Revelation 2
2
1“Write this to the angel of the Ephesus church: This is what the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand says, the one who walks among the seven golden candlesticks: 2I know what you've accomplished, your hard work and perseverance. I know you can't tolerate evil people, and how you investigated those who claimed to be apostles but are not, and discovered they were frauds. 3I know about your patience, and what you endured for my sake—and that you didn't give up!
4But I have something against you: you have neglected your first love. 5So remember how far you've fallen—repent and go back to what you were doing at first. Otherwise I'll come to you and I will remove your candlestick from where it is—unless you repent. 6However, you do have this to your credit: you hate the actions of the Nicolaitans,#2:6. Nicolaitans: little is known about this group. It is suggested that they taught the physical had no impact on the spiritual, so the kind of life you led was not important. just as I do. 7If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit is telling the churches.#2:7. In other words, if you are able to hear what is said, then listen and pay attention. I will give to those who are victorious the privilege of eating from the tree of life, which stands in the Paradise of God.
8Write this to the angel of the Smyrna church: This is what the first and last says, the one who was dead and came back to life: 9I know the troubles you are going through, and how poor you are (but you are rich), and the abuse from those who say they are Jews but are not, but belong to Satan's synagogue. 10Don't be afraid about what you are going to suffer. Yes, the devil will throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Just remain faithful, even if it means death, and I will give you the crown of life! 11If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit is telling the churches. The second death will not harm those who are victorious.
12Write this to the angel of the Pergamum church: This is what the one holding the sharp two-edged sword says: 13I know you're living where Satan has his throne, and that you have stayed true to me. You have not denied your trust in me, even when my faithful witness Antipas was killed right among you there where Satan lives!
14But I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak#2:14. Referring to the story in Numbers 22 and following. how to entrap the children of Israel by means of eating food sacrificed to idols and committing sexual sins. 15Similarly you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16So repent, or soon I will come to you and fight against them using the sword of my mouth. 17If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit is telling the churches. I will give the hidden manna to those who are victorious. I will give them a white stone with a new name written on it that nobody knows except those who receive it.
18Write this to the angel of the Thyatira church: This is what the Son of God says, the one who has eyes like flaming fire and feet like polished brass. 19I know what you have accomplished, your love and faithfulness and service and perseverance, and that you are doing more now than when you first believed.
20But I have something against you: you are allowing the woman called Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess to teach my followers, leading them astray into sexual sins, and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21I gave her time to repent of her sexual sins, but she's not willing to repent. 22So I'm throwing her into a bed together with her adulterous partners and they will suffer terribly unless they repent of what they have done with her. 23I will put her children to death. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines thoughts and motives.#2:23. “Thoughts and motives”—Literally, “kidneys and hearts.” I will repay each of you according to what you've done.
24For the rest of you there in Thyatira who don't follow this teaching, who have not learned Satan's ‘deep depravities’ as they are called, I don't place on you any other burden. I say to you, 25‘Just hold on to what you have until I come.’ 26I will give authority over the nations to those who are victorious and who do what I say until the end. 27He will rule the nations with an iron rod, breaking them into pieces like clay pots.#2:27. See Psalms 2:8-9. In the same way that I received authority from my Father, 28I will give them the morning star.#2:28. “Morning star”—an ancient reference to the planet Venus, associated with victory. It is also a title given to Christ. 29If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit is telling the churches.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Revelation 2
2
Message to Ephesus
1“Write this to the angel of the church in Ephesus:
These are the words of the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven gold lampstands: 2I know your works, your labor, and your endurance. I also know that you don’t put up with those who are evil. You have tested those who say they are apostles but are not, and you have found them to be liars. 3You have shown endurance and put up with a lot for my name’s sake, and you haven’t gotten tired. 4But I have this against you: you have let go of the love you had at first. 5So remember the high point from which you have fallen. Change your hearts and lives and do the things you did at first. If you don’t, I’m coming to you. I will move your lampstand from its place if you don’t change your hearts and lives. 6But you have this in your favor: you hate what the Nicolaitans are doing, which I also hate. 7If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will allow those who emerge victorious to eat from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.
Message to Smyrna
8“Write this to the angel of the church in Smyrna:
These are the words of the one who is the first and the last, who died and came back to life: 9I know your hardship and poverty (though you are actually rich). I also know the hurtful things that have been spoken about you by those who say they are Jews (though they are not, but are really Satan’s synagogue). 10Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. Look! The devil is going to throw some of you into prison in order to test you. You will suffer hardship for ten days. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Those who emerge victorious won’t be hurt by the second death.
Message to Pergamum
12“Write this to the angel of the church in Pergamum:
These are the words of the one who has the sharp, two-edged sword: 13I know that you are living right where Satan’s throne is. You are holding on to my name, and you didn’t break faith with me even at the time that Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed among you, where Satan lives. 14But I have a few things against you, because you have some there who follow Balaam’s teaching. Balaam had taught Balak to trip up the Israelites so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. 15In the same way, you have some who follow the Nicolaitans’ teaching. 16So change your hearts and lives. If you don’t, I am coming to you soon, and I will make war on them with the sword that comes from my mouth. 17If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will give those who emerge victorious some of the hidden manna to eat. I will also give to each of them a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one knows except the one who receives it.
Message to Thyatira
18“Write this to the angel of the church in Thyatira:
These are the words of God’s Son, whose eyes are like a fiery flame, and whose feet are like fine brass. 19I know your works, your love and faithfulness, your service and endurance. I also know that the works you have done most recently are even greater than those you did at first. 20But I have this against you: you put up with that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. You allow her to teach and to mislead my servants into committing sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. 21I gave her time to change her heart and life, but she refuses to change her life of prostitution. 22Look! I’m throwing her onto a sickbed. I am casting those who have committed adultery with her into terrible hardship—if they don’t change their hearts from following her practices— 23and I will even put her children to death with disease. Then all the churches will know that I’m the one who examines minds and hearts, and that I will give to each of you what your actions deserve. 24As for the rest of you in Thyatira—those of you who don’t follow this teaching and haven’t learned the so-called “deep secrets” of Satan—I won’t burden you with anything else. 25Just hold on to what you have until I come. 26To those who emerge victorious, keeping my practices until the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27to rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like pottery— 28just as I received authority from my Father. I will also give them the morning star. 29If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
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