To the Church in Ephesus

“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.

(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. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up (F)for my name's sake, and you (G)have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned (H)the love you had at first. Remember 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. Yet this you have: you hate the works of (K)the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (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

“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.

“‘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. 10 Do 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. 14 But 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. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of (AK)the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore 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. 20 But 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. 21 I gave her time to repent, but (AY)she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, 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, 23 and 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. 24 But 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. 25 Only 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, 27 and (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. 28 And 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

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

To the Church in Ephesus

“To the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus(A) write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand(B) and walks among the seven golden lampstands.(C) I know your deeds,(D) your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested(E) those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.(F) You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name,(G) and have not grown weary.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.(H) Consider how far you have fallen! Repent(I) and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand(J) from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans,(K) which I also hate.

Whoever has ears, let them hear(L) what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious,(M) I will give the right to eat from the tree of life,(N) which is in the paradise(O) of God.

To the Church in Smyrna

“To the angel of the church in Smyrna(P) write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last,(Q) who died and came to life again.(R) I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!(S) I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not,(T) but are a synagogue of Satan.(U) 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you,(V) and you will suffer persecution for ten days.(W) Be faithful,(X) even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.(Y)

11 Whoever has ears, let them hear(Z) what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.(AA)

To the Church in Pergamum

12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum(AB) write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.(AC) 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me,(AD) not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness,(AE) who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.(AF)

14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you:(AG) There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam,(AH) who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols(AI) and committed sexual immorality.(AJ) 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.(AK) 16 Repent(AL) therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.(AM)

17 Whoever has ears, let them hear(AN) what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious,(AO) I will give some of the hidden manna.(AP) I will also give that person a white stone with a new name(AQ) written on it, known only to the one who receives it.(AR)

To the Church in Thyatira

18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira(AS) write:

These are the words of the Son of God,(AT) whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.(AU) 19 I know your deeds,(AV) your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel,(AW) who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.(AX) 21 I have given her time(AY) to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.(AZ) 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery(BA) with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds,(BB) and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.(BC)

24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you,(BD) 25 except to hold on to what you have(BE) until I come.’(BF)

26 To the one who is victorious(BG) and does my will to the end,(BH) I will give authority over the nations(BI) 27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter(BJ) and will dash them to pieces like pottery’[b](BK)—just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give that one the morning star.(BL) 29 Whoever has ears, let them hear(BM) what the Spirit says to the churches.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 2:1 Or messenger; also in verses 8, 12 and 18
  2. Revelation 2:27 Psalm 2:9

1. Efeso

All'angelo della Chiesa di Efeso scrivi: Così parla Colui che tiene le sette stelle nella sua destra e cammina in mezzo ai sette candelabri d'oro: Conosco le tue opere, la tua fatica e la tua costanza, per cui non puoi sopportare i cattivi; li hai messi alla prova - quelli che si dicono apostoli e non lo sono - e li hai trovati bugiardi. Sei costante e hai molto sopportato per il mio nome, senza stancarti. Ho però da rimproverarti che hai abbandonato il tuo amore di prima. Ricorda dunque da dove sei caduto, ravvediti e compi le opere di prima. Se non ti ravvederai, verrò da te e rimuoverò il tuo candelabro dal suo posto. Tuttavia hai questo di buono, che detesti le opere dei Nicolaìti, che anch'io detesto.

Chi ha orecchi, ascolti ciò che lo Spirito dice alle Chiese: Al vincitore darò da mangiare dell'albero della vita, che sta nel paradiso di Dio.

2. Smirne

All'angelo della Chiesa di Smirne scrivi:

Così parla il Primo e l'Ultimo, che era morto ed è tornato alla vita: Conosco la tua tribolazione, la tua povertà - tuttavia sei ricco - e la calunnia da parte di quelli che si proclamano Giudei e non lo sono, ma appartengono alla sinagoga di satana. 10 Non temere ciò che stai per soffrire: ecco, il diavolo sta per gettare alcuni di voi in carcere, per mettervi alla prova e avrete una tribolazione per dieci giorni. Sii fedele fino alla morte e ti darò la corona della vita.

11 Chi ha orecchi, ascolti ciò che lo Spirito dice alle Chiese: Il vincitore non sarà colpito dalla seconda morte.

3. Pergamo

12 All'angelo della Chiesa di Pèrgamo scrivi:

Così parla Colui che ha la spada affilata a due tagli: 13 So che abiti dove satana ha il suo trono; tuttavia tu tieni saldo il mio nome e non hai rinnegato la mia fede neppure al tempo in cui Antìpa, il mio fedele testimone, fu messo a morte nella vostra città, dimora di satana. 14 Ma ho da rimproverarti alcune cose: hai presso di te seguaci della dottrina di Balaàm, il quale insegnava a Balak a provocare la caduta dei figli d'Israele, spingendoli a mangiare carni immolate agli idoli e ad abbandonarsi alla fornicazione. 15 Così pure hai di quelli che seguono la dottrina dei Nicolaìti. 16 Ravvediti dunque; altrimenti verrò presto da te e combatterò contro di loro con la spada della mia bocca.

17 Chi ha orecchi, ascolti ciò che lo Spirito dice alle Chiese: Al vincitore darò la manna nascosta e una pietruzza bianca sulla quale sta scritto un nome nuovo, che nessuno conosce all'infuori di chi la riceve.

4. Tiatira

18 All'angelo della Chiesa di Tiàtira scrivi:

Così parla il Figlio di Dio, Colui che ha gli occhi fiammeggianti come fuoco e i piedi simili a bronzo splendente. 19 Conosco le tue opere, la carità, la fede, il servizio e la costanza e so che le tue ultime opere sono migliori delle prime. 20 Ma ho da rimproverarti che lasci fare a Iezabèle, la donna che si spaccia per profetessa e insegna e seduce i miei servi inducendoli a darsi alla fornicazione e a mangiare carni immolate agli idoli. 21 Io le ho dato tempo per ravvedersi, ma essa non si vuol ravvedere dalla sua dissolutezza. 22 Ebbene, io getterò lei in un letto di dolore e coloro che commettono adulterio con lei in una grande tribolazione, se non si ravvederanno dalle opere che ha loro insegnato. 23 Colpirò a morte i suoi figli e tutte le Chiese sapranno che io sono Colui che scruta gli affetti e i pensieri degli uomini, e darò a ciascuno di voi secondo le proprie opere. 24 A voi di Tiàtira invece che non seguite questa dottrina, che non avete conosciuto le profondità di satana - come le chiamano - non imporrò altri pesi; 25 ma quello che possedete tenetelo saldo fino al mio ritorno. 26 Al vincitore che persevera sino alla fine nelle mie opere,

darò autorità sopra le nazioni;
27 le pascolerà con bastone di ferro
e le frantumerà come vasi di terracotta,

28 con la stessa autorità che a me fu data dal Padre mio e darò a lui la stella del mattino. 29 Chi ha orecchi, ascolti ciò che lo Spirito dice alle Chiese.