Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Letter to the Church in Sardis

3 To the messenger of the church in Sardis write:

The one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says this:

I know your works. You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen what is left, which is about to die, for I have found that your works are not complete in the sight of my God. ³ Therefore remember what you received and heard. Hold on to it and repent! If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come upon you.

⁴ Yet you have a few names in Sardis, people who have not defiled their clothes. They will walk with me in white clothing, for they are worthy.

⁵ The one who is victorious in this way^[a] will be clothed in white clothing. I certainly will not erase his name from the Book of Life, and I will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.

⁶ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Letter to the Church in Philadelphia

⁷ To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia write:

The Holy One, the one who is true, the one who has the key of David, the one who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one can open, says this:

⁸ I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ Look, I will make those who are from the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not but are lying—look, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them realize that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will also keep you from the hour of testing, which is about to come over the whole inhabited world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown.

¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it again. I will also write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God—and my new name.

¹³ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Letter to the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴ To the messenger of the church in Laodicea write:

The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation, says this:

¹⁵ I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. If only you were cold or hot! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm and not hot or cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, “I am rich. I have become very wealthy and need nothing.” But you do not know that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments, so that you may be clothed and the shame of your nakedness may not become public, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

¹⁹ I rebuke and discipline those whom I love. So take this seriously and repent.

²⁰ Look, I stand at the door and I am knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in with him and dine with him, and he with me. ²¹ To the one who is victorious I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.

²² Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

John’s Vision of God

4 After these things I looked, and there was a door opened in heaven! And the first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.” ² Immediately I was in spirit. And look! A throne was standing in heaven, and someone was sitting on the throne. ³ The one who was sitting there looked like a jasper stone and a ruby.^[b] Around the throne there was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.

⁴ Also around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and sitting on those thrones were twenty-four elders dressed in white garments, with gold crowns on their heads. ⁵ Out of the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and crashes of thunder. In front of the throne seven flaming lamps were burning, which are the seven spirits of God. ⁶ Also in front of the throne was something resembling a glassy sea, which was like crystal.

In the middle, near the throne and around the throne, there were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like an ox, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. ⁸ Each one of the four living creatures had six wings, and the wings were full of eyes all around and underneath.^[c] Day and night, without pause, they keep saying:

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders bow down before him who sits on the throne. They worship the one who lives forever and ever and lay down their crowns in front of his throne as they say: