Revelation 2-3

Contemporary English Version

The Letter to Ephesus

2 This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Ephesus:

I am the one who holds the seven stars in my right hand, and I walk among the seven gold lampstands. Listen to what I say.

²I know everything you have done, including your hard work and how you have endured. I know you won't put up with anyone who is evil. When some people pretended to be apostles, you tested them and found out they were liars. ³You have endured and gone through hard times because of me, yet you have not given up.

⁴But I do have something against you! And it is this: You don't have as much love as you used to. ⁵Think about where you have fallen from, and then turn back and do as you did at first. If you don't turn back, I will come and take away your lampstand. ⁶But there is one thing you are doing right. You hate what the Nicolaitans^[a] are doing, and so do I.

⁷^(A) If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will let everyone who wins the victory eat from the life-giving tree in God's wonderful garden.

The Letter to Smyrna

⁸^(B) This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Smyrna:

I am the first and the last. I died, but now I am alive! Listen to what I say.

⁹I know how much you suffer and how poor you are, but you are rich. I also know the cruel things being said about you by people who claim to be God's people. But they are not really God's people. They are a group that belongs to Satan.

¹⁰Don't worry about what you will suffer. The devil will throw some of you into jail, and you will be tested and made to suffer for ten days. But if you are faithful until you die, I will reward you with a glorious life.^[b]

¹¹^(C) If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Whoever wins the victory will not be hurt by the second death.^[c]

The Letter to Pergamum

¹²This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Pergamum:

I am the one who has the sharp double-edged sword! Listen to what I say.

¹³I know you live where Satan has his throne.^[d] But you have kept true to my name. Right there where Satan lives, my faithful witness Antipas^[e] was taken from you and put to death. Even then you did not give up your faith in me.

¹⁴^(D) I do have a few things against you. Some of you are following the teaching of Balaam.^[f] Long ago he told Balak to teach the people of Israel to eat food that had been offered to idols and to be immoral. ¹⁵Now some of you are following the teaching of the Nicolaitans.^[g] ¹⁶Turn back! If you don't, I will come quickly and fight against these people. And my words will cut like a sword.

¹⁷^(E) If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To everyone who wins the victory, I will give some of the hidden food.^[h] I will also give each one a white stone^[i] with a new name^[j] written on it. No one will know that name except the one who is given the stone.

The Letter to Thyatira

¹⁸This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Thyatira:

I am the Son of God! My eyes are like flames of fire, and my feet are like bronze. Listen to what I say.

¹⁹I know everything about you, including your love, your faith, your service, and how you have endured. I know you are doing more now than you have ever done before. ²⁰^(F) But I still have something against you because of that woman Jezebel.^[k] She calls herself a prophet, and you let her teach and mislead my servants to do immoral things and to eat food offered to idols. ²¹I gave her a chance to turn from her sins, but she did not want to stop doing these immoral things.

²²I am going to strike down Jezebel. Everyone who does these immoral things with her will also be punished, if they don't stop. ²³^(G) I will even kill her followers.^[l] Then all the churches will see that I know everyone's thoughts and feelings. I will treat each of you as you deserve.

²⁴Some of you in Thyatira don't follow Jezebel's teaching. You don't know anything about what her followers call the “deep secrets of Satan.” So I won't burden you down with any other commands. ²⁵But until I come, you must hold firmly to the teaching you have.

²⁶^(H) I will give power over the nations to everyone who wins the victory and keeps on obeying me until the end. ^27-28I will give each of them the same power my Father has given me. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash those nations to pieces like clay pots. I will also give them the morning star.^[m]

²⁹If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

The Letter to Sardis

3 This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Sardis:

I have the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Listen to what I say.

I know what you are doing. Everyone may think you are alive, but you are dead. ²Wake up! You have only a little strength left, and it is almost gone. So try to become stronger. I have found that you are not completely obeying God. ³^(I) Remember the teaching you were given and heard. Hold firmly to it and turn from your sins. If you don't wake up, I will come when you least expect it, just as a thief does.

