Wednesday 28 February 2018
Tuesday 27 February 2018
Monday 26 February 2018
Sunday 25 February 2018
Saturday 24 February 2018
Friday 23 February 2018
Day 360: Revelation 20 - 22
Chapter 20
2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
3 and threw him into the pit, and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little while.
4 Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.
7 When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle; they are as numerous as the sands of the sea.
9 They marched up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books.
13 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire;
15 and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Chapter 21
2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."
5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."
6 Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.
7 Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
10 And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
11 It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.
12 It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites;
13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.
14 And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.
16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.
17 He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement, which the angel was using.
18 The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass.
19 The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,
20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.
22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
25 Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.
26 People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
27 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Chapter 22
2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him;
4 they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
6 And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place."
7 "See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me;
9 but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"
10 And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy."
12 "See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone's work.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.
15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 "It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."
17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let everyone who hears say, "Come." And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book;
19 if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20 The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.
Thursday 22 February 2018
Day 359: Revelation 16 - 19
Chapter 16
1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God."2 So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and a foul and painful sore came on those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.
3 The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, "You are just, O Holy One, who are and were, for you have judged these things;
6 because they shed the blood of saints and prophets, you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!"
7 And I heard the altar respond, "Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, your judgments are true and just!"
8 The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire;
9 they were scorched by the fierce heat, but they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.
10 The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness; people gnawed their tongues in agony,
11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.
12 The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up in order to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
13 And I saw three foul spirits like frogs coming from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet.
14 These are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
15 ("See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed, not going about naked and exposed to shame.")
16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Harmagedon.
17 The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!"
18 And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a violent earthquake, such as had not occurred since people were upon the earth, so violent was that earthquake.
19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered great Babylon and gave her the wine-cup of the fury of his wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found;
21 and huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, dropped from heaven on people, until they cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.
Chapter 17
2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk."
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication;
5 and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth's abominations."
6 And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly amazed.
7 But the angel said to me, "Why are you so amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
9 "This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings,
10 of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain only a little while.
11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.
12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.
13 These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast;
14 they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."
15 And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the whore is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the whore; they will make her desolate and naked; they will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire.
17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.
18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."
Chapter 18
2 He called out with a mighty voice, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul bird, a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.
3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxury."
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and so that you do not share in her plagues;
5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.
7 As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, so give her a like measure of torment and grief. Since in her heart she says, "I rule as a queen; I am no widow, and I will never see grief,'
8 therefore her plagues will come in a single day— pestilence and mourning and famine— and she will be burned with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who judges her."
9 And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning;
10 they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas, alas, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come."
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore,
12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble,
13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves—and human lives.
14 "The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your dainties and your splendor are lost to you, never to be found again!"
15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
16 "Alas, alas, the great city, clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!
17 For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!" And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off
18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, "What city was like the great city?"
19 And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out, "Alas, alas, the great city, where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in one hour she has been laid waste."
20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has given judgment for you against her.
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "With such violence Babylon the great city will be thrown down, and will be found no more;
22 and the sound of harpists and minstrels and of flutists and trumpeters will be heard in you no more; and an artisan of any trade will be found in you no more; and the sound of the millstone will be heard in you no more;
23 and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more; and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more; for your merchants were the magnates of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
24 And in you was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slaughtered on earth."
Chapter 19
2 for his judgments are true and just; he has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants."
3 Once more they said, "Hallelujah! The smoke goes up from her forever and ever."
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!"
5 And from the throne came a voice saying, "Praise our God, all you his servants, and all who fear him, small and great."
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready;
8 to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure"— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
9 And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God."
10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself.
13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, "King of kings and Lord of lords."
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in midheaven, "Come, gather for the great supper of God,
18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and their riders—flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great."
19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against the rider on the horse and against his army.
20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed in its presence the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
21 And the rest were killed by the sword of the rider on the horse, the sword that came from his mouth; and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
Wednesday 21 February 2018
Day 358: Revelation 11 - 15
Chapter 11
1 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, "Come and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there,
2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months.
3 And I will grant my two witnesses authority to prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, wearing sackcloth."
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes; anyone who wants to harm them must be killed in this manner.
