³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom^(A) prepared for you since the creation of the world.^(B)

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers and sisters:^(A) Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world^(B) to be rich in faith^(C) and to inherit the kingdom^(D) he promised those who love him?^(E)

⁷ Those who are victorious^(A) will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.^(B)

⁸ All inhabitants of the earth^(A) will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life,^(B) the Lamb^(C) who was slain from the creation of the world.^[a](D)

¹⁹ but with the precious blood^(A) of Christ, a lamb^(B) without blemish or defect.^{(C) 20} He was chosen before the creation of the world,^(D) but was revealed in these last times^(E) for your sake.

²³ Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup,^(A) but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

⁸ The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss^(A) and go to its destruction.^(B) The inhabitants of the earth^(C) whose names have not been written in the book of life^(D) from the creation of the world will be astonished^(E) when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.

Praise to God for a Living Hope

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!^(A) In his great mercy^(B) he has given us new birth^(C) into a living hope^(D) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,^{(E) 4} and into an inheritance^(F) that can never perish, spoil or fade.^(G) This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,^{(H) 5} who through faith are shielded by God’s power^(I) until the coming of the salvation^(J) that is ready to be revealed^(K) in the last time.

³ Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world.