⁴A few of you in Sardis have not dirtied your clothes with sin. You will walk with me in white clothes, because you are worthy. ⁵^(J) Everyone who wins the victory will wear white clothes. Their names will not be erased from the book of life,^[n] and I will tell my Father and his angels that they are my followers.

⁶If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

The Letter to Philadelphia

⁷^(K) This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia:

I am the one who is holy and true, and I have the keys that belonged to David.^[o] When I open a door, no one can close it. And when I close a door, no one can open it. Listen to what I say.

⁸I know everything you have done. And I have placed before you an open door no one can close. You were not very strong, but you obeyed my message and did not deny you are my followers.^[p] ⁹^(L) Now you will see what I will do with those people who belong to Satan's group. They claim to be God's people, but they are liars. I will make them come and kneel down at your feet. Then they will know that I love you.

¹⁰You obeyed my message and endured. So I will protect you from the time of testing everyone in all the world must go through. ¹¹I am coming soon. So hold firmly to what you have, and no one will take away the crown you will be given as your reward.

¹²^(M) Everyone who wins the victory will be made into a pillar in the temple of my God, and they will stay there forever. I will write on each of them the name of my God and the name of his city. It is the new Jerusalem my God will send down from heaven. I will also write on them my own new name.

¹³If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

The Letter to Laodicea

¹⁴^(N) This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Laodicea:

I am the one called Amen!^[q] I am the faithful and true witness and the source^[r] of God's creation. Listen to what I say.

¹⁵I know everything you have done, and you are not cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other. ¹⁶But since you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷You claim to be rich and successful and to have everything you need. But you don't know how bad off you really are. You are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

¹⁸Buy your gold from me. It has been refined in a fire, and it will make you rich. Buy white clothes from me. Wear them and you can cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy medicine for your eyes, so you will be able to see.

¹⁹^(O) I correct and punish everyone I love. So make up your minds to turn away from your sins. ²⁰Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together. ²¹Everyone who wins the victory will sit with me on my throne, just as I won the victory and sat with my Father on his throne.

²²If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Footnotes

2.6 Nicolaitans: Nothing else is known about these people, though it is possible that they claimed to be followers of Nicolaus from Antioch (see Acts 6.5).
2.10 a glorious life: The Greek text has “a crown of life.” In ancient times an athlete who had won a contest was rewarded with a crown of flowers as a sign of victory.
2.11 second death: The first death is physical death, and the “second death” is eternal death.
2.13 where Satan has his throne: The meaning is uncertain, but it may refer to the city as a center of pagan worship or of Emperor worship.
2.13 Antipas: Nothing else is known about this man, who is mentioned only here in the New Testament.
2.14 Balaam: According to Numbers 22–24, Balaam refused to disobey the Lord. But in other books of the Old Testament, he is spoken of as evil (see Deuteronomy 23.4,5; Joshua 13.22; 24.9,10; Nehemiah 13.2).
2.15 Nicolaitans: See the note at 2.6.
2.17 hidden food: When the people of Israel were going through the desert, the Lord provided a special food for them. Some of this was placed in a jar and stored in the sacred chest (see Exodus 16). According to later Jewish teaching, the prophet Jeremiah rescued the sacred chest when the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. He hid the chest in a cave, where it would stay until God came to save his people.
2.17 white stone: The meaning of this is uncertain, though it may be the same as a ticket that lets a person into God's banquet where the “hidden food” is eaten. Or it may be a symbol of victory.
2.17 a new name: Either the name of Christ or God or the name of the follower who is given the stone.
2.20 Jezebel: Nothing else is known about her. This may have been her real name or a name that was given to her because she was like Queen Jezebel, who opposed the Lord (see 1 Kings 19.1,2; 21.1-26).
2.23 her followers: Or “her children.”
2.27,28 the morning star: Probably thought of as the star that signals the end of night and the beginning of day. In 22.16 Christ is called the “morning star.”
3.5 book of life: The book in which the names of God's people are written.
3.7 the keys that belonged to David: The keys stand for authority over David's kingdom.
3.8 did not deny you are my followers: Or “did not say evil things about me.”
3.14 Amen: Meaning “Trustworthy.”
3.14 source: Or “beginning.”