Leading With Love and Authority: Balancing Grace and Truth as You Lead Your Children Toward Christ

REGRET: And a Dog, a Horse and a Cart

The Priceless Treasure of Christmas

Navigating Mental Challenges After Loss

Biblical Authority

Weary: Holding on to God's Word in Hard Times

3rd Person

New Testament Read-Through (Matthew)

Biblical Encouragement for Business Leaders

God’s Word Over Life’s Stress

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1JN">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="1JN.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">On Denying the Incarnation</div><div class="p"> 1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.</div><div class="p"> 4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit#4:6 Or spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.</div><div class="s1">God&#8217;s Love and Ours</div><div class="p"> 7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.</div><div class="p"> 13This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.</div><div class="p">God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.</div><div class="p"> 19We love because he first loved us. 20Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1JN">
 <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="1JN.5">
 <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1">Faith in the Incarnate Son of God</div><div class="p"> 1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.</div><div class="p"> 6This is the one who came by water and blood&#8212;Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the#5:7,8 Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century) Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9We accept human testimony, but God&#8217;s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.</div><div class="s1">Concluding Affirmations</div><div class="p"> 13I 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. 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us&#8212;whatever we ask&#8212;we know that we have what we asked of him.</div><div class="p"> 16If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.</div><div class="p"> 18We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. 19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20We know also 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 by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.</div><div class="p"> 21Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2JN">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="2JN.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1The elder,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth&#8212;and not I only, but also all who know the truth&#8212; 2because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 3Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father&#8217;s Son, will be with us in truth and love.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 4It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.</div><div class="p"> 7I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch out that you do not lose what we#1:8 Some manuscripts you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. 11Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.</div><div class="p"> 12I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 13The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk3JN">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="3JN.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1The elder,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 2Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.</div><div class="p"> 5Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters,#1:5 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God&#8217;s family. even though they are strangers to you. 6They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. 7It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.</div><div class="p"> 9I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. 10So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.</div><div class="p"> 11Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 12Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone&#8212;and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.</div><div class="p"> 13I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 15Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJUD">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="JUD.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for#1:1 Or by; or in Jesus Christ:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 2Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.</div><div class="s1">The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People</div><div class="p"> 3Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God&#8217;s holy people. 4For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about#1:4 Or individuals who were marked out for condemnation long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.</div><div class="p"> 5Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord#1:5 Some early manuscripts Jesus at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling&#8212;these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.</div><div class="p"> 8In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, &#8220;The Lord rebuke you!&#8221;#1:9 Jude is alluding to the Jewish Testament of Moses (approximately the first century a.d.). 10Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct&#8212;as irrational animals do&#8212;will destroy them.</div><div class="p"> 11Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam&#8217;s error; they have been destroyed in Korah&#8217;s rebellion.</div><div class="p"> 12These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm&#8212;shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted&#8212;twice dead. 13They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.</div><div class="p"> 14Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: &#8220;See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.&#8221;#1:15 From the Jewish First Book of Enoch (approximately the first century b.c.) 16These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.</div><div class="s1">A Call to Persevere</div><div class="p"> 17But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18They said to you, &#8220;In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.&#8221; 19These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.</div><div class="p"> 20But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in God&#8217;s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.</div><div class="p"> 22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear&#8212;hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.#1:23 The Greek manuscripts of these verses vary at several points.</div><div class="s1">Doxology</div><div class="p"> 24To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy&#8212; 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkREV">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="REV.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">Prologue</div><div class="p"> 1The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2who testifies to everything he saw&#8212;that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.