging things, in which it is not possible for God to be false;
19	And this hope is like a strong band for our souls, fixed and certain, and going in to that which is inside the veil;
20	Where Jesus has gone before us, as a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 05

2008-08-12T10:34:00.002-07:00

1	Every high priest who is taken from among men is given his position to take care of the interests of men in those things which have to do with God, so that he may make offerings for sins.
2	He is able to have feeling for those who have no knowledge and for those who are wandering from the true way, because he himself is feeble;
3	And being feeble, he has to make sin-offerings for himself as well as for the people.
4	And no man who is not given authority by God, as Aaron was, takes this honour for himself.
5	In the same way Christ did not take for himself the glory of being made a high priest, but was given it by him who said, You are my Son, this day I have given you being:
6	As he says in another place, You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
7	Who in the days of his flesh, having sent up prayers and requests with strong crying and weeping to him who was able to give him salvation from death, had his prayer answered because of his fear of God.
8	And though he was a Son, through the pain which he underwent, the knowledge came to him of what it was to be under God's orders;
9	And when he had been made complete, he became the giver of eternal salvation to all those who are under his orders;
10	Being named by God a high priest of the order of Melchizedek.
11	Of whom we have much to say which it is hard to make clear, because you are slow of hearing.
12	And though by this time it would be right for you to be teachers, you still have need of someone to give you teaching about the first simple rules of God's revelation; you have become like babies who have need of milk, and not of solid food.
13	For everyone who takes milk is without experience of the word of righteousness: he is a child.
14	But solid food is for men of full growth, even for those whose senses are trained by use to see what is good and what is evil.

Hebrews 04

2008-08-12T10:34:00.001-07:00

1	Let us then, though we still have God's word that we may come into his rest, go in fear that some of you may be unable to do so.
2	And, truly, the good news came to us, even as it did to them; but the hearing of the word did them no good, because they were not united in faith with the true hearers.
3	For those of us who have belief come into his rest; even as he has said, As I said in my oath when I was angry, They may not come into my rest: though the works were done from the time of the making of the world.
4	For in one place he has said of the seventh day, And God had rest from all his works on the seventh day;
5	And in the same place he says again, They will not come into my rest.
6	So that as it is clear that some have to go in, and that the first hearers of the good news were not able to go in because they went against God's orders,
7	After a long time, again naming a certain day, he says in David, Today (as he had said before), Today if you will let his voice come to your ears, be not hard of heart,
8	For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have said anything about another day.
9	So that there is still a Sabbath-keeping for the people of God.
10	For the man who comes into his rest has had rest from his works, as God did from his.
11	Because of this, let us have a strong desire to come into that rest, and let no one go after the example of those who went against God's orders.
12	For the word of God is living and full of power, and is sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting through and making a division even of the soul and the spirit, the bones and the muscles, and quick to see the thoughts and purposes of the heart.
13	And there is nothing made which is not completely clear to him; there is nothing covered, but all things are open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
14	Having then a great high priest, who has made his way through the heavens, even Jesus the Son of God, let us be strong in our faith.
15	For we have not a high priest who is not able to be touched by the feelings of our feeble flesh; but we have one who has been tested in all points as we ourselves are tested, but without sin.
16	Then let us come near to the seat of grace without fear, so that mercy may be given to us, and we may get grace for our help in time of need.

Hebrews 03

2008-08-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

1	For this reason, holy brothers, marked out to have a part in heaven, give thought to Jesus the representative and high priest of our faith;
2	Who kept faith with God who gave him his place, even as Moses did in all his house.
3	And it was right for this man to have more honour than Moses, even as the builder of a house has more honour than the house.
4	For every house has a builder; but the builder of all things is God.
5	And Moses certainly kept faith as a servant, in all his house, and as a witness of those things which were to be said later;
6	But Christ as a son, over his house; whose house are we, if we keep our hearts fixed in the glad and certain hope till the end.
7	And so, as the Holy Spirit says, Today if you let his voice come to your ears,
8	Be not hard of heart, as when you made me angry, on the day of testing in the waste land,
9	When your fathers put me to the test, and saw my works for forty years.
10	So that I was angry with this generation, and I said, Their hearts are in error at all times, and they have no knowledge of my ways;
11	And being angry I made an oath, saying, They may not come into my rest.
12	My brothers, take care that there is not by chance in any one of you an evil heart without belief, turning away from the living God:
13	But give comfort to one another every day as long as it is still Today; so that no one among you may be made hard by the deceit of sin:
14	For if we keep the substance of the faith which we had at the start, even till the end, we have a part with Christ;
15	As it is said, Today if you will let his voice come to your ears, be not hard of heart, as when you made him angry.
16	Who made him angry when his voice came to them? was it not all those who came out of Egypt with Moses?
17	And with whom was he angry for forty years? was it not with those who did evil, who came to their deaths in the waste land?
18	And to whom did he make an oath that they might not come into his rest? was it not to those who went against his orders?
19	So we see that they were not able to go in because they had no belief.

