 The letter to the Hebrews, chapters 10 through 13, from the twentieth century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by J. A. Carter, www.authenticlight.org. The twentieth century New Testament by a company of about twenty scholars. The letter to the Hebrews, chapters 10 through 13. Chapter 10. The law, though able to foreshadow the better system which was coming, never had its actual substance. Its priests, with those sacrifices which they offer continually year after year, can never make those who come to worship perfect. Otherwise, would not the offering of these sacrifices have been abandoned, as the worshipers having been once purified would have had their consciences clear from sins? But on the contrary, these sacrifices recall their sins to mind year after year. For the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to remove sins. That is why, when he was coming into the world, the Christ declared, Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, but thou dost provide for me a body. Thou dost take no pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. So I said, See, I have come, as it is written of me in the pages of the book, to do thy will, O God. First come the words, Thou dost not desire nor dost thou take pleasure in sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, offerings regularly made under the law. And then there is added, See, I have come to do thy will. The former sacrifices are set aside to be replaced by the latter, and it is in the fulfillment of the will of God that we have been purified by the sacrifice once and for all of the body of Jesus Christ. Every other priest stands day after day at his ministrations and offers the same sacrifices over and over again, sacrifices that can never take sins away. But this priest, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, which should serve for all time, took his seat at the right hand of God and has since then been waiting for his enemies to be put as a stool for his feet. By a single offering he has made perfect for all time those who are being purified. We have also the testimony of the Holy Spirit, for after saying this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will impress my laws on their hearts and will inscribe them on their minds. Then we have, and their sins and their iniquities I will no longer remember. And when these are forgiven, there is no further need of an offering for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we may enter the sanctuary with confidence and virtue of the blood of Jesus by the way which he inaugurated for us, a new and living way, a way through the sanctuary curtain that is his human nature, and since we have in him a great high priest set over the house of God, let us draw near to God in all sincerity of heart and in perfect faith with our hearts purified by the sprinkled blood from all consciousness of wrong and with our bodies washed with pure water. Let us maintain the confession of our faith unshaken, for he who has given us his promise will not fail us. Let us vie with one another in a rivalry of love and noble actions and let us not, as some do, cease to meet together. But on the contrary, let us encourage one another and all the more now that you see the day drawing near. Remember, if we sin willfully after we have gained a full knowledge of the truth, there can be no further sacrifice for sin. There is only a fearful anticipation of judgment and a burning indignation which will destroy all opponents. When a man disregarded the law of Moses, he was on the evidence of two or three witnesses put to death without pity. How much more than, thank you, will be the punishment deserved by those who have trampled underfoot the Son of God, who have treated the blood that rendered the covenant valid, the very blood by which they were purified as of no account and who have outraged the spirit of love. We know who it was that said, It is for me to avenge, I will requite, and again the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Call to mind those early days in which, after you had received the light, you patiently underwent a long and painful conflict. Sometimes in consequence of the taunts and injuries heaped upon you, you became a public spectacle. And sometimes you suffered through having shown yourselves to be friends of men who were in the very position in which you had been. For you not only sympathized with those who were in prison, but you even took the confiscation of your possessions joyfully, knowing as you did that you had in yourselves a greater possession, and a lasting one. Do not therefore abandon the confidence that you have gained, for it has a great reward awaiting it. You still have need of patient endurance in order that when you have done God's will, you may obtain the fulfillment of his promise. For there is indeed, but a very little while, ere he who is coming will have come without delay. And through faith the righteous man shall find his life, but if a man draws back, my heart can find no pleasure in him. But we do not belong to those who draw back to their ruin, but to those who have faith to the saving of their souls. CHAPTER XI Faith is the realization of things hoped for, the proof of things not seen, and it was for faith that the men of old were renowned. Faith enables us to perceive that the universe was created at the bidding of God, so that we know that what we see was not made out of visible things. Faith made the sacrifice which Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain's, and won him renowned as a righteous man, God himself establishing his renown by accepting his gifts, and it is by the example of his faith that Abel though dead still speaks. Faith led to Enoch's removal from earth that he might not experience death. He could not be found because God had removed him. For before his removal he was renowned as having pleased God, but without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that God exists, and that he rewards those who seek for him. It was faith that enabled Noah after he had received the divine warning about what could not then be foreseen to build in reverent obedience and arc in which to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became possessed of that righteousness which follows upon faith. It was faith that enabled Abraham to obey the call that he received, and to set out for the place which he was afterwards to obtain as his own, and he set out not knowing where he was going. It was faith that made him go to live as an immigrant in the Promised Land as in a strange country, living there in tents with Isaac and Jacob who shared the promise with him. For he was looking for the city with the sure foundations whose architect and builder is God. Again it was faith that enabled Sarah to conceive, though she was past the age for childbearing, because she felt sure that he who had given her the promise would not fail her. And so from one man, and that when his powers were dead, there sprang a people as numerous as the stars in the heavens or the countless grains of sand upon the shore. All these died sustained by faith. They did not obtain the promised blessings, but they saw them from a distance and welcomed the sight, and they acknowledged themselves to be only aliens and strangers on the earth. Those who speak thus show plainly that they are seeking their Fatherland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they could have found opportunities to return. But no, they were longing for a better, a heavenly land. And therefore God was not ashamed to be called their God. Indeed, he had already prepared them a city. It was faith that enabled Abraham when put to the test to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises offering up his only son, of whom it had been said, it is through Isaac that there shall be descendants to bear thy name. For he argued that God was able even to raise a man from the dead, and indeed figuratively speaking, Abraham did receive Isaac back from the dead. It was faith that enabled Isaac to bless Jacob and Esau, even with regard to the future. Faith enabled Jacob when dying to give his blessing to each of the sons of Joseph and to bow himself in worship as he leaned upon the top of his staff. Faith caused Joseph when the end was near to speak of the future migration of the Israelites and to give instructions with regard to his bones. Faith caused the parents of Moses to hide the child for three months after his birth, for they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they would not respect the king's order. It was faith that caused Moses when he was grown up to refuse the title of son of a daughter of Pharaoh. He preferred sharing the hardships of God's people to enjoying the short-lived pleasures of sin. For he counted the reproaches that are heaped upon the Christ of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, looking forward as he did to the reward awaiting him. Faith caused him to leave Egypt, though undaunted by the king's anger, for he was strengthened in his endurance by the vision of the invisible God. Faith led him to institute the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood so that the destroyer might not touch the eldest children of the Israelites. Faith enabled the people to cross the Red Sea as if it had been dry land, while the Egyptians, when they attempted to do so, were drowned. Faith caused the walls of Jericho to fall after being encircled for seven days. Faith saved Rahab the prostitute from perishing with the unbelievers after she had entertained the spies with friendliness. Need I add anything more? Time would fail me if I attempted to relate the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephtha, and those of David, Samuel, and the prophets. By their faith they subdued kingdoms, ruled righteously, gained the fulfillment of God's promises, shut the mouths of lions, quelled the fury of the flames, escaped the edge of the sword, found strength in the hour of weakness, displayed their prowess in war and routed hostile armies. Women received back their dead raised to life. Some were tortured on the wheel and refused release in order that they might rise to a better life. Others had to face taunts and blows and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death. They were tortured. They were sawn asunder. They were put to the sword. They wandered about, clothed in the skins of sheep or goats, destitute, persecuted, ill-used, men of whom the world was not worthy, roaming in lonely places and on the mountains and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet though they all won renown by their faith, they did not obtain the final fulfillment of God's promise. Since God had imbued some better thing for us that they, apart from us, should not attain perfection. Chapter 12 Seeing therefore that there is on every side of us such a throng of witnesses, let us also lay aside everything that hinders us and the sin that clings about us and run with patient endurance the race that lies before us, our eyes fixed upon Jesus, the leader and perfect example of our faith, who for the joy that lay before him endured the cross heedless of its shame, and now has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Way well the example of him who had to endure such opposition from men who were sinning against themselves, so that you should not grow weary or faint-hearted. You have not yet in your struggle with sin resisted to the death, and you have forgotten the encouraging words which are addressed to you as God's children. My child, think not lightly of the Lord's discipline. Do not despond when he rebukes you, for it is him whom he loves that he disciplines, and he chastises every child whom he acknowledges. It is for your discipline that you have to endure all this. God is dealing with you as his children. For where is there a child whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without that discipline in which all children share, it