American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.
Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.
Many waters cannot quench love,Neither can floods drown it:If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, {Or, It}He would utterly be contemned.
Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus knowing that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto his Father, having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them {Or, to the uttermost}unto the end.
Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Take ye heed, watch {Some ancient authorities omit and pray.}and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
It is as when a man, sojourning in another country, having left his house, and given authority to his {Greek: bondservants.}servants, to each one his work, commanded also the porter to watch.
Watch therefore: for ye know not when the lord of the house cometh, whether at even, or at midnight, or at cockcrowing, or in the morning;
lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning;
and be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he shall return from the marriage feast; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may straightway open unto him.
Blessed are those {Greek: bondservants.}servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them.
And if he shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
{Or, But this ye know}But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have left his house to be {Greek: digged through.}broken through.
Be ye also ready: for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.
And Peter said, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even unto all?
And the Lord said, Who then is {Or, the faithful steward, the wise man whom &c.}the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall set over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
Blessed is that {Greek: bondservant.}servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Of a truth I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath.
But if that {Greek: bondservant.}servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
the lord of that {Greek: bondservant.}servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall {Or, severely scourge him}cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the unfaithful.
And that {Greek: bondservant.}servant, who knew his lord's will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes;
but he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more.
But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare:
for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth.
But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you {Some ancient authorities read as thieves.}as a thief:
for ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness;
so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober.
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that are drunken are drunken in the night.
But let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us, that, whether we {Or, watch}wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
Wherefore {Or, comfort chapter 4:18.}exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do.
Much more then, being now justified {Greek: in.}by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him.
For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved {Greek: in.}by his life;
and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand?
which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory.
For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come.
that {Or, he no longer…his time}ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles, and to have walked in lasciviousness, lusts, winebibbings, revellings, carousings, and abominable idolatries:
wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them into the same {Or, flood}excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and {Or, stedfastness}patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before {Or, God and our Father}our God and Father;
And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the {Or, stedfastness}patience of Christ.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us: yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ:
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
{Or, Both}And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.
And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing Jehovah hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.
In my Father's house are many {Or, abiding-places}mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Father, {Greek: that which thou hast given me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with me, that &c.}I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you {Some ancient authorities read as thieves.}as a thief:
for ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness;
so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober.
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that are drunken are drunken in the night.
But let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us, that, whether we {Or, watch}wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
Wherefore {Or, comfort chapter 4:18.}exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth hath eternal life.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.
{Some ancient authorities read That which my Father hath given unto me}My Father, who hath given them unto me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch {Or, aught}them out of the Father's hand.
Much more then, being now justified {Greek: in.}by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him.
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come.
But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.
I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the {Or, reviling}blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; {Some ancient authorities read and may have.}and ye shall have {Greek: a tribulation of ten days.}tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning;
and be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he shall return from the marriage feast; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may straightway open unto him.
Wherefore also we {Greek: are ambitious. See Romans 15:20 margin.}make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him.
{Or, Both}And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.
But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep {Greek: through. Or, will God through Jesus}in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the {Or, presence}coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore {Or, exhort chapter 5:11.}comfort one another with these words.
who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.
knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers;
Let not your heart be troubled: {Or, ye believe in God}believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many {Or, abiding-places}mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
In my Father's house are many {Or, abiding-places}mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,
comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
And they told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And his heart fainted, for he believed them not.
And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:
and Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.
These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God: and whosoever loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.