The Letter to Sardis

3 This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Sardis:

I have the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Listen to what I say.

I know what you are doing. Everyone may think you are alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up! You have only a little strength left, and it is almost gone. So try to become stronger. I have found that you are not completely obeying God. ^3 (A) Remember the teaching you were given and heard. Hold firmly to it and turn from your sins. If you don't wake up, I will come when you least expect it, just as a thief does.

⁴ A few of you in Sardis have not dirtied your clothes with sin. You will walk with me in white clothes, because you are worthy. ^5 (B) Everyone who wins the victory will wear white clothes. Their names will not be erased from the book of life,^[a] and I will tell my Father and his angels that they are my followers.

⁶ If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

The Letter to Philadelphia

^7 (C) This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia:

I am the one who is holy and true, and I have the keys that belonged to David.^[b] When I open a door, no one can close it. And when I close a door, no one can open it. Listen to what I say.

⁸ I know everything you have done. And I have placed before you an open door no one can close. You were not very strong, but you obeyed my message and did not deny you are my followers.^{[c] 9 (D)} Now you will see what I will do with those people who belong to Satan's group. They claim to be God's people, but they are liars. I will make them come and kneel down at your feet. Then they will know that I love you.

¹⁰ You obeyed my message and endured. So I will protect you from the time of testing everyone in all the world must go through. ¹¹ I am coming soon. So hold firmly to what you have, and no one will take away the crown you will be given as your reward.

^12 (E) Everyone who wins the victory will be made into a pillar in the temple of my God, and they will stay there forever. I will write on each of them the name of my God and the name of his city. It is the new Jerusalem my God will send down from heaven. I will also write on them my own new name.

¹³ If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

The Letter to Laodicea

^14 (F) This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Laodicea:

I am the one called Amen!^[d] I am the faithful and true witness and the source^[e] of God's creation. Listen to what I say.

¹⁵ I know everything you have done, and you are not cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other. ¹⁶ But since you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You claim to be rich and successful and to have everything you need. But you don't know how bad off you really are. You are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

¹⁸ Buy your gold from me. It has been refined in a fire, and it will make you rich. Buy white clothes from me. Wear them and you can cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy medicine for your eyes, so you will be able to see.

^19 (G) I correct and punish everyone I love. So make up your minds to turn away from your sins. ²⁰ Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together. ²¹ Everyone who wins the victory will sit with me on my throne, just as I won the victory and sat with my Father on his throne.

²² If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Nehemiah's Enemies

4 When Sanballat, the governor of Samaria, heard that we were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, he became angry and started insulting our people. ² In front of his friends and the Samaritan army he said, “What is this feeble bunch of Jews trying to do? Are they going to rebuild the wall and offer sacrifices all in one day? Do they think they can make something out of this pile of scorched stones?”

³ Tobiah from Ammon was standing beside Sanballat and said, “Look at the wall they are building! Why, even a fox could knock over this pile of stones.”

⁴ But I prayed, “Our God, these people hate us and have wished horrible things for us. Please answer our prayers and make their insults fall on them! Let them be the ones to be dragged away as prisoners of war. ⁵ Don't forgive the mean and evil way they have insulted the builders.”

⁶ The people worked hard, and we built the walls of Jerusalem halfway up again. ⁷ But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from the city of Ashdod saw the walls going up and the holes being repaired. So they became angry ⁸ and decided to stir up trouble, and to fight against the people of Jerusalem. ⁹ But we kept on praying to our God, and we also stationed guards day and night.

¹⁰ Meanwhile, the people of Judah were singing a sorrowful song:

¹¹ Our enemies were saying, “Before those Jews know what has happened, we will sneak up and kill them and put an end to their work.”

¹² On at least ten different occasions, the Jews living near our enemies warned us against attacks from every side,^{[a] 13} and so I sent people to guard the wall at its lowest places and where there were still holes in it. I placed them according to families, and they stood guard with swords and spears and with bows and arrows. ¹⁴ Then I looked things over and told the leaders, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don't be afraid of your enemies! The Lord is great and fearsome. So think of him and fight for your relatives and children, your wives and homes!”

¹⁵ Our enemies found out that we knew about their plot against us, but God kept them from doing what they had planned. So we went back to work on the wall.

¹⁶ From then on, I let half of the young men work while the other half stood guard. They wore armor and had spears and shields, as well as bows and arrows. The leaders helped the workers ¹⁷ who were rebuilding the wall. Everyone who hauled building materials kept one hand free to carry a weapon. ¹⁸ Even the workers who were rebuilding the wall strapped on a sword. The worker who was to blow the signal trumpet stayed with me.

¹⁹ I told the people and their officials and leaders, “Our work is so spread out, that we are a long way from one another. ²⁰ If you hear the sound of the trumpet, come quickly and gather around me. Our God will help us fight.”

²¹ Every day from dawn to dark, half of the workers rebuilt the walls, while the rest stood guard with their spears.

²² I asked the men in charge and their workers to stay inside Jerusalem and stand guard at night. So they guarded the city at night and worked during the day. ²³ I even slept in my work clothes at night; my relatives, the workers, and the guards slept in theirs as well. And we always kept our weapons close by.^[b]

The Lord Works Miracles