Book of Common Prayer

Write To Smyrna: You Are Going To Suffer. Be Faithful

⁸ “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna, write— These things says the First and the Last Who became dead and came-to-life. ⁹ I know your affliction, and^[a] poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by the ones saying that they are Jews (and they are not), but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not be fearing at all the things which you are about to suffer. Behold— the devil is going to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested. And you will have affliction for ten days. Be^[b] faithful until^[c] death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ Let the one having an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. The one overcoming will never be harmed by the second death.

Write To Pergamum: You Have Some Holding On To False Teachings. Repent

¹² “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum, write— These things says the One having the sharp double-edged sword. ¹³ I know where you dwell: where Satan’s throne is. And you are holding-on-to My name. And you did not deny My faith^[d], even during the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you where Satan dwells. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you, because you have there ones holding-on-to the teaching of Balaam, who was teaching Balak to put a cause-of-falling before the sons of Israel to eat foods-sacrificed-to-idols and to commit-sexual-immorality. ¹⁵ So you also have ones holding-on-to the teaching of the Nicolaitans likewise. ¹⁶ Therefore repent. Otherwise, I am coming to you^[e] quickly. And I will fight^[f] against them with the sword of My mouth. ¹⁷ Let the one having an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To the one overcoming— I will give him some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white pebble. And having been written upon the pebble is a new name which no one knows except the one^[g] receiving it.

Woe To You, Scribes And Pharisees. You Are Blind Guides. How Will You Escape Hell?

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you are shutting the kingdom of the heavens in-front-of ^[a] people. For you are not entering, nor are you permitting the ones entering to enter. ^{14 [b] 15} Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you go-around the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte. And when he becomes one, you make him a son of Gehenna^[c] double-more than you. ¹⁶ Woe to you, blind guides— the ones saying, ‘Whoever swears-an-oath by the temple, it is nothing. But whoever swears-an-oath by the gold of the temple, he is obligated’. ¹⁷ Foolish and blind ones! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple having sanctified^[d] the gold? ¹⁸ And, ‘Whoever swears-an-oath by the altar, it is nothing. But whoever swears-an-oath by the gift^[e] on it, he is obligated’. ¹⁹ Blind ones! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar sanctifying the gift? ²⁰ Therefore, the one having sworn by the altar is swearing by it and by all the things on it. ²¹ And the one having sworn by the temple is swearing by it and by the One dwelling-in^[f] it. ²² And the one having sworn by heaven is swearing by the throne of God and by the One sitting on it. ²³ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you are giving-a-tenth-of the mint and the dill and the cummin, and you neglected^[g] the weightier things of the Law— the justice, and the mercy, and the faithfulness^[h]. But you ought-to-have done these things, and not be neglecting those things. ²⁴ Blind guides— the ones straining-out^[i] the gnat, but swallowing^[j] the camel! ²⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full from^[k] [your] plundering and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee— first cleanse the inside of the cup, in order that the outside of it may also become clean!