I am John, your brother, and as a follower of Jesus I am your partner in patiently enduring the suffering that comes to those who belong to his Kingdom. I was put on the island of Patmos because I had proclaimed God's word and the truth that Jesus revealed.

Then the Lamb broke open the fifth seal. I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because they had proclaimed God's word and had been faithful in their witnessing.

They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die.

The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus.

And John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and stay on him.

The people who had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from death had reported what had happened.

(The one who saw this happen has spoken of it, so that you also may believe. What he said is true, and he knows that he speaks the truth.)

He is the disciple who spoke of these things, the one who also wrote them down; and we know that what he said is true.

The message about Christ has become so firmly established in you

When I came to you, my friends, to preach God's secret truth, I did not use big words and great learning.

There are three witnesses:

We believe human testimony; but God's testimony is much stronger, and he has given this testimony about his Son.

The testimony is this: God has given us eternal life, and this life has its source in his Son.

Everyone speaks well of Demetrius; truth itself speaks well of him. And we add our testimony, and you know that what we say is true.

Write, then, the things you see, both the things that are now and the things that will happen afterward.

I am telling you the truth: we speak of what we know and report what we have seen, yet none of you is willing to accept our message.

For we cannot stop speaking of what we ourselves have seen and heard."

For you will be a witness for him to tell everyone what you have seen and heard.

But get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant. You are to tell others what you have seen of me today and what I will show you in the future.

We write to you about the Word of life, which has existed from the very beginning. We have heard it, and we have seen it with our eyes; yes, we have seen it, and our hands have touched it.

And we have seen and tell others that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.