Revelation 2–3

Chapter 2

Message to Ephesus

¹“To the angel of the church in ^aEphesus write:

The One who holds ^bthe seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks ^1camong the seven golden lampstands, says this:

²‘^aI know your deeds and your toil and ¹perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you ^bput to the test those who call themselves ^capostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;

³and you have ¹perseverance and have endured ^afor My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.

⁴‘But I have this against you, that you have ^aleft your first love.

⁵‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and ^arepent and ^bdo the ¹deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your ^clampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

⁶‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the ^aNicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷‘^aHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^bTo him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of ^cthe tree of life which is in the ^dParadise of God.’

Message to Smyrna

⁸“And to the angel of the church in ^aSmyrna write:

^bThe first and the last, who ^1cwas dead, and has come to life, says this:

⁹‘I know your ^atribulation and your ^bpoverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who ^csay they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of ^dSatan.

¹⁰‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be ^atested, and you will have tribulation ^bfor ten days. ¹Be ^cfaithful until death, and I will give you ^dthe crown of life.

¹¹‘^aHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^bHe who overcomes will not be hurt by the ^csecond death.’

Message to Pergamum

¹²“And to the angel of the church in ^aPergamum write:

The One who has ^bthe sharp two-edged sword says this:

¹³‘I know where you dwell, where ^aSatan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny ^bMy faith even in the days of Antipas, My ^cwitness, My ^dfaithful one, who was killed among you, ^ewhere Satan dwells.

¹⁴‘But ^aI have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the ^bteaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, ^cto eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.

¹⁵‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the ^aNicolaitans.

¹⁶‘Therefore ^arepent; or else ^bI am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with ^cthe sword of My mouth.

¹⁷‘^aHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden ^bmanna, and I will give him a white stone, and a ^cnew name written on the stone ^dwhich no one knows but he who receives it.’

Message to Thyatira

¹⁸“And to the angel of the church in ^aThyatira write:

^bThe Son of God, ^cwho has ¹eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:

¹⁹‘^aI know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and ¹perseverance, and that your ²deeds of late are greater than ³at first.

²⁰‘But ^aI have this against you, that you tolerate the woman ^bJezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they ^ccommit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

²¹‘^aI gave her time to repent, and she ^bdoes not want to repent of her immorality.

²²‘Behold, I will throw her ¹on a bed of sickness, and those who ^acommit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of ²her deeds.

²³‘And I will kill her children with ¹pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who ^asearches the ²minds and hearts; and ^bI will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

²⁴‘But I say to you, the rest who are in ^aThyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the ^bdeep things of Satan, as they call them—I ^cplace no other burden on you.

²⁵‘Nevertheless ^awhat you have, hold fast ^buntil I come.

²⁶‘^aHe who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds ^buntil the end, ^cto him I will give authority over the ¹nations;

²⁷and he shall ^1arule them with a rod of iron, ^bas the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father;

²⁸and I will give him ^athe morning star.

²⁹‘^aHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Chapter 3

Message to Sardis

¹“To the angel of the church in ^aSardis write:

He who has ^bthe seven Spirits of God and ^cthe seven stars, says this: ‘^dI know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, ¹but you are ^edead.

²‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.

³‘So ^aremember ¹what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come ^blike a thief, and you will not know at ^cwhat hour I will come to you.

⁴‘But you have a few ^1apeople in ^bSardis who have not ^csoiled their garments; and they will walk with Me ^din white, for they are worthy.

⁵‘^aHe who overcomes will thus be clothed in ^bwhite garments; and I will not ^cerase his name from the book of life, and ^dI will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

⁶‘^aHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Message to Philadelphia

⁷“And to the angel of the church in ^aPhiladelphia write:

^bHe who is holy, ^cwho is true, who has ^dthe key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:

⁸‘^aI know your ¹deeds. Behold, I have put before you ^ban open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and ^chave not denied My name.

⁹‘Behold, I ¹will cause those of ^athe synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them ^bcome and bow down ²at your feet, and make them know that ^cI have loved you.

¹⁰‘Because you have ^akept the word of ^bMy ¹perseverance, ^cI also will keep you from the hour of ^2dtesting, that hour which is about to come upon the whole ^3eworld, to ⁴test ^fthose who dwell on the earth.

¹¹‘^aI am coming quickly; ^bhold fast what you have, so that no one will take your ^ccrown.

¹²‘^aHe who overcomes, I will make him a ^bpillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the ^cname of My God, and ^dthe name of the city of My God, ^ethe new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My ^fnew name.

¹³‘^aHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Message to Laodicea

¹⁴“To the angel of the church in ^aLaodicea write:

^bThe Amen, ^cthe faithful and true Witness, ^dthe ¹Beginning of the creation of God, says this:

¹⁵‘^aI know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; ^bI wish that you were cold or hot.

¹⁶‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will ¹spit you out of My mouth.

¹⁷‘Because you say, “^aI am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,

¹⁸I advise you to ^abuy from Me ^bgold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and ^cwhite garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that ^dthe shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

¹⁹‘^aThose whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and ^brepent.

²⁰‘Behold, I stand ^aat the door and ^bknock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, ^cI will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

²¹‘^aHe who overcomes, I will grant to him ^bto sit down with Me on My throne, as ^cI also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

²²‘^aHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”