Hebrews 02

2008-08-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

1	For this reason there is the more need for us to give attention to the things which have come to our ears, for fear that by chance we might be slipping away.
2	Because if the word which came through the angels was fixed, and in the past every evil act against God's orders was given its full punishment;
3	What will come on us, if we do not give our minds to such a great salvation? a salvation of which our fathers first had knowledge through the words of the Lord, and which was made certain to us by those to whom his words came;
4	And God was a witness with them, by signs and wonders, and by more than natural powers, and by his distribution of the Holy Spirit at his pleasure.
5	For he did not make the angels rulers over the world to come, of which I am writing.
6	But a certain writer has given his witness, saying, What is man, that you keep him in mind? what is the son of man, that you take him into account?
7	You made him a little lower than the angels; you gave him a crown of glory and honour, and made him ruler over all the works of your hands:
8	You put all things under his feet. For in making man the ruler over all things, God did not put anything outside his authority; though we do not see everything under him now.
9	But we see him who was made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, crowned with glory and honour, because he let himself be put to death so that by the grace of God he might undergo death for all men.
10	Because it was right for him, for whom and through whom all things have being, in guiding his sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation complete through pain.
11	For he who makes holy and those who are made holy are all of one family; and for this reason it is no shame for him to give them the name of brothers,
12	Saying, I will give the knowledge of your name to my brothers, I will make a song of praise to you before the church.
13	And again he says, I will put my faith in him. And again, See, I am here, and the children which God has given to me.
14	And because the children are flesh and blood, he took a body himself and became like them; so that by his death he might put an end to him who had the power of death, that is to say, the Evil One;
15	And let those who all their lives were in chains because of their fear of death, go free.
16	For, truly, he does not take on the life of angels, but that of the seed of Abraham.
17	Because of this it was necessary for him to be made like his brothers in every way, so that he might be a high priest full of mercy and keeping faith in everything to do with God, making offerings for the sins of the people.
18	For having been put to the test himself, he is able to give help to others when they are tested.

Hebrews 01

2008-08-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

1	In times past the word of God came to our fathers through the prophets, in different parts and in different ways;
2	But now, at the end of these days, it has come to us through his Son, to whom he has given all things for a heritage, and through whom he made the order of the generations;
3	Who, being the outshining of his glory, the true image of his substance, supporting all things by the word of his power, having given himself as an offering making clean from sins, took his seat at the right hand of God in heaven;
4	Having become by so much better than the angels, as the name which is his heritage is more noble than theirs.
5	To which of the angels did God say at any time, You are my Son, this day I have given you being? or, I will be his Father, and he will be my Son?
6	And again, when he is sending his only Son into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God give him worship.
7	And of the angels he says, Who makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire:
8	But of the Son he says, Your seat of power, O God, is for ever and ever; and the rod of your kingdom is a rod of righteousness.
9	You have been a lover of righteousness and a hater of evil; and so God, your God, has put the oil of joy on your head more than on the heads of those who are with you.
10	You, Lord, at the first did put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the works of your hands:
11	They will come to their end; but you are for ever; they will become old as a robe;
12	They will be rolled up like a cloth, even like a robe, and they will be changed: but you are the same and your years will have no end.
13	But of which of the angels has he said at any time, Take your seat at my right hand till I put all those who are against you under your feet?
14	Are they not all helping spirits, who are sent out as servants to those whose heritage will be salvation?

Philemon 1

2008-08-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

1	Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our dear helper in the faith,
2	And to Apphia, our sister, and to Archippus, our brother in God's army, and to the church in your house:
3	Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4	I give praise to God at all times and make prayer for you,
5	Hearing of the love and the faith which you have to the Lord Jesus and to all the saints;
6	That the faith which you have in common with them may be working with power, in the knowledge of every good thing in you, for Christ.
7	For I had great joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been made strong again through you, brother.
8	And so, though I might, in the name of Christ, give you orders to do what is right,
9	Still, because of love, in place of an order, I make a request to you, I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner of Christ Jesus:
10	My request is for my child Onesimus, the child of my chains,
11	Who in the past was of no profit to you, but now is of profit to you and to me:
12	Whom I have sent back to you, him who is my very heart:
13	Though my desire was to keep him with me, to be my servant in the chains of the good news, in your place:
14	But without your approval I would do nothing; so that your good works might not be forced, but done freely from your heart.
15	For it is possible that for this reason he was parted from you for a time, so that you might have him for ever;
16	No longer as a servant, but more than a servant, a brother, very dear to me specially, but much more to you, in the flesh as well as in the Lord.
17	If then you take me to be your friend and brother, take him in as myself.
18	If he has done you any wrong or is in debt to you for anything, put it to my account.
19	I, Paul, writing this myself, say, I will make payment to you: and I do not say to you that you are in debt to me even for your life.
20	So brother, let me have joy of you in the Lord: give new life to my heart in Christ.
21	Being certain that you will do my desire, I am writing to you, in the knowledge that you will do even more than I say.
22	And make a room ready for me; for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be given to you.
23	Epaphras, my brother-prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his love;
24	And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my brother-workers.
25	The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. So be it.

Titus 3

2008-08-12T10:28:00.001-07:00

1	Make clear to them that they are to put themselves under rulers and authorities, to do what they are ordered, to be ready for every good work,
2	To say no evil of any man, not to be fighters, to give way to others, to be gentle in behaviour to all men.
3	For in the past we were foolish, hard in heart, turned from the true way, servants of evil desires and pleasures, living in bad feeling and envy, hated and hating one another.
4	But when the mercy of God our Saviour, and his love to man was seen,
5	Not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but in the measure of his mercy, he gave us salvation, through the washing of the new birth and the giving of new life in the Holy Spirit,
6	Which he gave us freely through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7	So that, having been given righteousness through grace, we might have a part in the heritage, the hope of eternal life.
8	This is a true saying; and it is my desire that you may give certain witness about these things, so that those who have had faith in God may give attention to good works. These things are good and of profit to men;
9	But have nothing to do with foolish questionings, and lists of generations, and fights and arguments about the law; for they are of no profit and foolish.
10	A man whose opinions are not those of the church, after a first and second protest, is to be kept out of your society;
11	Clearly he is in error and a sinner, being self-judged.
12	When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis: for it is my purpose to be there for the winter.
13	Send Zenas, the man of law, and Apollos on their journey with all care, so that they may be in need of nothing.
14	And let our people go on with good works for necessary purposes, so that they may not be without fruit.
15	All who are with me send you their love. Give our love to our friends in the faith. Grace be with you all.

Titus 2

2008-08-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

1	But let your words be in agreement with true and right teaching:
2	That old men are to be simple in their tastes, serious, wise, true in faith, in love, and of a quiet mind.
3	That old women are to be self-respecting in behaviour, not saying evil of others, not given to taking much wine, teachers of that which is good,
4	Training the younger women to have love for their husbands and children,
5	To be wise in mind, clean in heart, kind; working in their houses, living under the authority of their husbands; so that no evil may be said of the word of God.
6	To the young men give orders to be wise and serious-minded:
7	In all things see that you are an example of good works; holy in your teaching, serious in behaviour,
8	Saying true and right words, against which no protest may be made, so that he who is not on our side may be put to shame, unable to say any evil of us.
9	Servants are to be under the authority of their masters, pleasing them in all things, without argument;
10	Not taking what is not theirs, but giving clear signs of their good faith, in all things doing credit to the teaching of God our Saviour.
11	For the grace of God has come, giving salvation to all men,
12	Training us so that, turning away from evil and the desires of this world, we may be living wisely and uprightly in the knowledge of God in this present life;
13	Looking for the glad hope, the revelation of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ;
14	Who gave himself for us, so that he might make us free from all wrongdoing, and make for himself a people clean in heart and on fire with good works.
15	On all these points give teaching and help, and make clear what is right with all authority. Let all men give you honour.

Titus 1

2008-08-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

1	Paul, a servant of God, and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, in agreement with the faith of the saints of God and the full knowledge of what is true in harmony with religion,
2	In the hope of eternal life, which was made certain before eternal time, by the word of God who is ever true;
3	Who, in his time, made clear his word in the good news, of which, by the order of God our Saviour, I became a preacher;
4	To Titus, my true child in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.
5	I did not take you with me when I went away from Crete, so that you might do what was necessary to put things in order there, placing men in authority over the churches in every town, as I said to you;
6	Men having a good record, husbands of one wife, whose children are of the faith, children of whom it may not be said that they are given to loose living or are uncontrolled.
7	For it is necessary for a Bishop to be a man of virtue, as God's servant; not pushing himself forward, not quickly moved to wrath or blows, not desiring profit for himself;
8	But opening his house freely to guests; a lover of what is good, serious-minded, upright, holy, self-controlled;
9	Keeping to the true word of the teaching, so that he may be able to give comfort by right teaching and overcome the arguments of the doubters.
10	For there are men who are not ruled by law; foolish talkers, false teachers, specially those of the circumcision,
11	By whom some families have been completely overturned; who take money for teaching things which are not right; these will have to be stopped.
12	One of their prophets has said, The men of Crete are ever false, evil beasts, lovers of food, hating work.
13	This witness is true. So say sharp words to them so that they may come to the right faith,
14	Giving no attention to the fictions of the Jews and the rules of men who have no true knowledge.
15	To the clean in heart all things are clean: but to those who are unclean and without faith nothing is clean; they become unclean in mind and in thought.
16	They say that they have knowledge of God, while by their acts they are turning their backs on him; they are hated by all, hard-hearted, and judged to be without value for any good work.

2nd Timothy 4

2008-08-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

1	I give you orders, before God and Christ Jesus, who will be the judge of the living and the dead, and by his revelation and his kingdom;
2	Be preaching the word at all times, in every place; make protests, say sharp words, give comfort, with long waiting and teaching;
3	For the time will come when they will not take the true teaching; but, moved by their desires, they will get for themselves a great number of teachers for the pleasure of hearing them;
4	And shutting their ears to what is true, will be turned away to belief in foolish stories.
5	But be self-controlled in all things, do without comfort, go on preaching the good news, completing the work which has been given you to do.
6	For I am even now being offered, and my end is near.
7	I have made a good fight, I have come to the end of my journey, I have kept the faith:
8	From now on, the crown of righteousness is made ready for me, which the Lord, the upright judge, Will give to me at that day: and not only to me, but to all those who have had love for his revelation.
9	Do your best to come to me before long:
10	For Demas has gone away from me, for love of this present life, and has gone to Thessalonica: Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
11	Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and take him with you; for he is of use to me in the work.
12	Tychicus I sent to Ephesus.
13	The coat which I did not take from Troas and which is with Carpus, get when you come, and the books, specially the papers.
14	Alexander the copper-worker did me much wrong: the Lord will give him the reward of his works:
15	But be on the watch for him, for he was violent in his attacks on our teaching.
16	At my first meeting with my judges, no one took my part, but all went away from me. May it not be put to their account.
17	But the Lord was by my side and gave me strength; so that through me the news might be given out in full measure, and all the Gentiles might give ear: and I was taken out of the mouth of the lion.
18	The Lord will keep me safe from every evil work and will give me salvation in his kingdom in heaven: to whom be glory for ever and ever. So be it.
19	Give my love to Prisca and Aquila and those of the house of Onesiphorus.
20	Erastus was stopping at Corinth; but Trophimus, when I last saw him was at Miletus, ill.
21	Do your best to come before the winter. Eubulus sends you his love, and Pudens and Linus and Claudia, and all the brothers.
22	The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

2nd Timothy 3

2008-08-12T10:23:00.002-07:00

1	But be certain of this, that in the last days times of trouble will come.
2	For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, uplifted in pride, given to bitter words, going against the authority of their fathers, never giving praise, having no religion,
3	Without natural love, bitter haters, saying evil of others, violent and uncontrolled, hating all good,
4	False to their friends, acting without thought, lifted up in mind, loving pleasure more than God;
5	Having a form of religion, but turning their backs on the power of it: go not with these.
6	For these are they who go secretly into houses, making prisoners of foolish women, weighted down with sin, turned from the way by their evil desires,
7	Ever learning, and never coming to the knowledge of what is true.
8	And as James and Jambres went against Moses, so do these go against what is true: men of evil minds, who, tested by faith, are seen to be false.
9	But they will go no farther: for their foolish behaviour will be clear to all men, as theirs was in the end.
10	But you took as your example my teaching, behaviour, purpose, and faith; my long waiting, my love, my quiet undergoing of trouble;
11	My punishments and pain; the things which came to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; the cruel attacks made on me: and the Lord made me free from them all.
12	Yes, and all whose purpose is to be living in the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus, will be cruelly attacked.
13	Evil and false men will become worse and worse, using deceit and themselves overcome by deceit.
14	But see that you keep to the teaching you have been given and the things of which you are certain, conscious of who has been your teacher;
15	And that from the time when you were a child, you have had knowledge of the holy Writings, which are able to make you wise to salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus.
16	Every holy Writing which comes from God is of profit for teaching, for training, for guiding, for education in righteousness:
17	So that the man of God may be complete, trained and made ready for every good work.

2nd Timothy 2

2008-08-12T10:23:00.001-07:00

1	So then, my child, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.
2	And the things which I have said to you before a number of witnesses, give to those of the faith, so that they may be teachers of others.
3	Be ready to do without the comforts of life, as one of the army of Christ Jesus.
4	A fighting man, when he is with the army, keeps himself free from the business of this life so that he may be pleasing to him who has taken him into his army.
5	And if a man takes part in a competition he does not get the crown if he has not kept the rules.
6	It is right for the worker in the fields to be the first to take of the fruit.
7	Give thought to what I say; for the Lord will give you wisdom in all things.
8	Keep in mind Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, who came back from the dead, as my good news gives witness:
9	In which I put up with the hardest conditions, even prison chains, like one who has done a crime; but the word of God is not in chains.
10	But I undergo all things for the saints, so that they may have salvation in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11	This is a true saying: If we undergo death with him, then will we be living with him:
12	If we go on to the end, then we will be ruling with him: if we say we have no knowledge of him, then he will say he has no knowledge of us:
13	If we are without faith, still he keeps faith, for he will never be untrue to himself.
14	Put these things before them, giving them orders in the name of the Lord to keep themselves from fighting about words, which is of no profit, only causing error in their hearers.
15	Let it be your care to get the approval of God, as a workman who has no cause for shame, giving the true word in the right way.
16	But take no part in wrong and foolish talk, for those who do so will go farther into evil,
17	And their words will be like poisoned wounds in the flesh: such are Hymenaeus and Philetus;
18	Men whose ideas are all false, who say that the coming back from the dead has even now taken place, overturning the faith of some.
19	But God's strong base is unchanging, having this sign, The Lord has knowledge of those who are his: and, Let everyone by whom the name of the Lord is named be turned away from evil.
20	Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but others of wood and earth, and some which are honoured and some without honour.
21	If a man makes himself clean from these, he will be a vessel for honour, made holy, ready for the master's use, ready for every good work.
22	But keep yourself from those desires of the flesh which are strong when the body is young, and go after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those whose prayers go up to the Lord from a clean heart.
23	And put away foolish and uncontrolled questionings, seeing that they are a cause of trouble.
24	For it is not right for the Lord's servant to make trouble, but he is to be gentle to all, ready in teaching, putting up with wrong,
25	Gently guiding those who go against the teaching; if by chance God may give them a change of heart and true knowledge,
26	And so they may get themselves free from the net of the Evil One, being made the prisoners of the Lord's servant, for the purpose of God.