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R EVEL ATION 3
page 1153
19 “I
know all the things you do. I have seen
your love, your faith, your service, and
your patient endurance. And I can see your
constant improvement in all these things.
20 “But I have this complaint against you.
You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel
who calls herself a prophet—to lead my
servants astray. She teaches them to commit
sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.
21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not
want to turn away from her immorality.
22 “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of
suffering,* and those who commit adultery
with her will suffer greatly unless they
repent and turn away from her evil deeds.
23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the
churches will know that I am the one who
searches out the thoughts and intentions of
every person. And I will give to each of you
whatever you deserve.
24 “But I also have a message for the rest
of you in Thyatira who have not followed
this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they
call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will
ask nothing more of you 25 except that you
hold tightly to what you have until I come.
26 To all who are victorious, who obey me to
the very end,
27
To them I will give authority over all
the nations.
They will rule the nations with an
iron rod
and smash them like clay pots.*
28 They
will have the same authority I
received from my Father, and I will also
give them the morning star!
29 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to
the Spirit and understand what he is saying
to the churches.
The Message to the Church in Sardis
“Write this letter to the angel* of the church
in Sardis. This is the message from the one
who has the sevenfold Spirit* of God and the
seven stars:
3
“I know all the things you do, and that you
have a reputation for being alive—but you
are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what little
remains, for even what is left is almost dead.
I find that your actions do not meet the
requirements of my God. 3 Go back to what
you heard and believed at first; hold to it
firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you
don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly,
as unexpected as a thief.
4 “Yet there are some in the church in
Sardis who have not soiled their clothes
2:22 Greek a bed. 2:26-27 Ps 2:8-9 (Greek version). 3:1a Or
the messenger; also in 3:7, 14. 3:1b Greek the seven spirits.
3:7 Isa 22:22. 3:11 Or suddenly, or quickly.
with evil. They will walk with me in white,
for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious
will be clothed in white. I will never erase
their names from the Book of Life, but I will
announce before my Father and his angels
that they are mine.
6 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to
the Spirit and understand what he is saying
to the churches.
— promises —
from God
“All who are victorious will
be clothed in white. I will
never erase their names
from the Book of Life,
but I will announce . . .
that they are mine.”
R E V E L AT I O N 3:5
The Message to the Church in Philadelphia
7 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in
Philadelphia.
This is the message from the one who is
holy and true,
the one who has the key of David.
What he opens, no one can close;
and what he closes, no one can open:*
8 “I
know all the things you do, and I have
opened a door for you that no one can close.
You have little strength, yet you obeyed my
word and did not deny me. 9 Look, I will force
those who belong to Satan’s synagogue—
those liars who say they are Jews but are
not—to come and bow down at your feet.
They will acknowledge that you are the
ones I love.
10 “Because you have obeyed my
command to persevere, I will protect you
from the great time of testing that will come
upon the whole world to test those who
belong to this world. 11 I am coming soon.*
Hold on to what you have, so that no one
will take away your crown. 12 All who are
victorious will become pillars in the Temple
of my God, and they will never have to leave
it. And I will write on them the name of my
God, and they will be citizens in the city
of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes
down from heaven from my God. And I will
also write on them my new name.
13 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to
the Spirit and understand what he is saying
to the churches.