How wonderful are the good things you keep for those who honor you! Everyone knows how good you are, how securely you protect those who trust you.

"Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal.

Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal.

When the true message, the Good News, first came to you, you heard about the hope it offers. So your faith and love are based on what you hope for, which is kept safe for you in heaven.

In this way they will store up for themselves a treasure which will be a solid foundation for the future. And then they will be able to win the life which is true life.

An athlete who runs in a race cannot win the prize unless he obeys the rules.

She will be your crowning glory."

Every athlete in training submits to strict discipline, in order to be crowned with a wreath that will not last; but we do it for one that will last forever.

Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him.

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the glorious crown which will never lose its brightness.

Don't be afraid of anything you are about to suffer. Listen! The Devil will put you to the test by having some of you thrown into prison, and your troubles will last ten days. Be faithful to me, even if it means death, and I will give you life as your prize of victory.

In a circle around the throne were twenty-four other thrones, on which were seated twenty-four elders dressed in white and wearing crowns of gold.

the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever. They throw their crowns down in front of the throne and say,

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and because he is coming to rule as King, I solemnly urge you

Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly."

God is a righteous judge and always condemns the wicked.

But you have a hard and stubborn heart, and so you are making your own punishment even greater on the Day when God's anger and righteous judgments will be revealed.

All of this proves that God's judgment is just and as a result you will become worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering.

God will do what is right: he will bring suffering on those who make you suffer,

Then I saw heaven open, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True; it is with justice that he judges and fights his battles.

and it is for this reason that I suffer these things. But I am still full of confidence, because I know whom I have trusted, and I am sure that he is able to keep safe until that Day what he has entrusted to me.

May the Lord grant him his mercy on that Day! And you know very well how much he did for me in Ephesus.

"They will be my people," says the LORD Almighty. "On the day when I act, they will be my very own. I will be merciful to them as parents are merciful to the children who serve them.

When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God's message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!'

"No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come---neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows.

I assure you that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to Sodom than to that town!

But you, friends, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief.

But it is not just creation alone which groans; we who have the Spirit as the first of God's gifts also groan within ourselves as we wait for God to make us his children and set our whole being free.

However, as the scripture says, "What no one ever saw or heard, what no one ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love him."

And now we sigh, so great is our desire that our home which comes from heaven should be put on over us;

and to wait for his Son to come from heaven---his Son Jesus, whom he raised from death and who rescues us from God's anger that is coming.

as we wait for the blessed Day we hope for, when the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ will appear.

In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

Look, he is coming on the clouds! Everyone will see him, including those who pierced him. All peoples on earth will mourn over him. So shall it be!

He who gives his testimony to all this says, "Yes indeed! I am coming soon!" So be it. Come, Lord Jesus!