6 They have authority to shut the sky, so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,
8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is prophetically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
9 For three and a half days members of the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb;
10 and the inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to the inhabitants of the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and those who saw them were terrified.
12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!" And they went up to heaven in a cloud while their enemies watched them.
13 At that moment there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed. The third woe is coming very soon.
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever."
16 Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17 singing, "We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty, who are and who were, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.
18 The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for judging the dead, for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints and all who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying those who destroy the earth."
19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
Chapter 12
1 A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.
3 Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne;
6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.
7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back,
8 but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
9 The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
11 But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
12 Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you with great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"
13 So when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
15 Then from his mouth the serpent poured water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood.
16 But the earth came to the help of the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.
18 Then the dragon took his stand on the sand of the seashore.
Chapter 13
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names.2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority.
3 One of its heads seemed to have received a death-blow, but its mortal wound had been healed. In amazement the whole earth followed the beast.
4 They worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?"
5 The beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.
6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. It was given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation,
8 and all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered.
9 Let anyone who has an ear listen:
10 If you are to be taken captive, into captivity you go; if you kill with the sword, with the sword you must be killed. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
11 Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.
12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed.
13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all;
14 and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived;
15 and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,
17 so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
18 This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six.
Chapter 14
1 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps,
3 and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth.
4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb,
5 and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people.
7 He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water."
8 Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
9 Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands,
10 they will also drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name."
12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them."
14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand!
15 Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, "Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe."
16 So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
18 Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe."
19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.
20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse's bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles.
Chapter 15
1 Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.
3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations!
4 Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed."
5 After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened,
6 and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, with golden sashes across their chests.
7 Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever;
8 and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.
Tuesday 20 February 2018
Day 357: Revelation 5 - 10
Chapter 5
1: Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals;
2: and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?"
3: And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.
4: And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
5: Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals."
6: Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
7: He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne.
8: When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9: They sing a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;
10: you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth."
11: Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,
12: singing with full voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"
13: Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, "To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"
14: And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the elders fell down and worshiped.
Chapter 6
1: Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder, "Come!"
2: I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer.
3: When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, "Come!"
4: And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another; and he was given a great sword.
5: When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature call out, "Come!" I looked, and there was a black horse! Its rider held a pair of scales in his hand,
6: and I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's pay, and three quarts of barley for a day's pay, but do not damage the olive oil and the wine!"
7: When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature call out, "Come!"
8: I looked and there was a pale green horse! Its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed with him; they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and pestilence, and by the wild animals of the earth.
9: When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given;
10: they cried out with a loud voice, "Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?"
11: They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number would be complete both of their fellow servants and of their brothers and sisters, who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed.
12: When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and there came a great earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,
13: and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree drops its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
14: The sky vanished like a scroll rolling itself up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15: Then the kings of the earth and the magnates and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
16: calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb;
17: for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
Chapter 7
1: After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on earth or sea or against any tree.
2: I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea,
3: saying, "Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."
4: And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel:
5: From the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,
6: from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,
7: from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,
8: from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed.
9: After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
10: They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11: And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12: singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
13: Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?"
14: I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15: For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
16: They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat;
17: for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Chapter 8
1: When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2: And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3: Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne.
4: And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.
5: Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth; and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
6: Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets made ready to blow them.
7: The first angel blew his trumpet, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
8: The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea.
9: A third of the sea became blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10: The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
11: The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water, because it was made bitter.
12: The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light was darkened; a third of the day was kept from shining, and likewise the night.
13: Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew in mid-heaven, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!"
Chapter 9
1: And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit;
2: he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.
3: Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given authority like the authority of scorpions of the earth.
4: They were told not to damage the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
5: They were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings someone.
6: And in those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.
7: In appearance the locusts were like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces,
8: their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth;
9: they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.
10: They have tails like scorpions, with stingers, and in their tails is their power to harm people for five months.
11: They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
12: The first woe has passed. There are still two woes to come.
13: Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God,
14: saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."
15: So the four angels were released, who had been held ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, to kill a third of humankind.
16: The number of the troops of cavalry was two hundred million; I heard their number.
17: And this was how I saw the horses in my vision: the riders wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur; the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.
18: By these three plagues a third of humankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths.
19: For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they inflict harm.
20: The rest of humankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands or give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
21: And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their fornication or their thefts.