</div><div class="s1">Greetings and Doxology</div><div class="p"> 4John,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">To the seven churches in the province of Asia:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits#1:4 That is, the sevenfold Spirit before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father&#8212;to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.</div><div class="q1"> 7&#8220;Look, he is coming with the clouds,&#8221;#1:7 Daniel 7:13</div><div class="q2">and &#8220;every eye will see him,</div><div class="q1">even those who pierced him&#8221;;</div><div class="q2">and all peoples on earth &#8220;will mourn because of him.&#8221;#1:7 Zech. 12:10</div><div class="q4">So shall it be! Amen.</div><div class="p"> 8&#8220;I am the Alpha and the Omega,&#8221; says the Lord God, &#8220;who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">John&#8217;s Vision of Christ</div><div class="p"> 9I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10On the Lord&#8217;s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11which said: &#8220;Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,#1:13 See Daniel 7:13. dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.</div><div class="p"> 17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: &#8220;Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.</div><div class="p"> 19 &#8220;Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels#1:20 Or messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkREV">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="REV.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">To the Church in Ephesus</div><div class="m"> 1 &#8220;To the angel # 2:1 Or messenger ; also in verses 8, 12 and 18 of the church in Ephesus write:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pi1"> These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.</div><div class="pi1"> 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.</div><div class="pi1"> 7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.</div><div class="s1">To the Church in Smyrna</div><div class="m"> 8 &#8220;To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pi1"> These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9I know your afflictions and your poverty&#8212;yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor&#8217;s crown.</div><div class="pi1"> 11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.</div><div class="s1">To the Church in Pergamum</div><div class="m"> 12 &#8220;To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pi1"> These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13I know where you live&#8212;where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city&#8212;where Satan lives.</div><div class="pi1"> 14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.</div><div class="pi1"> 17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.</div><div class="s1">To the Church in Thyatira</div><div class="m"> 18 &#8220;To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pi1"> These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.</div><div class="pi1"> 20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.</div><div class="pi1"> 24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan&#8217;s so-called deep secrets, &#8216;I will not impose any other burden on you, 25except to hold on to what you have until I come.&#8217;</div><div class="pi1"> 26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations&#8212; 27that one &#8216;will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery&#8217;#2:27 Psalm 2:9&#8212;just as I have received authority from my Father. 28I will also give that one the morning star. 29Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkREV">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="REV.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">To the Church in Sardis</div><div class="m"> 1 &#8220;To the angel # 3:1 Or messenger ; also in verses 7 and 14 of the church in Sardis write:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pi1"> These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits # 3:1 That is, the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.</div><div class="pi1"> 4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.</div><div class="s1">To the Church in Philadelphia</div><div class="m"> 7 &#8220;To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pi1"> These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars&#8212;I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.</div><div class="pi1"> 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.</div><div class="s1">To the Church in Laodicea</div><div class="m"> 14 &#8220;To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="pi1"> These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God&#8217;s creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm&#8212;neither hot nor cold&#8212;I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, &#8216;I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.&#8217; But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.</div><div class="pi1"> 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.</div><div class="pi1"> 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkREV">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="REV.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">The Throne in Heaven</div><div class="p"> 1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, &#8220;Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.&#8221; 2At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. 4Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits#4:5 That is, the sevenfold Spirit of God. 6Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.</div><div class="p">In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="qc">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Holy, holy, holy</div><div class="qc">is the Lord God Almighty,&#8217;#4:8 Isaiah 6:3</div><div class="qc">who was, and is, and is to come.&#8221;</div><div class="b"></div><div class="m"> 9Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:</div><div class="q1"> 11&#8220;You are worthy, our Lord and God,</div><div class="q2">to receive glory and honor and power,</div><div class="q1">for you created all things,</div><div class="q2">and by your will they were created</div><div class="q2">and have their being.&#8221;</div>
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 <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1">The Scroll and the Lamb</div><div class="p"> 1Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, &#8220;Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?&#8221; 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5Then one of the elders said to me, &#8220;Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits#5:6 That is, the sevenfold Spirit of God sent out into all the earth. 7He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God&#8217;s people. 9And they sang a new song, saying:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;You are worthy to take the scroll</div><div class="q2">and to open its seals,</div><div class="q1">because you were slain,</div><div class="q2">and with your blood you purchased for God</div><div class="q2">persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.</div><div class="q1"> 10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,</div><div class="q2">and they will reign#5:10 Some manuscripts they reign on the earth.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they were saying:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,</div><div class="q2">to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength</div><div class="q2">and honor and glory and praise!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb</div><div class="q2">be praise and honor and glory and power,</div><div class="qc">for ever and ever!&#8221;</div><div class="m"> 14The four living creatures said, &#8220;Amen,&#8221; and the elders fell down and worshiped.</div>
