Message to Sardis

3 “To the angel of the church in ^(A)Sardis write:

He who has ^[a](B)the seven spirits of God and ^(C)the seven stars, says this: ‘^(D)I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, and yet you are ^(E)dead. ² Be constantly alert, 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 ^(F)remember ^[b]what you have received and heard; and ^[c]keep it, and ^(G)repent. Then if you are not alert, ^(H)I will come ^(I)like a thief, and you will not know at ^(J)what hour I will come to you. ⁴ But you have a few ^[d](K)people in ^(L)Sardis who have not ^(M)soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me ^(N)in white, for they are worthy. ^5 (O)The one who overcomes will be clothed the same way, in ^(P)white garments; and I will not ^(Q)erase his name from the book of life, and ^(R)I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ^6 (S)The one 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 ^(T)Philadelphia write:

^(U)He who is holy, ^(V)who is true, who has ^(W)the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:

⁸ ‘^(X)I know your ^[e]deeds. Behold, I have put before you ^(Y)an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have followed My word, and ^(Z)have not denied My name. ⁹ Behold, I ^[f]will make those of ^(AA)the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them ^(AB)come and bow down before your feet, and make them know that ^(AC)I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have ^(AD)kept ^(AE)My ^[g]word of perseverance, ^(AF)I also will keep you from the hour of the ^[h](AG)testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole ^[i](AH)world, to ^[j]test ^(AI)those who live on the earth. ^11 (AJ)I am coming quickly; ^(AK)hold firmly to what you have, so that no one will take your ^(AL)crown. ^12 (AM)The one who overcomes, I will make him a ^(AN)pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the ^(AO)name of My God, and ^(AP)the name of the city of My God, ^(AQ)the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My ^(AR)new name. ^13 (AS)The one 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 ^(AT)Laodicea write:

^(AU)The Amen, ^(AV)the faithful and true Witness, ^(AW)the ^[k]Origin of the creation of God, says this:

¹⁵ ‘^(AX)I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; ^(AY)I wish that you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, “^(AZ)I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have no need of anything,” and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, ¹⁸ I advise you to ^(BA)buy from Me ^(BB)gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and ^(BC)white garments so that you may clothe yourself and ^(BD)the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to apply to your eyes so that you may see. ^19 (BE)Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline; therefore be zealous and ^(BF)repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand ^(BG)at the door and ^(BH)knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, ^(BI)I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ^21 (BJ)The one who overcomes, I will grant to him ^(BK)to sit with Me on My throne, as ^(BL)I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne. ^22 (BM)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Hypocrisy Exposed

23 ^(A)Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, ² saying: “^(B)The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. ³ Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and ^[a]comply with it all, but do not do ^[b]as they do; for they say things and do not do them. ⁴ And ^(C)they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger. ⁵ And they do all their deeds ^(D)to be noticed by other people; for they ^(E)broaden their ^[c]phylacteries and lengthen ^(F)the tassels of their garments. ⁶ And they ^(G)love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues, ⁷ and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called ^[d](H)Rabbi by the people. ⁸ But as for you, ^(I)do not be called ^[e](J)Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only ^(K)One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ And do not be called ^[f]leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ. ^11 (L)But the greatest of you shall be your servant. ^12 (M)Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Eight Woes

¹³ “^(N)But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, ^(O)because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.^[g]

¹⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one ^[h](P)proselyte; and when he becomes one, you ^[i]make him twice as much a son of ^[j](Q)hell as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, ^(R)blind guides, who say, ‘^(S)Whoever swears by the ^[k]temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the ^[l]temple is obligated.’ ¹⁷ You fools and blind men! ^(T)Which is ^[m]more important, the gold or the ^[n]temple that sanctified the gold? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the ^[o]offering that is on it is obligated.’ ¹⁹ You blind men, ^(U)which is ^[p]more important, the ^[q]offering or the altar that sanctifies the ^[r]offering? ²⁰ Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by ^[s]the altar and by everything on it. ²¹ And the one who swears by the ^[t]temple, swears both by ^[u]the temple and by Him who ^(V)dwells in it. ²² And the one who swears by ^[v]heaven, ^(W)swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

²³ “^(X)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and ^[w]cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You ^(Y)blind guides, who ^[x]strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(Z)you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full ^[y]of robbery and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee, first ^(AA)clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the ^[z]outside of it may also become clean.

²⁷ “^(AB)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “^(AC)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves, that you ^(AD)are ^[aa]sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32 [ab]Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. ³³ You snakes, ^(AE)you ^[ac]offspring of vipers, how ^[ad]will you escape the ^[ae]sentence of ^[af](AF)hell?

³⁴ “^(AG)Therefore, behold, ^(AH)I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will ^(AI)flog in your synagogues, and ^(AJ)persecute from city to city, ³⁵ so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^(AK)Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the ^(AL)son of Berechiah, whom ^(AM)you murdered between the ^[ag]temple and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon ^(AN)this generation.

Grieving over Jerusalem

³⁷ “^(AO)Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who ^(AP)kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, ^(AQ)the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. ³⁸ Behold, ^(AR)your house is being left to you desolate! ³⁹ For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘^(AS)Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!’”