Revelation 2

English Standard Version

To the Church in Ephesus

2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of ^(A)him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, ^(B)who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

²^(C)“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but ^(D)have tested those ^(E)who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up ^(F)for my name's sake, and you ^(G)have not grown weary. ⁴But I have this against you, that you have abandoned ^(H)the love you had at first. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do ^(I)the works you did at first. If not, ^(J)I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. ⁶Yet this you have: you hate the works of ^(K)the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷^(L)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(M)To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of ^(N)the tree of life, which is in ^(O)the paradise of God.’

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of ^(P)the first and the last, ^(Q)who died and came to life.

⁹“‘I know your tribulation and ^(R)your poverty (^(S)but you are rich) and the slander^[a] of ^(T)those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, ^(U)that you may be tested, and for ^(V)ten days ^(W)you will have tribulation. ^(X)Be faithful ^(Y)unto death, and I will give you ^(Z)the crown of life. ¹¹^(AA)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(AB)The one who conquers will not be hurt by ^(AC)the second death.’

To the Church in Pergamum

¹²“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has ^(AD)the sharp two-edged sword.

¹³“‘I know where you dwell, ^(AE)where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not ^(AF)deny my faith^[b] even in the days of Antipas ^(AG)my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of ^(AH)Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might ^(AI)eat food sacrificed to idols and ^(AJ)practice sexual immorality. ¹⁵So also you have some who hold the teaching of ^(AK)the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Therefore repent. If not, ^(AL)I will come to you soon and ^(AM)war against them with ^(AN)the sword of my mouth. ¹⁷^(AO)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(AP)To the one who conquers I will give some of ^(AQ)the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with ^(AR)a new name written on the stone ^(AS)that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, ^(AT)who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

¹⁹^(AU)“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. ²⁰But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman ^(AV)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants ^(AW)to practice sexual immorality and ^(AX)to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹I gave her time to repent, but ^(AY)she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ²²Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, ²³and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he ^(AZ)who searches mind and heart, and ^(BA)I will give to each of you according to your works. ²⁴But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ^(BB)the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I ^(BC)do not lay on you any other burden. ²⁵Only hold fast ^(BD)what you have until I come. ²⁶^(BE)The one who conquers and who keeps my works ^(BF)until the end, ^(BG)to him I will give authority over the nations, ²⁷and ^(BH)he will ^(BI)rule^[c] them with a rod of iron, ^(BJ)as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. ²⁸And I will give him ^(BK)the morning star. ²⁹^(BL)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Footnotes

Revelation 2:9 Greek blasphemy
Revelation 2:13 Or your faith in me
Revelation 2:27 Greek shepherd

Psalm 124

English Standard Version

Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.

124 ^(B)If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—
    ^(C)let Israel now say—
²if it had not been the Lord who was on our side
    when people rose up against us,
³then they would have ^(D)swallowed us up alive,
    when their anger was kindled against us;
⁴then ^(E)the flood would have ^(F)swept us away,
    the torrent would have gone ^(G)over us;
⁵then over us would have gone
    the raging waters.

⁶Blessed be the Lord,
    who has not given us
    as prey to their teeth!
⁷We have escaped like a bird
    from ^(H)the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
    and we have escaped!

⁸^(I)Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

Jeremiah 10-12

English Standard Version

Idols and the Living God

10 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. ²Thus says the Lord:

“Learn not the way of the nations,
    nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
    because the nations are dismayed at them,
³^(A)for the customs of the peoples are vanity.^[a]
^(B)A tree from the forest is cut down
    and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
⁴^(C)They decorate it with silver and gold;
    ^(D)they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so that it cannot move.
⁵Their idols^[b] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
    and ^(E)they cannot speak;
^(F)they have to be carried,
    for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
    ^(G)for they cannot do evil,
    neither is it in them to do good.”

⁶^(H)There is none like you, O Lord;
    you are great, and your name is great in might.
⁷^(I)Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
    For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
    and in all their kingdoms
    there is none like you.
⁸^(J)They are both ^(K)stupid and foolish;
    the instruction of idols is but wood!
⁹^(L)Beaten silver is brought from ^(M)Tarshish,
    and gold from ^(N)Uphaz.
^(O)They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
    their clothing is violet and purple;
    ^(P)they are all the work of skilled men.
¹⁰^(Q)But the Lord is the true God;
    ^(R)he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
    and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

¹¹Thus shall you say to them: ^(S)“The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth ^(T)shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”^[c]

¹²^(U)It is he who ^(V)made the earth by his power,
    ^(W)who established the world by his wisdom,
    and ^(X)by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
¹³^(Y)When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
    ^(Z)and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
^(AA)He makes lightning ^(AB)for the rain,
    ^(AC)and he brings forth the wind ^(AD)from his storehouses.
¹⁴^(AE)Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
    ^(AF)every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
    ^(AG)and there is no breath in them.
¹⁵They are worthless, a work of delusion;
    at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
¹⁶Not like these is he who is ^(AH)the portion of Jacob,
    for he is the one who formed all things,
^(AI)and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
    ^(AJ)the Lord of hosts is his name.

¹⁷^(AK)Gather up your bundle from the ground,
    O you who dwell under siege!
¹⁸For thus says the Lord:
^(AL)“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
    at this time,
^(AM)and I will bring distress on them,
    that they may feel it.”

¹⁹Woe is me because of my hurt!
    ^(AN)My wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,
    and I must bear it.”
²⁰^(AO)My tent is destroyed,
    and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
    ^(AP)and they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent again
    and ^(AQ)to set up my curtains.
²¹^(AR)For the shepherds ^(AS)are stupid
    and do not inquire of the Lord;
therefore they have not prospered,
    ^(AT)and all their flock is scattered.

²²A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—
^(AU)a great commotion out of the north country
to make ^(AV)the cities of Judah a desolation,
^(AW)a lair of jackals.

²³^(AX)I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
²⁴^(AY)Correct me, O Lord, but in justice;
not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

²⁵^(AZ)Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,
    and on the peoples that call not on your name,
^(BA)for they have devoured Jacob;
    they have devoured him and consumed him,
    and have laid waste his habitation.

The Broken Covenant

11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²^(BB)“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^(BC)Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant ⁴that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, ^(BD)from the iron furnace, saying, ^(BE)Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. ^(BF)So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, ⁵^(BG)that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, ^(BH)to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”

⁶And the Lord said to me, ^(BI)“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ^(BJ)Hear the words of this covenant and do them. ⁷For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, ^(BK)warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, ^(BL)Obey my voice. ⁸^(BM)Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, ^(BN)but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all ^(BO)the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

⁹Again the Lord said to me, ^(BP)“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have turned back to ^(BQ)the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. ^(BR)They have gone after other gods to serve them. ^(BS)The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. ¹¹Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. ^(BT)Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. ¹²Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(BU)will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, ^(BV)but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. ¹³^(BW)For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, ^(BX)altars to make offerings to Baal.

¹⁴“Therefore ^(BY)do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ^(BZ)for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. ¹⁵^(CA)What right has my beloved in my house, ^(CB)when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? ^(CC)Can you then exult? ¹⁶The Lord once called you ^(CD)‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But ^(CE)with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and ^(CF)its branches will be consumed. ¹⁷The Lord of hosts, ^(CG)who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, ^(CH)provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

¹⁸The Lord made it known to me and I knew;
    then you showed me their deeds.
¹⁹But I was ^(CI)like a gentle lamb
    led to the slaughter.
I did not know ^(CJ)it was against me
    they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
    ^(CK)let us cut him off from ^(CL)the land of the living,
    that his name be remembered no more.”
²⁰But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,
    who ^(CM)tests ^(CN)the heart and the mind,
^(CO)let me see your vengeance upon them,
    for to you have I committed my cause.

²¹Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of ^(CP)Anathoth, ^(CQ)who seek your life, and say, ^(CR)“Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand”— ²²therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, ²³and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of ^(CS)Anathoth, ^(CT)the year of their punishment.”

Jeremiah's Complaint

12 ^(CU)Righteous are you, O Lord,
    when I complain to you;
    yet I would plead my case before you.
^(CV)Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
    Why do all ^(CW)who are treacherous thrive?
²You plant them, and they take root;
    they grow and produce fruit;
^(CX)you are near in their mouth
    and far from their heart.
³^(CY)But you, O Lord, know me;
    ^(CZ)you see me, and test my heart toward you.
^(DA)Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
    and set them apart for ^(DB)the day of slaughter.
⁴^(DC)How long will the land mourn
    and the grass of every field wither?
^(DD)For the evil of those who dwell in it
    ^(DE)the beasts and the birds are swept away,
    because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

⁵“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
    how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
    what will you do in ^(DF)the thicket of the Jordan?
⁶For ^(DG)even your brothers and the house of your father,
    ^(DH)even they have dealt treacherously with you;
    they are in full cry after you;
^(DI)do not believe them,
    though they speak friendly words to you.”

⁷“I have forsaken my house;
    I have abandoned ^(DJ)my heritage;
I have given ^(DK)the beloved of my soul
    into the hands of her enemies.
⁸^(DL)My heritage has become to me
    like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
    therefore I hate her.
⁹Is ^(DM)my heritage to me like ^(DN)a hyena's lair?
    Are the ^(DO)birds of prey against her all around?
Go, ^(DP)assemble all the wild beasts;
    bring them to devour.
¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
    ^(DQ)they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
    a desolate wilderness.
¹¹They have made it a desolation;
    desolate, ^(DR)it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
    ^(DS)but no man lays it to heart.
¹²Upon all the bare heights in the desert
    destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
    from one end of the land to the other;
    no flesh has peace.
¹³^(DT)They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
    ^(DU)they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their^[d] harvests
    ^(DV)because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

¹⁴Thus says the Lord concerning all ^(DW)my evil neighbors ^(DX)who touch the heritage that ^(DY)I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. ¹⁵And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, ^(DZ)and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. ¹⁶And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, ^(EA)to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, ^(EB)then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. ¹⁷^(EC)But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”