The Temporal and Eternal

5 For we know that if our ^[a](A)earthly ^(B)tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house ^(C)not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For indeed, in this tent we ^(D)groan, longing to be ^(E)clothed with our ^[b]dwelling from heaven, ³ since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For indeed, we who are in this tent ^(F)groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be ^(G)clothed, so that what is ^(H)mortal will be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who ^(I)gave us the Spirit as a ^[c]pledge.

⁶ Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that ^(J)while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— ⁷ for ^(K)we walk by faith, not by ^[d]sight— ⁸ but we are of good courage and ^(L)prefer rather to be absent from the body and ^(M)to be at home with the Lord. ⁹ Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be ^(N)pleasing to Him. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before ^(O)the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for ^[e]his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.

⁷ For not one of us ^(A)lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; ⁸ for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore ^(B)whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end ^(C)Christ died and lived again, that He might be ^(D)Lord both of the dead and of the living.

¹⁰ But as for you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you as well, why do you ^(E)regard your brother or sister with contempt? For ^(F)we will all appear before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹ For it is written:

¹² So then ^(I)each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

Foundations for Living

3 And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as ^(A)spiritual people, but only as ^(B)fleshly, as to ^(C)infants in Christ. ² I gave you ^(D)milk to drink, not solid food; for you ^(E)were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able, ³ for you are still fleshly. For since there is ^(F)jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking ^(G)like ordinary people? ⁴ For when ^(H)one person says, “I am ^[a]with Paul,” and another, “I am ^[b]with Apollos,” are you not ordinary ^(I)people?

⁵ What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? ^(J)Servants through whom you believed, even ^(K)as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. ^6 (L)I planted, ^(M)Apollos watered, but ^(N)God was causing the growth. ⁷ So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. ⁸ Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will ^(O)receive his own ^[c]reward according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s ^(P)fellow workers; you are God’s ^[d](Q)field, God’s ^(R)building.

¹⁰ According to ^(S)the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder ^(T)I laid a foundation, and ^(U)another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no one can lay a ^(V)foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ^13 (W)each one’s work will become evident; for ^(X)the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test ^[e]the quality of each one’s work. ¹⁴ If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will ^(Y)receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only ^(Z)so as through fire.

Walk According to His Commandments

^1 (A)The elder to the ^(B)chosen ^(C)lady and her children, whom I ^(D)love in truth; and not only I, but also all who ^(E)know the truth, ^2 (F)because of the truth which remains ^(G)in us and will be ^(H)with us forever: ^3 (I)Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

^4 (J)I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received a commandment to do from the Father. ⁵ Now I ask you, lady, ^(K)not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had ^(L)from the beginning, that we ^(M)love one another. ⁶ And ^(N)this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, ^(O)just as you have heard ^(P)from the beginning, that you are to walk in it.

⁷ For ^(Q)many deceivers have ^(R)gone out into the world, those who ^(S)do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is ^(T)the deceiver and the ^(U)antichrist. ^8 (V)Watch yourselves, ^(W)that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. ^9 [a]Anyone who ^[b]goes too far and ^(X)does not remain in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, ^(Y)do not receive him into your house, and do not ^[c]give him a greeting; ¹¹ for the one who ^[d]gives him a greeting ^[e](Z)participates in his evil deeds.

^12 (AA)Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak ^[f]face to face, so that ^[g]your ^(AB)joy may be made complete.

¹³ The children of your ^(AC)chosen sister greet you.

Those Who Died in Christ

¹³ But ^(A)we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who ^[a](B)are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed ^(C)the rest of mankind do, who have ^(D)no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, ^(E)so also God will bring with Him ^(F)those who have fallen asleep ^[b]through Jesus. ¹⁵ For we say this to you ^(G)by the word of the Lord, that ^(H)we who are alive ^[c]and remain until ^(I)the coming of the Lord will not precede ^(J)those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord ^(K)Himself ^(L)will descend from heaven with a ^[d](M)shout, with the voice of ^(N)the archangel and with the ^(O)trumpet of God, and ^(P)the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then ^(Q)we who are alive, who remain, will be ^(R)caught up together with them ^(S)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always ^(T)be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore, ^[e]comfort one another with these words.

