To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴ “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the ^(A)Amen, ^(B)the faithful and true witness, ^(C)the beginning of God's creation.

¹⁵ “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. ^(D)Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. ^17 (E)For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, ^(F)blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you ^(G)to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and ^(H)white garments so that you may clothe yourself and ^(I)the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, ^(J)so that you may see. ^19 (K)Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and ^(L)knock. ^(M)If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, ^(N)I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. ^21 (O)The one who conquers, ^(P)I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as ^(Q)I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. ^22 (R)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

⁶ But ^(A)godliness ^(B)with contentment is great gain, ⁷ for ^(C)we brought nothing into the world, and^[a] we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸ But ^(D)if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹ But ^(E)those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, ^(F)into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that ^(G)plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of ^(H)all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.