The Living Bible (395 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
This book unveils some of the future activities soon to occur in the life of Jesus Christ.
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God permitted him to reveal these things to his servant John in a vision; and then an angel was sent from heaven to explain the vision’s meaning.
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John wrote it all down—the words of God and Jesus Christ and everything he heard and saw.
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If you read this prophecy aloud to the church, you will receive a special blessing from the Lord. Those who listen to it being read and do what it says will also be blessed. For the time is near when these things will all come true.
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From:
John
To:
The seven churches in Turkey.
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Dear Friends:
May you have grace and peace from God who is, and was, and is to come; and from the sevenfold Spirit
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before his throne;
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and from Jesus Christ who faithfully reveals all truth to us. He was the first to rise from death, to die no more.
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He is far greater than any king in all the earth. All praise to him who always loves us and who set us free from our sins by pouring out his lifeblood for us.
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He has gathered us into his Kingdom and made us priests of God his Father. Give to him everlasting glory! He rules forever! Amen!
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See! He is arriving, surrounded by clouds; and every eye shall see him—yes, and those who pierced him.
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And the nations will weep in sorrow and in terror when he comes. Yes! Amen! Let it be so!
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“I am the A and the Z,
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the Beginning and the Ending of all things,” says God, who is the Lord, the All Powerful One who is, and was, and is coming again!
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It is I, your brother John, a fellow sufferer for the Lord’s sake, who am writing this letter to you. I, too, have shared the patience Jesus gives, and we shall share his Kingdom!
I was on the island of Patmos, exiled there for preaching the Word of God and for telling what I knew about Jesus Christ.
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It was the Lord’s Day and I was worshiping, when suddenly I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast,
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saying,
“I am A and Z, the First and Last!”
And then I heard him say,
“Write down everything you see, and send your letter to the seven churches in Turkey:
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to the church in Ephesus, the one in Smyrna, and those in Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
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When I turned to see who was speaking, there behind me were seven candlesticks of gold.
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And standing among them was one who looked like Jesus, who called himself the Son of Man,
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wearing a long robe circled with a golden band across his chest.
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His hair was white as wool or snow,
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and his eyes penetrated like flames of fire.
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His feet gleamed like burnished bronze, and his voice thundered like the waves against the shore.
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He held seven stars in his right hand and a sharp, double-bladed sword in his mouth,
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and his face shone like the power of the sun in unclouded brilliance.
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When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead; but he laid his right hand on me and said,
“Don’t be afraid! Though I am the First and Last, the Living One who died, who is now alive forevermore, who has the keys of hell and death—don’t be afraid!
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Write down what you have just seen and what will soon be shown to you.
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This is the meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks: The seven stars are the leaders
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of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the churches themselves.
“Write a letter to the leader
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of the church at Ephesus and tell him this:
“I write to inform you of a message from him who walks among the churches
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and holds their leaders in his right hand.
“He says to you:
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I know how many good things you are doing. I have watched your hard work and your patience; I know you don’t tolerate sin among your members, and you have carefully examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but aren’t. You have found out how they lie.
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You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.
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“Yet there is one thing wrong; you don’t love me as at first!
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Think about those times of your first love (how different now!) and turn back to me again and work as you did before; or else I will come and remove your candlestick from its place among the churches.
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“But there is this about you that is good: You hate the deeds of the licentious Nicolaitans,
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just as I do.
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“Let this message sink into the ears of anyone who listens to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: To everyone who is victorious, I will give fruit from the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God.
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“To the leader of the church in Smyrna write this letter:
“This message is from him who is the First and Last, who was dead and then came back to life.
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“I know how much you suffer for the Lord, and I know all about your poverty (but you have heavenly riches!). I know the slander of those opposing you, who say that they are Jews—the children of God—but they aren’t, for they support the cause of Satan.
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Stop being afraid of what you are about to suffer—for the devil will soon throw some of you into prison to test you. You will be persecuted for ‘ten days.’ Remain faithful even when facing death and I will give you the crown of life—an unending, glorious future.
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Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: He who is victorious shall not be hurt by the Second Death.
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“Write this letter to the leader of the church in Pergamos:
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This message is from him who wields the sharp and double-bladed sword.
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I am fully aware that you live in the city where Satan’s throne is, at the center of satanic worship; and yet you have remained loyal to me and refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you by Satan’s devotees.
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“And yet I have a few things against you. You tolerate some among you who do as Balaam did when he taught Balak how to ruin the people of Israel by involving them in sexual sin and encouraging them to go to idol feasts.
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Yes, you have some of these very same followers of Balaam
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among you!
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“Change your mind and attitude, or else I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
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“Let everyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: Everyone who is victorious shall eat of the hidden manna, the secret nourishment from heaven; and I will give to each a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one else knows except the one receiving it.
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“Write this letter to the leader of the church in Thyatira:
“This is a message from the Son of God, whose eyes penetrate like flames of fire, whose feet are like glowing brass.
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“I am aware of all your good deeds—your kindness to the poor, your gifts and service to them; also I know your love and faith and patience, and I can see your constant improvement in all these things.
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“Yet I have this against you: You are permitting that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach my servants that sex sin is not a serious matter; she urges them to practice immorality and to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols.
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I gave her time to change her mind and attitude, but she refused.
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Pay attention now to what I am saying: I will lay her upon a sickbed of intense affliction, along with all her immoral followers,
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unless they turn again to me, repenting of their sin with her;
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and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches deep within men’s hearts, and minds; I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.
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“As for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, really), I will ask nothing further of you; only hold tightly to what you have until I come.
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“To everyone who overcomes—who to the very end keeps on doing things that please me—I will give power over the nations.
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You will rule them with a rod of iron just as my Father gave me the authority to rule them; they will be shattered like a pot of clay that is broken into tiny pieces.
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And I will give you the Morning Star!
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“Let all who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.