Revelation 2

¹To the angel of the ekklesia in Ephesus write: “These things says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:

²I know your works, both your toil and your patient endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles—though they are not—and you found them to be liars. ³You possess patient endurance and have borne up for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary. ⁴But I have this against you: you have abandoned your first love. ⁵Remember, then, from what heights you have fallen! Reorient your heart and do the works you did at first. If you do not, I am coming to you and I will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you change your heart. ⁶But you do have this: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷Let the one who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the ekklesiai. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

⁸And to the angel of the ekklesia in Smyrna write: “These things says the First and the Last, who became dead and came to life:

⁹I know your crushing pressure and your poverty—though you are rich—and the slander from those who claim to be Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and you will face crushing pressure for ten days. Prove yourself faithful even unto death, and I will give you the victor’s crown of life.

¹¹Let the one who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the ekklesiai. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.”

¹²And to the angel of the ekklesia in Pergamum write: “These things says the one who has the sharp, two-edged broadsword:

¹³I know where you dwell—where the throne of Satan is. Yet you hold fast to my name and did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴But I have a few things against you: you have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who ‘taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the sons of Israel,’ so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual infidelity. ¹⁵So you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans in the same way. ¹⁶Therefore, reorient your heart! If you do not, I am coming to you quickly and I will wage war against them with the broadsword of my mouth.

¹⁷Let the one who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the ekklesiai. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white pebble, and on that pebble a new name has been written which no one knows except the one who receives it.”

¹⁸And to the angel of the ekklesia in Thyatira write: “These things says the Son of God, the one who has eyes like a flame of fire and whose feet are like glowing fine bronze:

¹⁹I know your works—your love, your faithfulness, your service, and your patient endurance—and that your recent works exceed your first ones. ²⁰But I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and misleads my servants to commit sexual infidelity and to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹I gave her time to change her heart, but she does not wish to turn from her sexual infidelity. ²²Look, I am casting her onto a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her into great crushing pressure, unless they reorient their hearts away from her works. ²³And I will strike her children dead. Then all the ekklesiai will know that I am the one who searches the innermost motives and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

²⁴But to the rest of you in Thyatira—all who do not hold this teaching, who have not ‘known the deep things of Satan,’ as they say—I lay no other burden upon you. ²⁵Only hold fast to what you have until I come. ²⁶To the one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, ‘I will give him authority over the nations, ²⁷and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron, as ceramic jars are shattered,’ just as I also have received from my Father. ²⁸And I will give him the morning star.

²⁹Let the one who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the ekklesiai.”