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 <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1">The Seals</div><div class="p"> 1I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, &#8220;Come!&#8221; 2I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.</div><div class="p"> 3When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, &#8220;Come!&#8221; 4Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.</div><div class="p"> 5When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, &#8220;Come!&#8221; I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, &#8220;Two pounds#6:6 Or about 1 kilogram of wheat for a day&#8217;s wages,#6:6 Greek a denarius and six pounds#6:6 Or about 3 kilograms of barley for a day&#8217;s wages,#6:6 Greek a denarius and do not damage the oil and the wine!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, &#8220;Come!&#8221; 8I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.</div><div class="p"> 9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10They called out in a loud voice, &#8220;How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?&#8221; 11Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,#6:11 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God&#8217;s family; also in 12:10; 19:10. were killed just as they had been.</div><div class="p"> 12I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.</div><div class="p"> 15Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16They called to the mountains and the rocks, &#8220;Fall on us and hide us#6:16 See Hosea 10:8. from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17For the great day of their#6:17 Some manuscripts his wrath has come, and who can withstand it?&#8221;</div>
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 <div class="label">7</div><div class="s1">144,000 Sealed</div><div class="p"> 1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3&#8220;Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.&#8221; 4Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="li1"> 5From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,</div><div class="li1">from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,</div><div class="li1">from the tribe of Gad 12,000,</div><div class="li1"> 6from the tribe of Asher 12,000,</div><div class="li1">from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,</div><div class="li1">from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,</div><div class="li1"> 7from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,</div><div class="li1">from the tribe of Levi 12,000,</div><div class="li1">from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,</div><div class="li1"> 8from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,</div><div class="li1">from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,</div><div class="li1">from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.</div><div class="s1">The Great Multitude in White Robes</div><div class="p"> 9After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Salvation belongs to our God,</div><div class="q1">who sits on the throne,</div><div class="q1">and to the Lamb.&#8221;</div><div class="m"> 11All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Amen!</div><div class="q1">Praise and glory</div><div class="q1">and wisdom and thanks and honor</div><div class="q1">and power and strength</div><div class="q1">be to our God for ever and ever.</div><div class="q1">Amen!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Then one of the elders asked me, &#8220;These in white robes&#8212;who are they, and where did they come from?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14I answered, &#8220;Sir, you know.&#8221;</div><div class="p">And he said, &#8220;These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;they are before the throne of God</div><div class="q2">and serve him day and night in his temple;</div><div class="q1">and he who sits on the throne</div><div class="q2">will shelter them with his presence.</div><div class="q1"> 16&#8216;Never again will they hunger;</div><div class="q2">never again will they thirst.</div><div class="q1">The sun will not beat down on them,&#8217;#7:16 Isaiah 49:10</div><div class="q2">nor any scorching heat.</div><div class="q1"> 17For the Lamb at the center of the throne</div><div class="q2">will be their shepherd;</div><div class="q1">&#8216;he will lead them to springs of living water.&#8217;#7:17 Isaiah 49:10</div><div class="q2">&#8216;And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.&#8217;#7:17 Isaiah 25:8&#8221;</div>
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 <div class="label">8</div><div class="s1">The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer</div><div class="p"> 1When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.</div><div class="p"> 2And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.</div><div class="p"> 3Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God&#8217;s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God&#8217;s people, went up before God from the angel&#8217;s hand. 5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.</div><div class="s1">The Trumpets</div><div class="p"> 6Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.</div><div class="p"> 7The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.</div><div class="p"> 8The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.</div><div class="p"> 10The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water&#8212; 11the name of the star is Wormwood.#8:11 Wormwood is a bitter substance. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.</div><div class="p"> 12The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.</div><div class="p"> 13As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: &#8220;Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!&#8221;</div>
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 <div class="label">9</div><div class="p"> 1The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.</div><div class="p"> 7The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8Their hair was like women&#8217;s hair, and their teeth were like lions&#8217; teeth. 9They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).</div><div class="p"> 12The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.</div><div class="p"> 13The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, &#8220;Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.&#8221; 15And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.</div><div class="p"> 17The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.</div><div class="p"> 20The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood&#8212;idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.</div>
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