shows that you are bastards and not true children. Further, when our earthly fathers disciplined us, we respected them. Shall we not then, much rather, yield submission to the father of souls and live? Our fathers disciplined us for only a short time and has seemed best to them. But God disciplines us for our true good to enable us to share his holiness. No discipline is pleasant at the time. On the contrary, it is painful. But afterwards its fruit is seen in the peacefulness of a righteous life which is the lot of those who have been trained under it. Therefore lift again the down-dropped hands and strengthen the weakened knees. Make straight paths for your feet so that the lame limb may not be put out of joint, but rather be cured. Try earnestly to live at peace with everyone and to attain to that purity without which no one will see the Lord. Take care that no one fails to use the loving help of God, that no bitterness is allowed to take root and spring up and cause trouble, and so poison the whole community. Take care that no one becomes immoral or irreligious like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards when he wished to claim his father's blessing he was rejected, for he never found an opportunity to repair his error, though he begged for the blessing with tears. It is not to tangible flaming fire that you have drawn near, nor to gloom and darkness and storm and the blast of a trumpet and an audible voice. Those who heard that voice and treated that they might hear no more, for they could not bear to think of the command. If even an animal touches the mountain it is to be stoned to death. And so fearful was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear. No, but it is to Mount Zion that you have drawn near, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels, to the festival gathering and assemblage of God's eldest sons, whose names are enrolled in heaven, to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of the righteous who have attained perfection, to Jesus, the intermediary of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that tells of better things than the blood of Abel. Beware how you refuse to hear him who is speaking. For if the Israelites did not escape punishment when they refused to listen to him who taught them on earth the divine will, far worse will it be for us if we turn away from him who is teaching us from heaven. Then his voice shook the earth, but now his declaration is, still once more I will cause not only the earth to tremble, but also the heavens. And those words, still once more, indicate the passing away of all that is shaken, that is of all created things, in order that only what is unshaken may remain. Therefore let us who have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, be thankful, and so offer acceptable worship to God with awe and reverence. For our God is a consuming fire. Chapter 13 Let your love for the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality, for through being hospitable men have all unwares entertained angels. Remember the prisoners as if you were their fellow prisoners and the oppressed not forgetting that you also are still in the body. Let marriage be honored by all and the married life be pure, for God will judge those who are immoral and those who commit adultery. Do not let your conduct be ruled by the love of money. Be content with what you have, for God himself has said, I will never forsake you, nor will I ever abandon you. Therefore we may say with confidence, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Do not forget your leaders, the men who told you God's message. Recall the clothes of their lives and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever. Do not let yourselves be carried away by the various novel forms of teaching. It is better to rely for spiritual strength upon the divine help than upon regulations regarding food, for those whose lives are guided by such regulations have not found them of service. We are not without an altar, but it is one at which those who still worship in the tabernacle have no right to eat. The bodies of those animals whose blood is brought by the high priest into the sanctuary as an offering for sin are burnt outside the camp. And so Jesus also to purify the people by his own blood suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go out to him, outside the camp, bearing the same reproaches as he, for here we have no permanent city, but are looking for the city that is to be. Through him let us offer as our sacrifice continual praise to God and offering from lips that glorify his name. Never forget to do kindly acts and to share what you have with others, for such sacrifices are acceptable to God. Obey your leaders and submit to their control, for they are watching over your souls as men who will have to render an account so that they may do it with joy and not in sorrow. That would not be to your advantage. Pray for us, for we are sure that our consciences are clear, since our wish is to be occupied with what is good. And I the more earnestly ask for your prayers that I may be restored to you the sooner. May God, the source of all peace, who brought back from the dead him who by virtue of the blood that rendered valid the unchangeable covenant, is the great shepherd of God's sheep. Jesus our Lord, may God make you perfect in everything that is good, so that you may be able to do his will. May he bring out in us all that is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be all glory for ever and ever. Amen. I beg you, brothers, to bear with these words of advice, for I have written only very briefly to you. You will be glad to hear that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he comes here soon we will visit you together. Give our greetings to all your leaders and to all Christ's people. Our friends from Italy send their greetings to you. May God bless you all. End of the Letter to the Hebrews, chapters 10 through 13. End of the Letter to the Hebrews. The first letter of Peter from the 20th Century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by J. A. Carter. www.authenticlight.org. The 20th Century New Testament by a company of about 20 scholars. The first letter of Peter. Introduction and chapters 1 through 5. Introduction. A Letter to the Christians of Asia Minor, known as the first letter of St. Peter. Written probably between 65 and 68 A.D. This letter was written evidently at a time when the Christians throughout Asia Minor were suffering from calumny and threatened with persecution. Such hints of their sufferings as we get from the letter. Chapter 2 verse 12. Chapter 3 verse 16. Chapter 4 verses 4 and 14. And chapter 1 verses 6 and 7. Chapter 3 verses 14 through 17. And chapter 4 verses 12 through 19. Fitting well with the accounts derived from other sources of the persecution of Christians that broke out under the Emperor Nero in 64 A.D. and spread to Roman Asia. The object of the letter is to give encouragement in the face of impending persecution and to convey the advice needed as to the conduct of Christians at an important crisis in the early history of the Church. Those to whom it is addressed probably included Christians of Gentile as well as of Jewish birth. Chapter 1 verse 21. Chapter 2 verse 10. And Chapter 3 verse 6. Chapter 1. To the people of God who are living abroad, dispersed throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Roman Asia, and Bethenia, and who were chosen in accordance with the foreknowledge of God the Father through the consecration of the Spirit to learn obedience and to be purified by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. From Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. May blessing and peace be yours in ever increasing measure. Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has in his great mercy through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, given us the new life of undying hope that promises an inheritance, imperishable, stainless, unfading, which has been reserved for you in heaven, for you who through faith are being guarded by the power of God, awaiting a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last days. At the thought of this you are full of exaltation, though if it has been necessary you have suffered for the moment somewhat from various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, a thing far more precious than gold, which is perishable, yet has to be tested by fire, may win praise and glory and honor at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Though you have never seen him, yet you love him. Though you do not even now see him, yet you believe in him and exalt with a triumphant happiness too great for words as you receive the reward of your faith in the salvation of your souls. It was this salvation that the prophets, who spoke long ago of the blessing intended for you, sought and strove to comprehend as they strove to discern what that time could be to which the spirit of Christ within them was pointing when foretelling the sufferings that would be Fall Christ and the glories that would follow. And it was revealed to them that it was not for themselves but for you that they were acting as ministers of the truths which have now been told to you by those who with the help of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven have brought you the good news, truths into which even angels long to look. Therefore concentrate your minds with the strictest self-control and fix your hopes on the blessing that is coming for you at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Be like obedient children. Do not let your lives be shaved by the passions which once swayed you in the days of your ignorance, but in your whole life show yourselves to be holy after the pattern of the holy one from whom you received your call. For scripture says, You shall be holy because I am holy. And since you call upon him as Father who judges everyone impartially by what he has done, let reverence be the spirit of your lives during the time of your stay upon earth. For you know that it was not by perishable things such as silver and gold that you were ransomed from the aimless way of living which was handed down to you from your ancestors, but by the precious blood as it were of a lamb, unblemished and spotless the blood of Christ. Dustin for this before the beginning of the world he has been revealed in these last days for your sakes who, through him, are faithful to God who raised him from the dead and gave him honor so that your faith and hope are now in God. Now that by your obedience to the truth you have purified your lives so that there is growing up among you a genuinely brotherly affection, love one another earnestly with all your hearts, since your new life has come not from perishable but imperishable seed through the message of the ever-living God. For all earthly life is but grass, at all its splendor as the flower of grass. The grass fades, its flower falls, but the teaching of the Lord remains for ever. And that is the teaching of the good news which has been told to you. CHAPTER II Now that you have done with all malice, all deceitfulness, insincerity, jealous feelings, and all backbiting, like newly born infants crave pure spiritual milk so that you may be enabled by it to grow to you attain salvation, since you have found by experience that the Lord is kind. Come to him then as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men but in God's eyes choice and precious, and as living stones form yourselves into a spiritual house to be a consecrated priesthood for the offering of spiritual sacrifices that will be acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For there is a passage of Scripture that runs. See, I am placing in Zion a choice and precious cornerstone, and he who believes in him shall have no cause for shame. It is to you then who believe in him that he is precious, but to those who do not believe he is a stone which though rejected by the builders has now itself become the cornerstone, and a stumbling block, and a rock which shall prove a hindrance. They stumble because they do not accept the message. This was the fate destined for them, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, God's own people, entrusted with the proclamation of the goodness of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not found mercy, but now you have found mercy. Dear friends, I urge you as pilgrims and strangers upon earth to refrain from indulging the cravings of your earthly nature, for they make war upon the soul. Let your daily life among the Gentiles be so upright that whenever they malign you as evildoers, they may learn as they watch from the uprightness of your conduct to praise God at the time when he shall visit them. Submit to all human institutions for the Lord's sake, alike to the emperor as the supreme authority, and to governors as the men sent by him to punish evildoers and to commend those who do right. For God's will is this, that you should silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing what is right. Act as free men, yet not using your freedom as those do who make it a cloak for wickedness, but as servants of God. Show honor to everyone, love the brotherhood, revere God, honor the emperor. Those of you who are domestic servants should always be submissive and respectful to their masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are arbitrary. For this wins God's approval, when, because conscious of God's presence, a man who is suffering unjustly bears his troubles patiently. What credit can you claim when, after doing wrong, you take your punishment for it patiently? But on the other hand, if after doing right you take your sufferings patiently, that does win the approval of God. For it was to this that you were called, for Christ too suffered on your behalf and left you an example that you should follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor was anything deceitful ever heard from his lips. He was abused, but he did not answer with abuse. He suffered, but he did not threaten. He entrusted himself to him whose judgments are just. And he himself carried our sins in his own body to the cross, so that we might die to our sins and live for righteousness. His bruising was your healing. Once you were straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. Chapter three. Again, you married women should submit to your husbands, so that if any of them reject the message they may, apart from the message, be won over by the conduct of their wives, as they watch your submissive and blameless conduct. Yours should be not the external adornment of the arrangement of the hair, the wearing of jewelry or the putting on of dresses, but the inner life with the imperishable beauty of a quiet and gentle spirit. For this is very precious in God's sight. It was by this that the holy women of old who rested their hopes on God adorned themselves, submitting to their husbands as Sarah did, who obeyed Abraham and called him Master. And you are her true children, as long as you live good lives and let nothing terrify you. Again, those of you who are married men should live considerably with their wives, showing them due regard to their sex as weaker than their own, and not forgetting that they share with you in the gift of life. Then you will be able to pray without hindrance. Lastly, you should all be united, sympathetic, full of brotherly love, kind-hearted, humble-minded, never returning evil for evil or abuse for abuse, but on the contrary, blessing. It was for this that you were called to obtain a blessing. He who would enjoy life and see happy days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful words. Let him turn from evil and do good. Let him seek for peace and follow it, for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is set against those who do wrong. Who indeed is there to harm you if you prove yourselves to be eager for what is good? Even if you should suffer for righteousness, count yourselves blessed. Do not let men terrify you or allow yourselves to be dismayed. Revere the Christ as Lord in your hearts, always ready to give an answer to anyone who asks your reason for the hope that you cherish, but giving it humbly, and in all reverence, and keeping your consciences clear, so that whenever you are maligned, those who vilify your good and Christian conduct may be put to shame. It is better that you should suffer if that should be God's will for doing right than for doing wrong. For Christ himself died to atone for sins once for all the good on behalf of the bad that he might bring you to God, his body being put to death, but his spirit entering upon new life. And it was then that he went and preached to the imprisoned spirits who once were disobedient at the time when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared, in which some few lives, eight in all, were saved by means of water. And baptism, which this foreshadowed, now saves you, not the mere cleansing of the body, but the search of a clear conscience after God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand where angels and archangels and the powers of heaven now yield submission to him. CHAPTER 4 Since then Christ suffered in body, arm yourselves with the same resolve as he. For he who has suffered in body has ceased to sin, and so will live the rest of his earthly life guided not by human passions, but by the will of God. Surely in the past you have spent time enough living as the Gentiles delight to live, for your path has lain among scenes of debauchery, licentiousness, drunkenness, revelry, hard drinking, and profane idolatry. And because you do not run to the same extremes of profligacy as others, they are astonished and malign you. But they will have to answer for their conduct to him who is ready to judge both the living and the dead. For that is why the good news was told to the dead also, that after they have been judged in the body as men are judged they might live in the spirit as God lives. But the end of all things is near. Therefore exercise self-restraint and be calm that you may be able to pray. Above all things let your love for one another be earnest, for love throws a veil over countless sins. Never grudge hospitality to one another. Whatever the gift that each has received, use it in the service of others as good stewards of the varied bounty of God. When anyone speaks, let him speak as one who is delivering the oracles of God. When anyone is endeavoring to serve others, let him do so in reliance on the strength which God supplies, so that in everything God may be honored through Jesus Christ to whom be ascribed all honor and might forever and ever. Amen. Dear friends, do not be astonished at the fiery trials that you are passing through to test you as though something strange were happening to you. No, the more you share the sufferings of the Christ the more may you rejoice that when the time comes for the manifestation of his glory you may rejoice and exalt. If you are reviled for bearing the name of Christ, count yourselves blessed because the divine glory and the spirit of God are resting upon you. I need hardly say that no one among you must suffer as a murderer or a thief or a criminal or for interfering in matters which do not concern Christians. But if a man suffers as a Christian, do not let him be ashamed of it. Let him bring honor to God even though he bears that name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the house of God and if it begins with us what will be the end of those who reject God's good news? If a good man is saved only with difficulty what will become of the godless and the sinful? Therefore I say let those who suffer because God wills it so commit their lives into the hands of a faithful Creator and persevere in doing right. CHAPTER V As for the older men among you who bear office in the church, I, their fellow officer, and a witness of the sufferings of the Christ who shall also share in the glory that is to be revealed, I urge you to be true shepherds of the flock of God among you. Not because you are compelled but of your own free will, not from a base love of gain but with a ready spirit, not as lords of your charges but as examples to your flock, then when the chief shepherd appears you will win the crown of glory that never fades. Again you younger men should show deference to the older and all of you should put on the badge of humility and mutual service for God is opposed to the proud but gives his help to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that he may exalt you in his good time, laying all your anxieties upon him, for he makes you his care. Exercise self-control, be watchful, your adversary the devil like a roaring lion is prowling about, eager to devour you. Stand firm against him, strong in your faith, knowing as you do that the very sufferings which you are undergoing are being endured to the full by your brotherhood throughout the world. God from whom all help comes and who called you by your union with Christ into his eternal glory will when you have suffered for a little while himself perfect, establish, and strengthen you. To him be ascribed dominion for ever. Amen. I have been writing to you briefly by the hand of Silas, our true-hearted brother, for so I regard him to urge upon you and to bear my testimony that in what I have written is to be found the true love of God. On that take your stand. Your sister Church in Babylon sends you greeting, and so does Mark, who is as a son to me. Read one another with the kiss of love. May God give his peace to you all in your union with Christ. The 20th Century New Testament, by a company of about twenty scholars. The second letter of Peter, Introduction and chapters one through three, and the letter of Jude, also with Introduction. A letter to Christian people, known as the second letter of St. Peter, date in place of writing, uncertain. This letter is addressed to Christians in general, and is mainly directed against the separation of Christianity from a holy life. It also contains an assertion of the certainty of the second coming of the Christ, though at a time which might still be far off, according to human reckoning. The resemblances of this letter to the letter of St. Jude and to the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus are most remarkable, and so too are the apparent references to passages in the writings of the Alexandrian philosopher Philo. Both Philo and Josephus wrote in the first century of the Christian era. To those to whom through the justice of our God and Savior Jesus Christ there has been granted faith equally privileged with our own. From Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, may blessing and peace be yours an ever-increasing measure as you advance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. For his divine power has given us everything that is needful for a life of piety as we advance in the knowledge of him who called us by a glorious manifestation of his goodness. For it was through this that he gave us what we prize as the greatest of his promises, that through them you might participate in the divine nature, now that you have fled from the corruption in the world resulting from human passions. Yes, and for this very reason, do your best to supplement your faith by goodness, goodness by knowledge, knowledge by self-control, self-control by endurance, endurance by piety, piety by brotherly affection, and brotherly affection by love. For when these virtues are yours an increasing measure they prevent your being indifferent to or destitute of a fuller knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Surely the man who has not these virtues is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has chosen to forget that he has been purified from his sins of the past. Therefore, brothers, do your best to put God's call and selection of you beyond all doubt, for if you do this you