Chapter 10
2: He held a little scroll open in his hand. Setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,
3: he gave a great shout, like a lion roaring. And when he shouted, the seven thunders sounded.
4: And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down."
5: Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and the land raised his right hand to heaven
6: and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: "There will be no more delay,
7: but in the days when the seventh angel is to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, as he announced to his servants the prophets."
8: Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, "Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."
9: So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll; and he said to me, "Take it, and eat; it will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth."
10: So I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.
11: Then they said to me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and languages and kings."
Monday 19 February 2018
Day 356: Revelation: 1 - 4
Chapter 1
2: who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
3: Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.
4: John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
5: and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood,
6: and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7: Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.
8: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
9: I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
10: I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet
11: saying, "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."
12: Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
13: and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest.
14: His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire,
15: his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters.
16: In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.
17: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,
18: and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
19: Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this.
20: As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Chapter 2
2: "I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false.
3: I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary.
4: But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
5: Remember then from what you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
6: Yet this is to your credit: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7: Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.
8: "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the first and the last, who was dead and came to life:
9: "I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
10: Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11: Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death.
12: "And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword:
13: "I know where you are living, where Satan's throne is. Yet you are holding fast to my name, and you did not deny your faith in me even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan lives.
14: But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel, so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and practice fornication.
15: So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
16: Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and make war against them with the sword of my mouth.
17: Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.
18: "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze:
19: "I know your works—your love, faith, service, and patient endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first.
20: But I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice fornication and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
21: I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her fornication.
22: Beware, I am throwing her on a bed, and those who commit adultery with her I am throwing into great distress, unless they repent of her doings;
23: and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve.
24: But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call "the deep things of Satan,' to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden;
25: only hold fast to what you have until I come.
26: To everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations;
27: to rule them with an iron rod, as when clay pots are shattered—
28: even as I also received authority from my Father. To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star.
29: Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
Chapter 3
2: Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God.
3: Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
4: Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.
5: If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels.
6: Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
7: "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens:
8: "I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
9: I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.
10: Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
11: I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
12: If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
13: Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
14: "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation:
15: "I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot.
16: So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
17: For you say, "I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.' You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
18: Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
19: I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.
20: Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.
21: To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
22: Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."
Chapter 4
1: After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."
2: At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne!
3: And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald.
4: Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads.
5: Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God;
6: and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal. Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:
7: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle.
8: And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing, "Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come."
9: And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
10: the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
11: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."
Sunday 18 February 2018
Day 355: 2 John, 3 John, Jude
2 John Chapter 1
1: The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not only I but also all who know the truth,
2: because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:
3: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the, Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, in truth and love.
4: I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father.
5: But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another.
6: And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning—you must walk in it.
7: Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist!
8: Be on your guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive a full reward.
9: Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God; whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
10: Do not receive into the house or welcome anyone who comes to you and does not bring this teaching;
11: for to welcome is to participate in the evil deeds of such a person.
12: Although I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink; instead I hope to come to you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13: The children of your elect sister send you their greetings.
3 John Chapter 1
1: The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
2: Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.
3: I was overjoyed when some of the friends arrived and testified to your faithfulness to the truth, namely how you walk in the truth.
4: I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
5: Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the friends, even though they are strangers to you;
6: they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on in a manner worthy of God;
7: for they began their journey for the sake of Christ, accepting no support from non-believers.
8: Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may become co-workers with the truth.
9: I have written something to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.
10: So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against us. And not content with those charges, he refuses to welcome the friends, and even prevents those who want to do so and expels them from the church.
11: Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
12: Everyone has testified favorably about Demetrius, and so has the truth itself. We also testify for him, and you know that our testimony is true.
13: I have much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink;
14: instead I hope to see you soon, and we will talk together face to face.
15: Peace to you. The friends send you their greetings. Greet the friends there, each by name.
Jude Chapter 1
2: May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.
3: Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
4: For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5: Now I desire to remind you, though you are fully informed, that the Lord, who once for all saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
6: And the angels who did not keep their own position, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great day.
7: Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
8: Yet in the same way these dreamers also defile the flesh, reject authority, and slander the glorious ones.
9: But when the archangel Michael contended with the devil and disputed about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a condemnation of slander against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
10: But these people slander whatever they do not understand, and they are destroyed by those things that, like irrational animals, they know by instinct.
11: Woe to them! For they go the way of Cain, and abandon themselves to Balaam's error for the sake of gain, and perish in Korah's rebellion.
12: These are blemishes on your love-feasts, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves. They are water-less clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted;
13: wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever.
14: It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "See, the Lord is coming with ten thousands of his holy ones,
15: to execute judgment on all, and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
16: These are grumblers and malcontents; they indulge their own lusts; they are bombastic in speech, flattering people to their own advantage.
17: But you, beloved, must remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
18: for they said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts."
19: It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions.
20: But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;
21: keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
22: And have mercy on some who are wavering;
23: save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.
24: Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing,
25: to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Saturday 17 February 2018
Day 354: 1John 1 - 5
Chapter 1
2: this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—
3: we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4: We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
5: This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.
6: If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true;
7: but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9: If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10: If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Chapter 2
2: and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
3: Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments.
4: Whoever says, "I have come to know him," but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist;
5: but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him:
6: whoever says, "I abide in him," ought to walk just as he walked.
7: Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard.
8: Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
9: Whoever says, "I am in the light," while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.
10: Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling.
11: But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.
12: I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven on account of his name.
13: I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, because you have conquered the evil one.
14: I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
15: Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world;
16: for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world.
17: And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.
18: Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour.
19: They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us.
20: But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge.
21: I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth.
22: Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
23: No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24: Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.
25: And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.
26: I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you.
27: As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.
28: And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.
29: If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right has been born of him.
Chapter 3
2: Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
3: And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
4: Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
5: You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
6: No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.
7: Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
8: Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
9: Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God's seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God.
10: The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.
11: For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
12: We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.
13: Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you.
14: We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death.
15: All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them.
16: We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.
17: How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
18: Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
19: And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him
20: whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21: Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God;
22: and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
23: And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
24: All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
Chapter 4
2: By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3: and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world.
4: Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
5: They are from the world; therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them.
6: We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
7: Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8: Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9: God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
10: In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11: Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.
12: No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13: By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
14: And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.
15: God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.
16: So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
17: Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.
18: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.
19: We love because he first loved us.
20: Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.
21: The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
Chapter 5
2: By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.
3: For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,
4: for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.
5: Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6: This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.
7: There are three that testify:
8: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree.
9: If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son.
10: Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.
11: And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12: Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
14: And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
15: And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.
16: If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one—to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that.
17: All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.
18: We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them.
19: We know that we are God's children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one.
20: And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know 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: Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Friday 16 February 2018
Day 353: 2 Peter 1 - 3
Chapter 1
2: May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3: His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
4: Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature.
5: For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge,
6: and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness,
7: and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.
8: For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9: For anyone who lacks these things is nearsighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins.
10: Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.
11: For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
12: Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you.
13: I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory,
14: since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
15: And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
16: For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
17: For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
18: We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.
19: So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
20: First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,
21: because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Chapter 2
2: Even so, many will follow their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be maligned.
3: And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced against them long ago, has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
4: For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment;
5: and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood on a world of the ungodly;
6: and if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example of what is coming to the ungodly;
7: and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the lawless
8: (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by their lawless deeds that he saw and heard),
9: then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment
10: —especially those who indulge their flesh in depraved lust, and who despise authority. Bold and willful, they are not afraid to slander the glorious ones,
11: whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not bring against them a slanderous judgment from the Lord.
12: These people, however, are like irrational animals, mere creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed. They slander what they do not understand, and when those creatures are destroyed, they also will be destroyed,
13: suffering the penalty for doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their dissipation while they feast with you.
14: They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!
15: They have left the straight road and have gone astray, following the road of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of doing wrong,
16: but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
17: These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the deepest darkness has been reserved.
18: For they speak bombastic nonsense, and with licentious desires of the flesh they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error.
19: They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for people are slaves to whatever masters them.
20: For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
21: For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was passed on to them.
22: It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "The dog turns back to its own vomit," and, "The sow is washed only to wallow in the mud."
Chapter 3
2: that you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken through your apostles.
3: First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts
4: and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!"
5: They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water,
6: through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished.
7: But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.
8: But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.
9: The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
10: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.
11: Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness,
12: waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire?
13: But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
14: Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish;
15: and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,
16: speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
17: You therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless and lose your own stability.
18: But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)