Marriage of the Lamb

⁷ Let’s rejoice and be glad and ^(A)give the glory to Him, because ^(B)the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His ^[a](C)bride has prepared herself.” ⁸ It was given to her to clothe herself in ^(D)fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the ^(E)righteous acts of the ^[b]saints.

⁹ Then ^(F)he *said to me, “^(G)Write: ‘^(H)Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “^(I)These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰ Then ^(J)I fell at his feet to worship him. ^(K)But he *said to me, “^[c]Do not do that; I am a ^(L)fellow servant of yours and your brothers and sisters who ^(M)hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Coming of Christ

¹¹ And I saw ^(N)heaven opened, and behold, a ^(O)white horse, and He who sat on it is called ^(P)Faithful and True, and in ^(Q)righteousness He judges and wages war. ¹² His ^(R)eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many ^(S)crowns; and He has a ^(T)name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. ¹³ He is clothed with a ^(U)robe dipped in blood, and His name is called ^(V)The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in ^(W)fine linen, ^(X)white and clean, were following Him on white horses. ^15 (Y)From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that ^(Z)with it He may strike down the nations, and He will ^[d](AA)rule them with a rod of iron; and ^(AB)He treads the ^[e]wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. ¹⁶ And on His robe and on His thigh He has ^(AC)a name written: “^(AD)KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

¹⁷ Then I saw ^[f]an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to ^(AE)all the birds that fly in ^(AF)midheaven, “^(AG)Come, assemble for the great feast of God, ¹⁸ so that you may ^(AH)eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, ^(AI)both free and slaves, and ^(AJ)small and great.”

¹⁹ And I saw ^(AK)the beast and ^(AL)the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who ^(AM)sat on the horse, and against His army.

Doom of the Beast and False Prophet

²⁰ And the beast was seized, and with him the ^(AN)false prophet who ^(AO)performed the signs ^[g](AP)in his presence, by which he ^(AQ)deceived those who had received the ^(AR)mark of the beast and those who ^(AS)worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the ^(AT)lake of ^(AU)fire, which burns with ^[h]brimstone. ²¹ And the rest were killed with the sword which ^(AV)came from the mouth of Him who ^(AW)sat on the horse, and ^(AX)all the birds were filled with their flesh.

Parable of the Ten Minas

¹¹ Now while they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because ^(A)He was near Jerusalem and they thought that ^(B)the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. ¹² So He said, “^(C)A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then to return. ¹³ And he called ten of his own slaves and gave them ten ^[a]minas, and said to them, ‘Do business with this money ^[b]until I come back.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ ¹⁵ When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be summoned to him so that he would learn how much they had made by the business they had done. ¹⁶ The first slave appeared, saying, ‘^[c]Master, your ^[d]mina has made ten minas more.’ ¹⁷ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave; since you have been ^(D)faithful in a very little thing, you are to have authority over ten cities.’ ¹⁸ The second one came, saying, ‘Your ^[e]mina, ^[f]master, has made five minas.’ ¹⁹ And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ ²⁰ And then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept tucked away in a handkerchief; ²¹ for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.’ ²² He *said to him, ‘^[g]From your own lips I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow? ²³ And so why did you not put my money in the bank, and when I came back, I would have collected it with interest?’ ²⁴ And then he said to the other slaves who were present, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ ²⁵ And they said to him, ‘Master, he already has ten minas.’ ²⁶ ‘^(E)I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. ²⁷ But as for ^(F)these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and ^(G)slaughter them in my presence.’”

^26 (A)The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds ^(B)until the end, ^(C)I will give him authority over the ^[a]nations; ²⁷ and he shall ^[b](D)rule them with a rod of iron, ^(E)as the vessels of the potter are shattered, as I also have received authority from My Father;