will never fall. For thus you will be given a triumphant admission into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I shall therefore always be ready to remind you of all this, even though you know it and are firmly established in the truth that you now hold. But I think at my duty, as long as I live in this tent, to rouse you by awakening memories of the past, for I know that the time for this tent of mine to be put away is soon coming, as our Lord Jesus Christ himself assured me. So I will do my best to enable you at any time after my departure to call these truths to mind. For we were not following cleverly devised stories, when we told you of the coming and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when from the glory of the Divine Majesty there was born to his ears words such as these, this is my Son, my beloved, in whom I delight. These were the words that we heard, born to our ears from heaven when we were with him on that sacred mountain, and still stronger is the assurance that we have in the teaching of the prophets, to which you will do well to pay attention, as if it were a lamp shining in a gloomy place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. But first, be sure of this, there is no prophetic teaching found in Scripture that can be interpreted by man's unaided reason. For no prophetic teaching ever came in the old days by the mere wish of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke direct from God. CHAPTER II But there were false prophets also in the nation, just as there will be false teachers among you, men who will secretly introduce ruinous divisions, disowning even the Lord who bought them, and bringing speedy ruin upon themselves. There will be many too who will follow their licentious courses and cause the way of the truth to be maligned. In their covetousness they will try to make you a source of profit by their fabrications. But for a long time past their sentence has not been standing idle, nor their ruin slumbering. Remember, God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them down to Tartarus and committed them to caverns of darkness to be kept under God for judgment. Nor did he spare the world of gold, though he preserved Noah, the preacher of righteousness and seven others, when he brought a flood upon the godless world. He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and reduced them to ashes, holding them up as a warning to the godless of what was in store for them. But he rescued righteous Lot, whose heart was vexed by the wanton licentiousness of his neighbors. For seeing and hearing what he did as he lived his righteous life among them day after day, Lot's righteous soul was tortured by their wicked doings. The Lord, therefore, knows how to deliver the pious from temptation and to keep the wicked who are even now suffering punishment in readiness for the day of judgment, especially those who, following the promptings of their lower nature, indulge their polluting passions and despise all control. Audacious and self-willed, they feel no awe of the mighty, maligning them, even where angels, though excelling them in strength and power, do not bring against them of a lignant charge before the Lord. These men, however, like animals, without reason, intended by nature to be caught and killed. These men, I say, malign those of whom they know nothing and will assuredly perish through their own corruption, suffering themselves as the penalty for the suffering that they have inflicted. They think that pleasure consists in the self-indulgence of the moment. They are a stain and a disgrace, indulging as they do in their wanton revelry, even while joining you at your feasts. They have eyes only for adulteresses, eyes never tired of sin. They entice weak souls, their minds are trained to covet, they live under a curse. Leaving the straight road, they have gone astray and followed in the steps of Balaam, the son of Bayor, who set his heart on the reward for wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his offense. A dumb animal spoke with the voice of a man and checked the prophet's madness. These men are like springs without water or mists driven before a gale, and for them the blackest darkness has been reserved. With boastful and foolish talk they appeal to the passions of man's lower nature, and by their profligacy entice those who are just escaping from the men who live such misguided lives. They promise them freedom while they themselves are slaves to corrupt habits. For a man is the slave of anything to which he gives way. If after having escaped the polluting influences of the world through knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, men are again entangled in them and give way to them, their last state has become worse than their first. It would indeed have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it, to turn away from the holy command delivered to them. In their case is seen the truth of the proverb. A dog returns to what he has vomited at a sow after washing to a wallowing place in the mud. CHAPTER III This, dear friends, is my second letter to you. In both of them I have tried by appealing to your remembrance to arouse your better feelings. I want you to recall what was foretold by the holy prophets as well as the command of your Lord and Savior given to you through your apostles. First, be assured of this, that as the age draws to an end scoffers led by their own passions will come and ask scoffingly, where is his promise coming? Ever since our fathers passed to their rest everything remains just as it was when the world was first created. For they willfully shut their eyes to the fact that long ago the heavens existed and the earth also formed out of water and by the action of water, by the fiat of God, and by the same means the world which then existed was destroyed in a deluge of water. But the present heavens and earth by the same fiat have been reserved for fire and are being kept for the day of the judgment and destruction of the godless. But you, dear friends, must never shut your eyes to the fact that to the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness. But he is forbearing with you, as it is not his will that any of you should perish but that all should be brought to repentance. The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and on that day the heavens will pass away with a crash the elements will be burnt up and dissolved and the earth and all that is in it will be disclosed. Now, since all these things are in the process of dissolution, think what you yourselves ought to be, what holy and pious lives you ought to lead, while you await and hasten the coming of the day of God. At its coming the heavens will be dissolved in fire and the elements melted by heat, but we look for new heavens and a new earth where righteousness shall have its home in fulfillment of the promise of God. Therefore, dear friends, in expectation of these things make every effort to be found by him spotless, blameless, and at peace, regard our Lord's forbearance as your one hope of salvation. This is what our dear brother Paul wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him. It is the same in all his letters when he speaks in them about these subjects. There are some things in them difficult to understand, which untaught and weak people distort just as they do all other writings to their own ruin. Do you, therefore, dear friends, now that you know this beforehand, be on your guard against being led away by the errors of reckless people and so lapsing from your present steadfastness, and advance in the love and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All glory be to him, now and forever. The Letter of Jude Introduction A letter to Christian people, known as the Letter of St. Jude, date in place of writing uncertain. This letter was written apparently by the Jude or Judas who was a brother of James and so a brother of Jesus. Neither this Judas nor his brother James was an apostle. The letter may have been written in Palestine and the historical illusions in it make it possible that it was addressed to Christians of Jewish origin. It is full of resemblances to the second letter of St. Peter and consists of a stern denunciation of those nominal Christians who were using their Christianity as a cover for an evil life. The Letter of Jude To those who, having received the call, have been loved by God the Father and protected by Jesus Christ. From Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, may mercy, peace, and love be yours in ever-increasing measure. Dear friends, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt that I must write to you at once to urge you to fight in defense of the faith that has once for all been entrusted to the keeping of Christ's people. For there have crept in among you certain godless people whose sentence has long since been pronounced and who make the mercy of God an excuse for profligacy and his own, our only Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. Now, I want to remind you, but you already know it all, that though the Lord delivered the people from Egypt, yet he afterwards destroyed those who refused to believe in him, and that even those angels who did not keep to their appointed spheres but left their proper homes have been kept by him for the judgment of the great day in everlasting chains and black darkness. Like Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns near them, which gave themselves up to fornication and fell into unnatural vice, these angels now stand out as a warning undergoing as they are the punishment of Ionian fire. Yet in the very same way these men too, cherishing vain dreams, pollute our human nature, reject control, and malign the mighty. Yet even Michael, the archangel, when in his dispute with the devil he was arguing about the body of Moses, did not venture to charge him with maligning, but said merely, the Lord rebuke you. But these men malign whatever they do not understand, while they use such things as they know by instinct like the animals that have no reason for their own corruption. Alas for them! They walk in the steps of Cain. Let astray by Balaam's love of gain they plunge into sin and meet their ruin through rebellion like that of Korah. These are the men who are blots upon your love-feasts when they feast together and provide without scruple for themselves alone. They are clouds without rain, driven before the winds. They are leafless trees without a vestige of fruit, dead through and through, torn up by the roots. They are wild sea waves, foaming with their own shame. They are wandering stars for which the blackest darkness has been reserved for ever. To these men, as to others, Enoch, the seventh in descent from Adam, declared, See! the Lord has come, with his hosts of holy ones around him, to execute judgment upon all men and to convict all godless people of all their godless acts, which in their ungodliness they have committed, and of all the harsh words which they have spoken against him, godless sinners that they are. These men are always murmuring and complaining of their lot. They follow where their passions lead them. They have arrogant words upon their lips, and they flatter men for the sake of what they can get from them. But do you, dear friends, recall what was foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they used to say to you, as time draws to an end there will be scoffers who will be led by their godless passions. These are the people, and unspiritual, who cause divisions. But do you, dear friends, build up your characters on the foundation of your most holy faith, pray under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and keep within the love of God, while waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to immortal life. To some, show pity, because they are in doubt. Drag them out of the fire, and save them. To others, show pity, but with caution, hating the very clothing polluted by their touch. To him who is able to guard you from falling, and to bring you into his glorious presence, blameless and rejoicing. To the one God our Savior be ascribed through Jesus Christ our Lord, glory, majesty, power, and dominion, as it was before time began, is now, and shall be for all time to come. Amen. End of the letter of Jude. End of the second letter of Peter and the letter of Jude. The first, second, and third letters of John from the twentieth century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by J. A. Carter, www.authenticlight.org. The twentieth century New Testament by a company of about twenty scholars. The first letter of John. Introduction and chapters one through five. And the second and third letters of John. Each with introduction. The first letter of John. Introduction. The first letter of St. John. Written probably at Ephesus after seventy A.D. This letter was apparently written by the author of the Good News according to John, with which book both in language and thought it has close connection. It deals with errors that were rife in the church in the writer's day by reasserting the revelation in the incarnate Christ of the life and light and love of God. It is a homily rather than a letter, and was possibly intended to circulate among the churches of Asia Minor. It seems to have been written after the fall of Jerusalem, and at a time when the second coming of the Christ appeared to be eminent. Chapter two, verse eighteen. CHAPTER ONE It is of what has been in existence from the beginning. Of what we have heard. Of what we have seen with our eyes. Of what we watched reverently and touched with our hands. It is about the word who is the life that we are now writing. That life was made visible, and we have seen it, and now bear our testimony to it, and tell you of that immortal life which was with the Father and was made visible to us. It is of what we have seen and heard that we now tell you, so that you may have communion with us. And our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing all this to you, that our joy may be complete. These then are the tidings that we have heard from him and now tell you. God is light and darkness has no place at all in him. If we say that we have communion with him, and yet continue to live in darkness, we lie and are not living the truth. But if our lives are lived in the light, as God himself is in the light, we have communion with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son purifies us from all sin. If we say that there is no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth has no place in us. If we confess our sins, God may be trusted in his righteousness to forgive us our sins and purify us from all wickedness. If we say that we have not sinned, we are making God a liar, and his message has no place in us. CHAPTER II My children, I am writing to you to keep you from sinning. But if any one should sin, we have one who can plead for us with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but for those of the whole world besides. And by this we know that we have learnt to know him, by our laying his commands to heart. The man who says, I know Jesus, but does not lay his commands to heart is a liar, and the truth has no place in him. But whenever a man lays his message to heart, in that man the love of God has indeed reached its perfection. By this we know that we are in union with God. He who professes to maintain union with God is himself bound to live as Christ lived. CHAPTER II Dear friends, it is no new command that I am writing to you, but an old command which you have had from the first. That old command is the message to which you listened. Yet again it is a new command that I am writing to you, manifest in Christ's life and in your own, for the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says that he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness even now. He who loves his brother is always in the light, and there is nothing within him to cause him to stumble. While he who hates his brother is in the darkness and is living in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness prevents his seeing. I am writing children to you because your sins have been forgiven you for Christ's sake. I am writing fathers to you because you have learnt to know him who has been from the beginning. I am writing young men to you because you have conquered the evil one. I write children to you because you have learnt to know the father. I write fathers to you because you have learnt to know him who has been from the beginning. I write young men to you because you are strong and God's message is always in your hearts and you have conquered the the evil one. Do not love the world, or what the world can offer. When anyone loves the world there is no love for the Father in him, for all the world can offer, the gratification of the earthly nature, the gratification of the eye, the pretentious life, belongs not to the Father, but to the world, and the world and all that it gratifies is passing away, but he who does God's will remains for ever. My children, these are the last days. You were told that an Antichrist was coming, and many Antichrists have already arisen. By that we know that these are the last days. From us it is true they went out, but they had never belonged to us, for if they had belonged to us they would have remained among us. They left us that it might be made clear that they do not, any of them, belong to us. You, however, have received consecration from the Holy One. You all know, but I am not writing to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because nothing false can come from the truth. Who is a liar, if not the man who rejects the truth that Jesus is the Christ? He is the Antichrist, the man who rejects the Father and the Son. No one who rejects the Son has found the Father. He who acknowledges the Son has found the Father also. As for you, let what you were told at the first be always in your thoughts. If then what you were told from the first is always in your thoughts, you yourselves will maintain your union both with the Son and with the Father. And this is what he himself promised us, the immortal life. In writing thus to you, I have in mind those who are trying to mislead you. But you, you still retain in your hearts that consecration which you receive from the Christ, and you are not in need of anyone to teach you. But since his consecration of you teaches you about everything, and since it is a real consecration and no lie, then as it has taught you, maintain your union with him. Yes, my children, maintain your union with Christ so that whenever he appears, our confidence may not fail us, and we may not be ashamed to meet him at his coming. Knowing him to be righteous, you realize that every one who lives righteously has received the new life from him. CHAPTER 3 Think what love the Father has shown us in allowing us to be called children of God, as indeed we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it has not learnt to know him. Dear friends, we are God's children now. What we shall be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is that, when it is revealed, we shall be like Christ, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope with regard to Christ tries to make himself pure, as Christ is pure. Everyone who lives sinfully is living in violation of law. Sin is violation of law. And you know that Christ appeared to take away our sins, and in him sin has no place. No one who maintains union with him lives in sin. No one who lives in sin has ever really seen him or learnt to know him. My children, do not let any one mislead you. He who lives righteously is righteous, as Christ is righteous. He who lives sinfully belongs to the devil, for the devil has sinned from the first. It was for this that the Son of God appeared, that he might undo the devil's work. No one who has received the new life from God lives sinfully, because the very nature of God dwells within him, and he cannot live in sin because he has received the new life from God. By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil. No one who lives unrighteously comes from God, and especially the man who does not love his brother. For these are the tidings that we heard from the first, that we are to love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? It was because his life was bad, while his brothers was good. Do not wonder, brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love our brothers. The man who does not love remains in a state of death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has immortal life within him. We have learnt to know what love is from this, that Christ laid down his life on our behalf. Therefore we also ought to lay down our lives on behalf of our brothers. But if anyone has worldly possessions, and yet looks on while his brother is in want, and steals his heart against him, how can it be said that the love of God is within him? My children, do not let our love be mere words or end in talk. Let it be true and show itself in acts. By that we shall know that we are on the side of the truth, and we shall satisfy ourselves in God's sight that if our conscience condemns us, yet God is greater than our conscience, and knows everything. Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, then we approach God with confidence and we receive from him whatever we ask because we are laying his commands to heart and are doing what is pleasing in his sight. His command is this, that we should put our trust in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another in accordance with the command that he gave us. And he who lays his commands to heart maintains union with Christ and Christ with him, and by this we know that Christ maintains union with us, by our possession of the spirit which he gave us. Chapter 4 Dear friends, do not trust every inspiration, but test each inspiration to see whether it proceeds from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is the way by which to know the inspiration of God. All inspiration that acknowledges Jesus Christ as come in our human nature is from God, while all inspiration that does not acknowledge Jesus is not inspiration from God. It is the inspiration of the Antichrist. You have heard that it was to come, and it is now already in the world. You, my children, come from God, and you have successfully resisted such men as these, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Those men belong to the world, and therefore they speak as the world speaks, and the world listens to them. We come from God. He who knows God listens to us. The man who does not come from God does not listen to us. By that we may know the true inspiration from the false. Dear friends, let us love one another because love comes from God, and everyone who loves has received the new life from God and knows God. He who does not love has not learnt to know God, for God is love. The love of God was revealed to us by his sending his only son into the world that we might find life through him. His love is seen in this, God in our having loved God, but in his loving us and sending his son to be in atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us thus we surely ought to love one another. No human eyes have ever yet seen God, yet if we love one another God remains in union with us, and his love attains its perfection in us. We know that we remain in union with him and he with us by this, by his having given us some measure of his spirit. Moreover our eyes have seen and we are testifying to the fact that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God remains in union with that man, and he with God. And moreover we have learnt to know and have accepted as a fact the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who lives in love lives in God and God in him. It is through this that love has attained its perfection in us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment, because what Christ is, that we also are in this world. There is no fear in love, no, love when perfect drives out fear, for fear implies punishment and the man who feels fear has not attained to perfect love. We love because God first loved us. If a man says I love God and yet hates his brother, he is a liar, for the man who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. Indeed we have this command from God. He who loves God must also love his brother. Chapter 5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has received the new life from God, and everyone who loves him who gave that life loves him who has received it. By this we know that we love God's children when we love God and carry out his commands. For to love God is to lay his commands to heart, and his commands are not burdensome, because all that has received the new life from God conquers the world. And this is the power that has conquered the world, our faith. Who is he that conquers the world, but the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? He it is whose coming was attested by means of water and blood, Jesus Christ himself. Not by water only, but by water and by blood. And there is the spirit also to bear testimony, and the spirit is truth itself. It is a three-fold testimony, that of the spirit, the water, and the blood. And these three are one. We accept the testimony of men, but God's testimony is still stronger. And there is the testimony of God, the fact that he has already borne testimony about his Son. He who believes in the Son of God has that testimony within him. He who does not believe God has made God a liar, by refusing to believe in that testimony which he is born about his Son. And that testimony is, that God gave us immortal life, and that this life is in his Son. He who finds the Son finds life, and he who does not find the Son of God does not find life. I write this to you that you may realize that you have found immortal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence with which we approach him, that whenever we ask anything that is in accordance with his will he listens to us. And if we realize that he listens to us, whatever we ask, we realize that we have what we have asked from him. If anyone sees his brother committing some sin, that is not a deadly sin, he will ask and so be the means of giving life to him, to any whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin. About that I do not say that a man should pray. Every wrong action is sin, and there is sin that is not deadly. We know that no one who has received the new life from God lives in sin. No, he who has received the new life from God keeps the thought of God in his heart, and then the evil one does not touch him. We realize that we come from God while all the world is under the influence of the evil one. We realize too that the Son of God has come among us, and has given us the discernment to know the true God. And we are in union with the true God by our union with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and he is immortal life. My children, guard yourself against false ideas of God. End of the first letter of John. The second letter of John. Introduction. The letter to a Christian lady, known as the second letter from John. Place and date of writing, unknown. This letter may be either a letter addressed to a church which stands preeminent in the writer's affections, or a private letter addressed to a Christian lady and her family. In the latter case, the lady's name may possibly be Kyria, or may have been intentionally suppressed on account of the dangers to which Christians were frequently exposed. The writer also veils his own identity under the vague designation, the officer of the church. The letter contains an appeal for the exhibition of Christian love, and a warning against false teachers. To an imminent Christian lady, and to her children, from the officer of the church. I sincerely love you all, and not I only, but also all those who have learned to know the truth. We love you for the sake of that truth which is always in our hearts. Yes, and it will be ours for ever. Blessing, mercy, and peace will be ours, the gift of God, the Father, and of Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, in a life of truth and love. It was a great joy to me to find the lives of some of your children guided by the truth in obedience to the command that we receive from the Father. And now I pray you, lady, not as though I were writing a new command for you. No, it is the command which we had from the first. Let us love one another. And this is love, to live in obedience to the Father's commands. This is the command as you learned from the first, to live in a spirit of love. I say this because many imposters have left us to go into the world. Men who do not acknowledge Jesus as Christ come in our human nature. It is that which marks a man as an impostor and an anti-Christ. Take care that you do not lose the fruit of all our work. Rather, reap the benefit of it in full. Everyone who goes beyond the limits of the teaching of the Christ has failed to find God. The man who keeps to that teaching, he has found both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or welcome him. For the man who welcomes him is sharing with him in his evil work. Though I have a great deal to say to you, I would rather not trust it to paper and ink, but I am hoping to come and see you and to speak with you face to face so that your joy may be complete. The children of your imminent sister send you their greetings. End of the second letter of John. The third letter of John. Introduction. The letter to Gaius, known as the third letter from John. Place and date of writing? Unknown. This is a private letter addressed by a writer who, as in the previous letter, describes himself as the officer of the church to a friend of the name of Gaius. It contains the writer's thanks for hospitality shown to certain missionaries. A hospitality which, under the conditions of travel in those early days, was an important Christian duty. To his dear friend Gaius, whom he sincerely loves, from the officer of the church, dear friend, I pray that all may be well with you and that you may have good health. I know that all is well with your soul. For it was a great joy to me when some brothers came and testified to your fidelity to the truth. I know that your own life is guided by the truth. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to hear from time to time that the lives of my children are guided by the truth. Dear friend, whatever you do for our brothers is done in a Christian spirit, even when they are strangers to you. They themselves have testified before the church to your love, and you will do well to help them on their way in a manner worthy of the service of God. For it was on behalf of the name that they left their homes and refused to take anything from the Gentiles. We therefore ought to give such people a hearty welcome and to take our share in their work for the truth. I wrote a few lines to the church, but deotrophies who loves to be first among them declines to recognize us. Therefore, when I come, I shall not forget his conduct in ridiculing us with his wicked tongue. Not content with that, he not only declines to recognize our brothers himself, but actually prevents those who would and expels them from the church. Dear friend, take what is good for your example, not what is bad. The man who does what is good is from God. The man who does what is bad has never seen God. Everyone has always had a good word for Demetrius, and the truth itself speaks for him. Yes, and we also add our good word, and you know that what we say about him is true. I have a great deal to say to you, but I do not care to trust it to pen an ink in a letter. I hope, however, it will not be long before I see you, and then we will speak face to face. Let us be with you. Our friends here send you their greetings. Greet each one of our friends. End of the Third Letter of John. The Revelation. Introduction in chapters one through five from the twentieth century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by J. A. Carter, www.authenticlight.org. The twentieth century New Testament by a company of about twenty scholars. The Revelation. Introduction in chapters one through five. Introduction. The Revelation. Written in Asia Minor after 68 A.D. In the later days of Jewish history, the place of prophecy was taken by that form of revelation by visions which was known as an apocalypse. The Revelation of John is the only example of an apocalypse in the New Testament. Like all books of the kind, Jewish as well as Christian, its purpose is to encourage its readers in the belief that the ultimate triumph of their faith is assured. In such writings the historical crisis of the day is taken as the model from which a picture is drawn of a great final catastrophe. This apocalypse is no exception. The persecutions of sixty-four A.D. and onwards and the events of the reign of the Emperor Nero afforded abundant material for a picture of the horrors wrought by the enemies of the Christ, and of their impending final judgment. The events of contemporaneous history are here as in all apocalypses half hidden by the mystical shape in which they are presented. This is accounted for partly by the fact that the authors saw that the solemnity of their revelations was enhanced by their mystery, and partly by the fact that it was not safe to indicate with too great clearness the hostile authorities of the day. Thus for example in this book the name of the Emperor Nero is apparently veiled under the symbolical number 666, the numerical value of which is represented by the Hebrew letters which spell that title. In spite of their obscure presentation many events of this writer's time can be detected in the mystical scenes and figures here described. The strange idioms in which this book abounds show that though the writer wrote in Greek he thought in Hebrew. There is at present no certain clue to his identity. CHAPTER I The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to make known to his servants concerning what must shortly take place, and which he sent and revealed by his angel to his servant John, who testified to the message of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, omitting nothing of what he had seen. Blessed is he who reads and blessed are they who listen to the words of this prophecy and lay to heart what is here written, for the time is near. From John to the seven churches which are in Roman Asia, blessing and peace be yours from him who is and who was and who shall be, and from the seven spirits that are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first born from the dead and the ruler of all the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his own blood, and he made us a kingdom of priests in the service of God his father, to him be ascribed glory and dominion forever. Amen. He is coming among the clouds. Every eye shall see him, even those who pierced him, and all the nations of the earth shall wail for fear of him. So shall it be. Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord, the God who is and who was and who shall be, the Almighty. I, John, who am your brother, and who share with you in the suffering and kingship and endurance of Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos for the sake of the message of God and the testimony to Jesus. I fell into a trance on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the blast of a trumpet. It said, Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. I turned to see what voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned I saw seven golden lamps, and in the midst of the lamps one like a man in a robe reaching to his feet and with a golden girdle across his breast. The hair of his head was as white as wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like flaming fire, and his feet were like brass as when molten in a furnace. His voice was like the sound of many streams. In his right hand he held seven stars. From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun in the fullness of its power. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like one dead. He laid his hand on me and said, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the ever-living. I died, and I am alive for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of the grave and of the place of the dead. Therefore right of what you have seen and of what is happening now and of what is about to take place, the mystic meaning of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lamps. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lamps are the seven churches. These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lamps. I know your life, your toil and endurance, and I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers. I know, too, how you tested those who declare that they are apostles, though they are not, and how you proved them false. You possess endurance and have borne much for my name, and have never grown weary. But this I have against you. You have abandoned your first love. Therefore remember from what you have fallen and repent and live the life that you lived before, or else I will come and remove your lamp from its place unless you repent. But this is in your favor. You hate the life lived by the Nicolaitans, and I also hate it. Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To him who conquers, to him I will give the right to eat the fruit of the tree of life which stands in the paradise of God. To the angel of the church in Smyrna, right. These are the words of him who is the first and the last, who died but is restored to life. I know your persecution and your poverty, yet you are rich. I know, too, the slanders that come from those who declare that they are Jews, though they are not, but are a congregation of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tempted and may undergo persecution for ten days. Be faithful even to death, and I will give you the crown of life. Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. He who conquers shall suffer no hurt from the second death. To the angel of the church in Pergamos, right. These are the words of him who holds the sharp two-edged sword. I know where you dwell, where the throne of Satan stands. And yet you hold to my name, and you did not disown my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who is put to death among you where Satan dwells. Yet I have a few things against you. You have among you those who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balaak to put temptations in the way of the Israelites, so that they should eat idol offerings and commit licentious acts. Again you have among you those who hold in the same way to the teaching of the Nicolayitans. Therefore repent, or else I will come quickly and contend with such men, with words that will cut like a sword. Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To him who conquers. To him I will give a share of the mystic manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone shall be inscribed a new name which no one knows except him who receives it. To the angel of the church in Thyatira. Right. These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like flaming fire and whose feet are like brass. I know your life, your love, faith, service, and endurance, and I know that your life of late has been better than it was at first. Yet I have this against you. You tolerate the woman Jezebel who declares that she is a prophetess and misleads my servants by her teaching, till they commit licentious acts and eat idol offerings. I gave her time to repent, but she is determined not to turn from her licentiousness. Therefore I am laying her upon a bed of sickness, and bringing great suffering upon those who are unfaithful with her unless they repent and turn from a life like hers. I will also put her children to death, and all the churches shall learn that I am he who looks into the hearts and souls of men, and I will give to each one of you what his life deserves. But I say to the rest of you at Thyatira, all who do not accept such teachings, those who did not learn the secrets of Satan, as men call them, I am not laying on you any further burden, only hold fast to what you received until I come. To him who conquers and is careful to live my life to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he shall rule them with an iron rod, as when earthen vessels are broken in pieces, as I myself have received from my father, and I will give him the morning star. Let him who has ears hear what the spirit is saying to the churches. Chapter 3 Do the angel of the church in Sardis write? These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your life, and that men say of you that you are living, though you are dead. Be on the watch, and strengthen what still survives, though once it was all but dead, for I have not found your life perfect in the eyes of my God. Therefore remember what you have received and heard, and lay it to heart and repent. Unless you are on the watch, I shall come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I am coming to you. Yet there are some few among you at Sardis who did not soil their robes. They shall walk with me, robed in white, for they are worthy. He who conquers shall be clothed in these white robes, and I will not strike his name out of the book of life, but I will own him before my father and before his angels. Let him who has ears hear what the spirit is saying to the churches. Do the angel of the church in Philadelphia write? These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, and shuts, and no one opens. I know your life. See, I have set a door before you which no one is able to shut. I know that though you have but little strength, you kept my teaching in mind and did not disown my name. Listen. I give some of the congregation of Satan, the men who declare that they are Jews, though they are not, but are lying. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they shall learn that I loved you. Because you kept in mind the story of my endurance, I will keep you in the hour of trial that is about to come upon the whole world, the hour that will test all who are living upon earth. I will come quickly. Hold to what you have received, that no one may take your crown. He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and never more shall he leave it, and I will write on him 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 write on him my new name. Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To the angel of the church in Laodicea, right. These are the words of the unchanging one, the witness faithful and true, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your life. I know that you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot? But now, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, I am rich, and have grown rich, and want for nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold, which has been refined by fire, that you may grow rich, and white robes, that you may be closed, and your shameful nakedness be hidden, and ointment to anoint your eyes, that you may see. All whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be an earnest and repent. I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in, and will feast with him, and he shall feast with me. To him who conquers, to him I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, as I, when I conquered, took my seat beside my father on his throne. Let him who has ears hear what the spirit is saying to the churches. CHAPTER 4 After this, in my vision, I saw an open door in the heavens, and the first voice that I heard was like the blast of a trumpet speaking to me. It said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place. Immediately after this I fell into a trance. There stood a throne in heaven, and on the throne was one seated. He who was seated on it was in appearance like a Jasper and a Sardias, and round the throne there was a rainbow of the colour of an emerald. And round the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and on these I saw twenty-four councillors sitting, clothed in white robes, and on their heads they had crowns of gold. Out from the throne come flashes of lightning, cries, and peals of thunder. There are seven torches burning in front of the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And in front of the throne is what seemed to be a sea of glass resembling crystal, while within the space before the throne and round the throne are four creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature is like a lion. The second creature like a calf. The third creature has a face like a man's, and the fourth creature is like an eagle on the wing. These four creatures have each of them six wings, and all round and within they are full of eyes, and day and night they never cease to say, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord our God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who shall be. And whenever these creatures give praise and honour and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, to him who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four councillors prostrate themselves before him who is seated on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever, and throw down their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy art thou our Lord and God to receive all praise and honour and power, for thou didst create all things, and at thy bidding they came into being and were created. CHAPTER V Then I saw, at the right hand of him who was seated on the throne, a book with writing inside and out and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel who was proclaiming in a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and break its seals? But no one, either in heaven or on earth or under the earth, was able to open the book or look within it. At this I wept long, because no one could be found who was worthy to open the book or look within it. But one of the councillors said to me, Do not weep, the lion conquered the lion of the tribe of Judah, the scion of David, and can therefore open the book with its seven seals. Then, within the space between the throne and the four creatures, and in the midst of the councillors, I saw standing a lamb which seemed to have been sacrificed. It had seven horns and seven eyes. These eyes are the seven spirits of God, and they are sent into all the world. The lamb came forward, and he has taken the book from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four creatures and the twenty-four councillors prostrated themselves before the lamb, each of them holding a harp and golden bowls of incense. These are the prayers of Christ's people, and they are singing a new song. Thou art worthy to take the book and break its seals, for thou wasst sacrificed and with thy blood thou didst buy for God men of every tribe and language and people and nation, and didst make them a kingdom of priests and the service of our God, and they are reigning upon the earth. Then, in my vision, I heard the voices of many angels round the throne, and of the creatures and of the councillors. In number they were ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, and they cried in loud voice, Worthy is the lamb, that was sacrificed to receive all power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and praise and blessing, and I heard every created thing in the air and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them crying to him who is seated on the throne and to the lamb be ascribed all blessing and honour and praise and dominion for ever and ever. And the four creatures said, Amen, and the councillors prostrated themselves and worshipped. End of the introduction and chapters one through five. The Revelation Chapter 6 through 10 from the twentieth century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by