Revelation 2

To the church in Ephesus

¹To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:^•Thus says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand,^•He who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:^•

²I know your works, your toil and your perseverance, and that you cannot bear those who are evil; you have tested those who call themselves apostles, and are not, and have found them liars;^•³and you have perseverance, and have borne up for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.⁴But I have this against you: you have left your first love.⁵Remember, then, from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works; and if not, I am coming to you and will move your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.^•⁶But this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.^•

⁷Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.^•

To the church in Smyrna

⁸And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:^•Thus says the First and the Last,^•who was dead and came to life:^•

⁹I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.^•¹⁰Do not fear anything that you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.^•

¹¹Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will by no means be harmed by the second death.^•

To the church in Pergamum

¹²And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:Thus says He who has the sharp two-edged sword:

¹³I know where you dwell: where the throne of Satan is. And you hold fast My name, and you did not deny My faith, even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.^•¹⁴But I have a few things against you: you have there those who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and prostitute themselves.^•¹⁵So you also have those who likewise hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.^•¹⁶Repent, then; and if not, I am coming to you soon and will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.^•

¹⁷Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white pebble, and on the pebble a new name written, which no one knows except the one who receives it.^•

To the church in Thyatira

¹⁸And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:^•Thus says the Son of God,^•who has His eyes like a flame of fire^•and His feet like gleaming bronze:^•

¹⁹I know your works, and your love, and faith, and service, and perseverance; and your last works are more than the first.^•²⁰But I have this against you: you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and deceives My servants to prostitute themselves and to eat food sacrificed to idols.^•²¹And I gave her time to repent, and she is not willing to repent of her prostitution.²²Behold, I am casting her onto a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works;^•²³and I will kill her children with pestilence; and all the churches will know that I am He who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your works.^•²⁴But to you I say, to the remnant in Thyatira, all who do not have this teaching, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say: I do not cast on you any other burden;^•²⁵only, what you have, hold fast until I come.

²⁶The one who conquers and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,^•²⁷and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron, as clay vessels are shattered,^•²⁸even as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.^•

²⁹Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Notes

2:1 “Angel”: Gr. ἄγγελος, or “messenger” (cf. 1:20). “Thus says”: Gr. τάδε λέγει, the prophetic formula of the Septuagint (“Thus says the LORD”), repeated in all seven letters. “Holds”: Gr. κρατῶν, from κρατέω, “to hold firmly”. ↩
2:2 “Toil”: Gr. κόπος, “wearying toil”; the related verb appears in 2:3 (“have not grown weary”). ↩
2:5 Gr. κινήσω, “move, remove from its place”; the lampstand is the church (1:20). “Have fallen”: perfect (πέπτωκας), a fall whose state remains. Variant: the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus add “quickly” after “I am coming to you”. ↩
2:6 The Nicolaitans are mentioned only in Revelation (cf. 2:15). ↩
2:7 “To the one who conquers” (νικῶντι): νικάω = “conquer” in all seven letters. Gr. ξύλον, “wood, tree”, the term of Gen 2:9 (Septuagint), also used in the New Testament for the cross (Acts 5:30); cf. 22:2, 14. Variant: the Byzantine text reads “the paradise of My God”; the Textus Receptus, “in the midst of the paradise of God”. ↩
2:8 “Was dead”: Gr. ἐγένετο νεκρός, as in 1:18 (“I was dead”). “Came to life”: Gr. ἔζησεν, the same verb as in 20:4–5. ↩
2:9 Or “slander” (Gr. βλασφημία). The expression does not refer to the Jewish people as such, but to those who, according to the text itself, “say they are Jews, and are not” (cf. 3:9; Rom 2:28–29). Variant: the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus begin “I know your works, and your tribulation”. ↩
2:10 “Tested”: Gr. πειρασθῆτε, the same verb as in 2:2 (“you have tested”). “Ten days”: cf. Dan 1:12, 14. “Crown”: Gr. στέφανος, the victor’s wreath, distinct from διάδημα, “diadem” (12:3; 13:1; 19:12). ↩
2:11 Gr. οὐ μή, an emphatic negation. Second death: cf. 20:6, 14; 21:8. ↩
2:13 “Hold fast”: Gr. κρατέω, the same verb as in 2:1 (“holds”), 2:14–15 (“hold”) and 2:25 (“hold fast”). “My faith”: or “faith in Me” (cf. 14:12). “Witness”: Gr. μάρτυς, the same word as in 1:5, which later gave “martyr”. “Dwell… dwells”: the same verb (κατοικέω). Variant: the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus begin “I know your works and where you dwell”. ↩
2:14 Cf. Num 25:1–3; 31:16. “Teaching… taught”: Gr. διδαχή / ἐδίδασκεν. “Stumbling block”: Gr. σκάνδαλον. “Prostitute themselves”: Gr. πορνεύω; in Num 25:1 the Hebrew uses זָנָה‎, “to prostitute oneself”, linked to idolatry; in Revelation the term joins sexual and spiritual unfaithfulness (cf. 17:1–2). ↩
2:15 Variant: the Textus Receptus reads “which I hate” in place of “likewise”. ↩
2:16 “Soon”: Gr. ταχύ (cf. 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20). “Make war”: Gr. πολεμέω (cf. 12:7; 17:14; 19:11). ↩
2:17 Hidden manna: cf. Ex 16:33–34. “Pebble”: Gr. ψῆφος, a small stone used in voting and as a token of admission. “New”: Gr. καινός (cf. 3:12; 21:1, 5). “Knows”: the same verb as “I know” (οἶδα). ↩
2:18 Cf. 1:14–15. ↩
2:19 Or: “I know your works, that is, your love, and faith…”. ↩
2:20 “Tolerate”: Gr. ἀφεῖς, the same verb as in 2:4 (“have left”). “Woman”: Gr. γυνή, also “wife”; variant: the Byzantine text reads “your wife Jezebel”, and the Textus Receptus “I have a few things against you”. “Deceives”: Gr. πλανάω (cf. 12:9; 13:14; 20:3, 8, 10). Cf. 1 Kgs 16:31. ↩
2:22 “Bed”: Gr. κλίνη, also a sickbed. “Great tribulation”: cf. 7:14. Variant: the Textus Receptus reads “of their works”. ↩
2:23 “With pestilence”: Gr. ἐν θανάτῳ, lit. “with death”; in the Septuagint θάνατος often renders Heb. דֶּבֶר‎, “pestilence” (cf. 6:8; 18:8; Ezek 5:12; 33:27). “Minds”: Gr. νεφροί, lit. “kidneys”, in Hebrew thought the seat of the emotions and conscience (Jer 17:10, Heb. כְּלָיוֹת‎). ↩
2:24 “Remnant”: Gr. λοιποί, “those who remain”; the same word as in 12:17. Where it designates other groups (9:20; 19:21; 20:5), it is rendered “the rest”. “Burden”: Gr. βάρος, cf. Acts 15:28–29. “Depths”: cf. 1 Cor 2:10. ↩
2:26 “Keeps”: Gr. τηρέω (cf. 1:3). “Nations”: Gr. ἔθνη. ↩
2:27 Cf. Ps 2:8–9. “Shepherd”: Gr. ποιμαίνω, “to tend as a shepherd”, as in the Septuagint of Ps 2:9; the Hebrew reads “you will break” (תְּרֹעֵם‎). Cf. 7:17; 12:5; 19:15. ↩
2:28 Cf. 22:16. ↩