Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Jesus' message to the believers at Sardis

3 ‘Write this to the angel of the church at Sardis:

“This is the message to you from the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

I know everything that you do. I know that people praise you. They think that you are alive. But that is not true, because really you are dead in your spirits. ² Wake up! You must become strong again. Do not let the little bit of life that you have completely disappear! I know that there are still more things for you to do to please my Father God. ³ So remember God's message that you have heard. Obey what God has said. Turn away from the wrong things that you do. Change the way that you live. If you do not wake up, I will come to punish you. I will come secretly, like someone who robs people. So you will not know what time I will come to you.

⁴ But you have a few people among you in Sardis who have not done these bad things. They are like people who have kept their clothes clean. They will walk with me and they will wear white clothes. They are good people and it is right for them to wear these white clothes. ⁵ Everyone who wins against Satan will wear white clothes like they do. I will never remove their names from God's book of life.^[a] I will say clearly to my Father and his angels that those people belong to me. ⁶ God's Spirit is speaking to you in the churches. You should understand what the Spirit is saying to you. You have ears, so listen carefully!” ’

Jesus' message to the believers at Philadelphia

⁷ ‘Write this to the angel of the church at Philadelphia:

“This is my message to you. I am the one who is completely good, the true God. I have King David's key in my hand.^[b] When I open a door, nobody can shut it. And when I shut a door, nobody can open it.

⁸ I know everything that you do. Look! I have opened a door that is in front of you. Nobody can shut that door. I know that you are not very strong. But you have obeyed what I told you. You have continued to believe in me. ⁹ Some people there say that they are Jews. But that is not true. They are telling lies. Instead, they belong to a group of Satan's people. I will cause those people to bend down low in front of you to give you honour. Then they will understand that I love you. ¹⁰ I have told you to be patient in this difficult time. You have obeyed what I told you. Because of that, I will keep you safe from the time of great trouble that will come. This trouble will come to everyone who lives in the world. It will show me what each person is really like.

¹¹ I will come soon.^[c] Continue to obey my message that you already know. Then nobody can take away your crown which is God's gift to you.^[d]

¹² Everyone who wins against Satan will be safe in God's house. I will make them like a strong pillar in the temple of my God. They will never leave that place again. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of his city. The name of that city is the new Jerusalem.^[e] It will come down from heaven. My God will send it down to the earth. I will also write my new name on those people. ¹³ God's Spirit is speaking to you in the churches. You should understand what the Spirit is saying to you. You have ears, so listen carefully!” ’

Jesus' message to the believers at Laodicea

¹⁴ ‘Write this to the angel of the church at Laodicea:

“This is my message to you. I am the one whose name is ‘Amen’.^[f] I faithfully tell people God's true message. Everything that God has created starts with me.

¹⁵ I know everything that you do. I know that you are neither cold nor hot. It would be better if you were either cold or hot. ¹⁶ But you are only warm. Because you are neither cold nor hot, I am ready to throw you away completely.^[g]

¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich. God has helped me to have many things. I do not need anything more.’ But you do not know how very poor you are really! You are like people who cannot see. You are like people who are without clothes. Really, other people should feel very sorry for you. ¹⁸ So I tell you that you should buy gold from me. With my gold, you would be really rich. My gold is the best, because it has been through fire. You should also buy white clothes from me to dress yourselves. Then you will not be ashamed because you have no clothes. You should also buy medicine from me to put on your eyes. Then you will be able to see well.^[h]

¹⁹ I help everyone that I love. When they have done wrong things, I tell them, ‘You have done a wrong thing.’ I show them the right thing that they should do. So be serious about how you live. Stop doing wrong things and turn to me. ²⁰ Look! I am standing at the door of your house. I am knocking on your door. When you hear my voice, you should open the door. Then I will come in. We will eat a meal together as friends.

²¹ Everyone who wins against Satan will come to sit with me on my throne where I rule. I won against my enemies. Then I sat down with my Father on his throne. I will give you the same authority. ²² God's Spirit is speaking to you in the churches. You should understand what the Spirit is saying to you. You have ears, so listen carefully!” ’

God on his throne

4 After this, I looked. There in front of me was an open door in heaven. I heard the same voice that I had heard before. It spoke like the sound of a trumpet. It said to me, ‘Come up here. I will show you the things that must happen after this.’

² Immediately God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear more things. I saw a throne in heaven, with someone sitting on it. ³ The person who sat there shone with bright red and white light, like jewels called jasper and ruby. Around the throne there was a rainbow that shone with bright green light like an emerald jewel. ⁴ All around the throne there were 24 other thrones. 24 leaders were sitting on these thrones. They were wearing white clothes and they had gold crowns on their heads. ⁵ A storm with bright lightning came from the throne. There was the loud noise of thunder. In front of the throne there were seven lights of fire burning brightly. These lights are the seven spirits of God.^{[i] 6} Also in front of the throne there was something like a sea of glass that shone with light.

In the middle, round the throne, there were four other beings that were alive. They had eyes all over them, on their fronts and on their backs. ⁷ The first of these beings was like a lion. The second being was like an ox. The third being had a face like a man's face. And the fourth being was like an eagle that was flying. ⁸ Each of these four beings had six wings. They had eyes all over them, even under their wings. All day and all night they never stop saying:

⁹ God sits on the throne and he is alive for ever. The four beings that are alive worship him and they thank him. ¹⁰ When they do this, the 24 leaders bend down to the ground. They also worship the Lord God, who sits on the throne and is alive for ever. They put their crowns in front of God's throne, and they praise him. They say: