The Lord’s special day is near. So cry and be sad for yourselves. A time is coming when the enemy will steal your wealth. God All-Powerful will make that happen. {\cf2\super [142]}
“‘But you, Daniel, keep this message a secret. You must close the book. You must keep this secret until the time of the end. Many people will go here and there looking for true knowledge. And the true knowledge will increase.’
“The vision about those times, and the things I said, are true. But seal {\cf2\super [98]} the vision. Those things won’t happen for a long, long time.”
I tell you these things in the dark (secretly). But I want you to tell these things in the light. I speak these things quietly and only to you. But you should tell these things freely to all people.
I say these things because you know that we live in an important time. Yes, it is now time for you to wake up from your sleep. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
The night {\cf2\super [139]} is almost finished. The day {\cf2\super [140]} is almost here. So we should stop doing things that belong to darkness (sin). We should prepare ourselves to fight evil with the weapons that belong to the light (good).
Don’t let any person fool you in any way. \{That day of the Lord will not come\} until the turning away \{from God\} happens. And \{that day will not come\} until the Man of Evil appears (comes). That Man of Evil belongs to hell. {\cf2\super [4]}
The voice said, “Write in a book all these things you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
The person that reads the words of this message from God is blessed (happy). And the people who hear this message and do the things that are written in it are blessed. There is not much time left.
The seven thunders spoke, and I started to write. But then I heard a voice from heaven. The voice said, “Don’t write what the seven thunders said. Keep those things secret.”
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to tell you these things for the churches (groups of believers). I am the descendant {\cf2\super [176]} from the family of David. {\cf2\super [177]} I am the bright morning star.”
I warn every person that hears the words of the prophecy {\cf2\super [179]} of this book: If a person adds anything to these words, then God will give that person the troubles written about in this book.
But the angel said to me, “Don’t \{worship me\}! I am a servant like you and your brothers the prophets. {\cf2\super [170]} I am a servant like all the people who obey the words in this book. You should worship God!”
Then I saw a scroll {\cf2\super [37]} in the right hand of the One sitting on the throne. The scroll had writing on both sides. The scroll was kept closed with seven seals.