To the Church in Sardis

3 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him ^(A)who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation ^(B)of being alive, ^(C)but you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works ^(D)complete in the sight of my God. ^3 (E)Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, ^(F)I will come ^(G)like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. ⁴ Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not ^(H)soiled their garments, and they will walk with me ^(I)in white, for they are ^(J)worthy. ^5 (K)The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never ^(L)blot his name out of ^(M)the book of life. ^(N)I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. ^6 (O)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Philadelphia

⁷ “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of ^(P)the holy one, ^(Q)the true one, ^(R)who has the key of David, ^(S)who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

⁸ “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you ^(T)an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ Behold, I will make those of ^(U)the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, ^(V)I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that ^(W)I have loved you. ^10 (X)Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try ^(Y)those who dwell on the earth. ^11 (Z)I am coming soon. ^(AA)Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize ^(AB)your crown. ^12 (AC)The one who conquers, I will make him ^(AD)a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him ^(AE)the name of my God, and ^(AF)the name of the city of my God, ^(AG)the new Jerusalem, ^(AH)which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own ^(AI)new name. ^13 (AJ)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Laodicea

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

¹⁵ “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. ^(AN)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 (AO)For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, ^(AP)blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you ^(AQ)to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and ^(AR)white garments so that you may clothe yourself and ^(AS)the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, ^(AT)so that you may see. ^19 (AU)Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and ^(AV)knock. ^(AW)If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, ^(AX)I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. ^21 (AY)The one who conquers, ^(AZ)I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as ^(BA)I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. ^22 (BB)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

The First Beast

13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, ^(A)with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and ^(B)blasphemous names on its heads. ² And the beast that I saw was ^(C)like a leopard; its feet were like ^(D)a bear's, and its mouth was like ^(E)a lion's mouth. And to it ^(F)the dragon gave his power and ^(G)his throne and great authority. ³ One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and ^(H)the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. ⁴ And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^(I)“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵ And the beast was given ^(J)a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^(K)forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,^[a] that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ Also it was allowed ^(L)to make war on the saints and to conquer them.^[b] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, ⁸ and all ^(M)who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in ^(N)the book of life of ^(O)the Lamb ^(P)who was slain. ^9 (Q)If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

^(T)Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

¹¹ Then ^(U)I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. ¹² It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,^[c] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, ^(V)whose mortal wound was healed. ^13 (W)It performs great signs, even ^(X)making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, ¹⁴ and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of^[d] the beast ^(Y)it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast ^(Z)that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵ And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not ^(AA)worship the image of the beast ^(AB)to be slain. ¹⁶ Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,^{[e] (AC)}to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, ¹⁷ so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, ^(AD)the name of the beast or ^(AE)the number of its name. ^18 (AF)This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number ^(AG)of a man, and his number is 666.^[f]

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17 Then ^(A)one of the seven angels who had ^(B)the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of ^(C)the great prostitute ^(D)who is seated on many waters, ^2 (E)with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and ^(F)with the wine of whose sexual immorality ^(G)the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” ³ And ^(H)he carried me away in the Spirit ^(I)into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ^(J)a scarlet beast that was full of ^(K)blasphemous names, and ^(L)it had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(M)was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned ^(N)with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ^(O)a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead was written a name of ^(P)mystery: ^(Q)“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” ⁶ And I saw the woman, drunk ^(R)with the blood of the saints, the blood of ^(S)the martyrs of Jesus.^[a]

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. ⁷ But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you ^(T)the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw ^(U)was, and is not, and ^(V)is about to rise from ^(W)the bottomless pit^[b] and ^(X)go to destruction. And ^(Y)the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in ^(Z)the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because ^(AA)it was and is not and is to come. ^9 (AB)This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; ¹⁰ they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. ¹¹ As for the beast ^(AC)that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. ¹² And ^(AD)the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings ^(AE)for one hour, together with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ They ^(AF)will make war on the Lamb, and ^(AG)the Lamb will conquer them, for he is ^(AH)Lord of lords and ^(AI)King of kings, and those with him are ^(AJ)called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And the angel^[c] said to me, ^(AK)“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And ^(AL)the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast ^(AM)will hate the prostitute. They will make her ^(AN)desolate and ^(AO)naked, and ^(AP)devour her flesh and ^(AQ)burn her up with fire, ¹⁷ for ^(AR)God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and ^(AS)handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is ^(AT)the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”