Revelation 2
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
‘To the angel of the church in Ephesus write These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, and walks among the seven golden lamps:
2 I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles.
I know your life, your toil and endurance, and I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers. I know, too, how you tested those who declare that they are apostles, though they are not, and how you proved them false.
3 Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.
You possess endurance, and have borne much for my name, and have never grown weary.
4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.
But this I have against you – You have abandoned your first love.
5 Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Therefore remember from what you have fallen, and repent, and live the life that you lived before; or else, I will come and remove your Lamp from its place, unless you repent.
6 But you have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
But this is in your favour – You hate the life lived by the Nikolaitans, and I also hate it.
7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
Anyone with ears should hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To him who conquers – to him I will give the right to eat the fruit of the Tree of life, which stands in the Paradise of God.
8 To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.
‘To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died, but is restored to life:
9 I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
I know your persecution and your poverty – yet you are rich! I know, too, the slander that comes from those who declare that they are God’s people, though they are not, but are a congregation of Satan.
10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tempted, and may undergo persecution for ten days. Be faithful even to death, and I will give you the Crown of life.
11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.
Let those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Those who conquer will suffer no hurt from the Second Death.
12 To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of the One who holds the sharp, double-edged sword.
‘To the angel of the church in Pergamus write: These are the words of him who holds the sharp two-edged sword:
13 I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
I know where you live, where the throne of Satan stands. And yet you hold to my name, and you did not disown my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death among you where Satan dwells.
14 But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.
Yet I have a few things against you – You have among you those who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put temptations in the way of the Israelites, so that they should eat idol-offerings and commit licentious acts.
15 In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Again you have among you those who hold in the same way to the teaching of the Nikolaitans.
16 Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.
Therefore repent, or else, I will come quickly and contend with such people with words that will cut like a sword.
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.
Let those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To those who conquer – to them I will give a share of the mystic manna, and I will give them a white stone; and on the stone will be inscribed a new name, which no one knows except the person who receives it.
18 To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.
‘To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like flaming fire, and whose feet are like brass:
19 I know your deeds—your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance—and your latter deeds are greater than your first.
I know your life, your love, faith, service, and endurance; and I know that your life of late has been better than it was at first.
20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
Yet I have this against you – You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who declares that she is a prophet, and misleads my servants by her teaching, until they commit licentious acts and eat idol-offerings.
21 Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
I gave her time to repent, but she is determined not to turn from her licentiousness.
22 Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds.
Therefore I am laying her on a bed of sickness, and bringing great suffering on those who are unfaithful with her, unless they repent and turn from a life like hers.
23 Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
I will also put her children to death; and all the churches will learn that I am he who looks into people’s hearts and souls; and I will give to each one of you what their life deserves.
24 But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan: I will place no further burden upon you.
But I say to the rest of you at Thyatira – all who do not accept such teaching, whose who did not learn the secrets of Satan, as people call them – I am not laying on you any further burden;
25 Nevertheless, hold fast to what you have until I come.
only hold fast to what you have received, until I come.
26 And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations.
To those who conquer and are careful to live my life to the end – to them I will give authority over the nations,
27 He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery —just as I have received authority from My Father.
and they will rule them with an iron rod, as when earthen vessels are broken in pieces (as I myself have received from my Father)
28 And I will give him the morning star.
and I will give them the morning star.
29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Let those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
