Revelation 2:12-17

Contemporary English Version

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.^[a] But you have kept true to my name. Right there where Satan lives, my faithful witness Antipas^[b] was taken from you and put to death. Even then you did not give up your faith in me.

¹⁴^(A) I do have a few things against you. Some of you are following the teaching of Balaam.^[c] 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.^[d] ¹⁶Turn back! If you don't, I will come quickly and fight against these people. And my words will cut like a sword.

¹⁷^(B) 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.^[e] I will also give each one a white stone^[f] with a new name^[g] written on it. No one will know that name except the one who is given the stone.

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Footnotes

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.