J.A. Carter. www.authenticlight.org. The twentieth century New Testament by a company of about twenty scholars. The Revelation Chapter 6 through 10 Chapter 6 Then I saw the lamb break one of the seven seals and I heard one of the four creatures crying with a voice like thunder, Come! And in my vision I saw a white horse. Its rider held a bow and he was given a crown and he went out conquering and to conquer. When the lamb broke the second seal I heard the second creature crying, Come! Then there went out another horse, a red horse, and to its rider was given the power to deprive the earth of peace so that men should kill one another. And he was given a great sword. When the lamb broke the third seal I heard the third creature crying, Come! And in my vision I saw a black horse. Its rider held scales in his hand and I heard what seemed to be a voice coming from among the four creatures crying a quart of wheat for a florin and three quarts of barley for a florin, but do not harm the oil and the wine. When the lamb broke the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth creature crying, Come! And in my vision I saw a gray horse. His rider's name was death and the lord of the place of death rode behind him and power was given them over the fourth part of the earth so that they might destroy with sword and famine and death and by means of the wild beasts of the earth. When the lamb opened the fifth seal I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the sake of God's message and for the testimony which they had borne. They cried in a loud voice, How long, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, before Thou wilt give judgment and avenge our blood upon all who are living upon the earth. Then to each of them was given a white robe and they were told to rest yet a little longer till the number of their fellow servants and of their brothers who were about to be put to death as they had been should be complete. And I saw the lamb break the sixth seal and then there was a great earthquake. The sun became black like sackcloth and the moon which was at its full like blood. The stars of the heaven fell to the earth as when a fig tree shaken by a strong wind drops its unripe fruit. The heavens disappeared like a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island was moved from its place. Then all the kings of the earth and the princes and the generals and the rich and the powerful and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and under the rocks of the mountains and they were crying to the mountains and to the rocks, fall upon us and hide us from the eyes of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand to meet it. Chapter 7 After this I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth restraining the four winds of the earth that no wind should blow over the earth or over the sea or against any tree. And in the east I saw another angel ascending holding the seal of the living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom there had been given power to harm the earth and the sea. Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads. I heard to the number of those who had been sealed. It was one hundred and forty-four thousand and they were from every tribe of the Israelites. From the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand. From the tribe of Gad twelve thousand. From the tribe of Asher twelve thousand. From the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand. From the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand. From the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand. From the tribe of Levi twelve thousand. From the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand. From the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand. From the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand. And from the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed. After this in my vision I saw a vast throng which no man could number of men from every nation and of all tribes and peoples and languages. They stood in front of the throne and in front of the lamb, robed in white, holding palm branches in their hands, and they were crying in a loud voice. Salvation be ascribed to our God who is seated on his throne and to the lamb. And all the angels were standing round the throne and the counselors and the four creatures and they prostrated themselves on their faces in front of the throne and worshiped God saying amen. Blessing and praise and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be ascribed to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the counselors turned to me and said who are these who are robed in white and when did they come? My lord I answered it is you who know. These he said are they who come through the great persecution. They wash their robes white in the blood of the lamb and therefore it is that they are before the throne of God and are serving him day and night in his temple and he who is seated on the throne will shelter them. Never again shall they be hungry. Never again shall they be thirsty nor shall the sun smite upon them nor any scorching heat for the lamb that stands in the space before the throne will be their shepherd and will lead them to life-giving springs of water and God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. Chapter 8. As soon as the lamb had broken the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for it might be half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God and seven trumpets were given to them. Next another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censor in his hand and a great quantity of incense was given to him to mingle with the prayers of all Christ's people upon the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense ascended with the prayers of Christ's people from the hand of the angel before God. Then the angel took the censor and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth and there followed peals of thunder, cries, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Then the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow their blasts. The first blew and there came hail and fire mixed with blood and it fell upon the earth. A third part of the earth was burnt up and a third of the trees and every blade of grass. Then the second angel blew and what appeared to be a great mountain burning was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea became blood and a third part of all created things that are in the sea that is of all living things died and a third of the ships were destroyed. Then the third angel blew and there fell from the heavens a great star burning like a torch. It fell upon a third of the rivers and upon the springs. The stars called Wormwood. A third of the water became bitter as Wormwood and so bitter was the water that many died from drinking it. Then the fourth angel blew and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were blasted so that a third of them was eclipsed and for a third part of the day there was no light and at night it was the same. And in my vision I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven and crying in a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe for all who live on the earth at the other trumpet blast of the three angels who have yet to blow. Chapter 9 Then the fifth angel blew and I saw a star that had fallen upon the earth from the heavens and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. He opened the bottomless pit, and from the pit rose a smoke like the smoke of a great furnace. The sun and the air grew dark because of the smoke from the pit. Out of the smoke locusts descended upon the earth and they received the same power as that possessed by scorpions. They were told not to harm the grass or any plant or any tree, but only those who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads. Yet they were not allowed to kill them, but it was ordered that those men should be tortured for five months. Their torture was like the torture call us by a scorpion when it stings a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death flees from them. In appearance the locusts were like horses equipped for battle. On their heads there were what appeared to be crowns that shone like gold. Their faces resembled human faces and they had hair like the hair of a woman. Their teeth were like lion's teeth and they had what seemed to be iron breast plates while the noise of their wings was like the noise of chariots drawn by many horses galloping into battle. They have tails like scorpions and stings and in their tails lies the power to harm men for five months. They have as their king the angel of the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon while in Greek his name is Apollion, the destroyer. The first woe has passed and still there are two woes to follow. Then the sixth angel blew and I heard a voice proceeding from the corners of the golden altar that stood before God. It spoke to the sixth angel, the angel with the trumpet, and said, Let loose the four angels that are in chains at the great river Euphrates. Then the four angels that were held in readiness for that hour and day and month and year were let loose to destroy a third of mankind. The number of the hosts of horsemen was ten thousand times ten thousand, twice told. I heard their number and this is what the horses and their riders appeared to be like in my vision. They had breast plates of fire, blood red and sulfurous, and their heads of the horses were like lion's heads while out of their mouths issue fire and smoke and sulfur. Through these three curses a third of mankind perished because of the fire and the smoke and the sulfur that issued from their mouths. For the power of the horses lies in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails are like snakes with heads and it is with them that they do harm. But those who are left of mankind who had not perished through these curses did not repent and turn away from what their own hands had made. They would not abandon the worship of demons and of idols made of gold or silver or brass or stone or wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk and they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their licentiousness or their thefts. CHAPTER X Then I saw another mighty angel descending from heaven. His robe was a cloud or his head was the rainbow. His face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. In his hand he held a little book open. He set his right foot on the sea and his left on the land and he cried in a loud voice like the roaring of a lion. At his cry the seven peals of thunder spoke each with its own voice and when they spoke I was about to write but I heard a voice from heaven say, Keep secret what the seven peals of thunder said and do not write it down. Then the angel whom I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to the heavens and swore by him who lives for ever and ever who created the heavens and all that is in them and the earth and all that is in it and the sea and all that is in it that time should cease to be. Moreover at the time when the seventh angel shall speak when he is ready to blow his blast then the hidden purposes of God of which he told the good news to his servants the prophets are at once fulfilled. Then came the voice which I heard from heaven. It spoke to me again and said, Go and take the book that is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land. So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little book and he said, Take it and eat it. It will be bitter to your stomach but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey. I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it and while in my mouth it was like the sweetest honey but when I had eaten it it was bitter to my stomach and I was told, You must prophesy again about men of many peoples and nations and languages and about many kings. End of chapter 6 through 10