Revelation 3

To the church in Sardis

¹And to the angel of the church in Sardis write:^•Thus says He who has the Seven Spirits of God^•and the seven stars:^•

I know your works, that you have a name of being alive, and you are dead.^•²Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your works complete before My God.^•³Remember, then, how you have received and heard, and keep it, and repent. If, then, you do not watch, I will come like a thief, and you will by no means know at what hour I will come upon you.^•⁴But you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.^•

⁵The one who conquers will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will by no means blot out his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.^•⁶Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the church in Philadelphia

⁷And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:^•Thus says the Holy One, the True One,^•He who has the key of David,^•who opens, and no one will shut,^•and shuts, and no one opens:^•

⁸I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut), that you have little power, and you have kept My word, and have not denied My name.^•⁹Behold, I am handing over some of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and are not, but lie; behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and know that I loved you.^•¹⁰Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.^•¹¹I am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one takes your crown.^•

¹²The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of My God, and he will by no means go out of it again; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.^•¹³Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the church in Laodicea

¹⁴And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write:^•Thus says the Amen,^•the faithful and true Witness,^•the Beginning of the creation of God:^•

¹⁵I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot!^•¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit you out of My mouth.^•¹⁷Because you say: I am rich, and have grown rich, and have need of nothing; and you do not know that it is you who are wretched, and pitiable, and poor, and blind, and naked,^•¹⁸I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich; and white garments, so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be made manifest; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.^•¹⁹As for Me, all whom I love I rebuke and discipline; be zealous, then, and repent.^•²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.^•

²¹The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also conquered and sat down with My Father on His throne.^•²²Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Notes

3:1 “Seven Spirits”: cf. 1:4. “A name of being alive”: Gr. ὄνομα ἔχεις ὅτι ζῇς, lit. “a name that you live”; “name”, that is, reputation; the word recurs in 3:4–5. ↩
3:2 “Be watchful”: Gr. γίνου γρηγορῶν, like “Be faithful” (2:10); γρηγορέω = “watch” (3:3; 16:15). “The things that remain”: Gr. τὰ λοιπά (plural). Variant: the Byzantine text reads “which you were about to throw away” (ἔμελλες ἀποβάλλειν); the Textus Receptus reads “which is about to die” (μέλλει, singular and present) and “before God”, without “My”. ↩
3:3 “Like a thief”: cf. 16:15; Matt 24:43; 1 Thess 5:2. “I will come”: Gr. ἥξω, as in 2:25 (“until I come”). “By no means”: Gr. οὐ μή, an emphatic negation. Variant: the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “I will come upon you like a thief”. ↩
3:4 “Names”: that is, persons (cf. Acts 1:15); a wordplay with “name” in 3:1 and 3:5. “Garments”: Gr. ἱμάτια (cf. 3:5, 18; 16:15). “Defiled”: Gr. μολύνω (cf. 14:4). ↩
3:5 “Book of life”: cf. Ex 32:32–33; Dan 12:1; Phil 4:3; Rev 13:8; 20:12, 15. “Blot out”: Gr. ἐξαλείφω, the same verb as in 7:17 and 21:4 (“wipe away”). Cf. Matt 10:32. Variant: the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “this one will be clothed” (οὗτος) in place of “will thus be clothed” (οὕτως). ↩
3:7 Cf. Isa 22:22. “True One”: Gr. ἀληθινός (cf. 3:14; 19:11). Variant: the Textus Receptus reads “and no one shuts, and shuts, and no one opens” (κλείει, present, in both places); the Byzantine text, “and no one will shut it except the one who opens, and no one will open”. ↩
3:8 “Set”: Gr. δέδωκα, lit. “I have given”. “That you have”: or “because you have”. “Power”: Gr. δύναμις (cf. 4:11; 5:12). ↩
3:9 “Handing over”: Gr. διδῶ, lit. “I give”; the Greek sentence breaks off and starts again (“behold, I will make them…”). “Bow down”: Gr. προσκυνέω, the verb rendered “worship” when the object is God (cf. 4:10; 14:7); here, homage (cf. Isa 60:14 Heb.; 45:14; 49:23). On “synagogue of Satan”, cf. 2:9. ↩
3:10 “Kept… keep”: the same verb (τηρέω). “The word of My perseverance”: or “My word about perseverance”. “Testing… test”: Gr. πειρασμός / πειράζω (cf. πειράζω in 2:2, 10). “The whole world”: Gr. οἰκουμένη ὅλη, lit. “the whole inhabited world” (cf. 12:9). “Those who dwell on the earth”: a recurring formula (cf. 6:10; 13:8). ↩
3:11 “Soon”: Gr. ταχύ (cf. 2:16). “Hold fast”: Gr. κρατέω (cf. 2:25). “Crown”: Gr. στέφανος (cf. 2:10). Variant: the Textus Receptus begins “Behold, I am coming soon”. ↩
3:12 “Sanctuary”: Gr. ναός, the inner part of the temple, distinct from ἱερόν, the whole temple complex; in Revelation, always ναός (cf. 7:15; 11:19; 15:5). “New Jerusalem”: cf. 21:2. “New name”: cf. 2:17; Isa 62:2. ↩
3:14 “The Amen”: cf. Isa 65:16 (Heb. “the God of amen”; Septuagint “the true God”). “Beginning”: Gr. ἀρχή, “beginning, origin” or “ruler”; the same term used as a title in 21:6 and 22:13 (“the Beginning and the End”). Cf. John 1:3; Col 1:15–18. ↩
3:15 “Hot”: Gr. ζεστός, lit. “boiling”. ↩
3:16 “Am about to”: Gr. μέλλω (cf. 1:19; 2:10). ↩
3:17 “Have grown rich”: perfect (πεπλούτηκα), “I have become rich” (a state that remains). ↩
3:18 “Refined”: Gr. πυρόω (cf. 1:15). “Clothe yourself”: Gr. περιβάλλω, the same verb as in 3:5 (“clothed”). ↩
3:19 “Love”: Gr. φιλέω. Cf. Prov 3:12 (Septuagint, with the same verb “rebuke”). ↩
3:20 “Stand”: perfect (ἕστηκα), “I have taken My stand and remain”. “I will come in”: the Greek has “and I will come in” (καί introducing the consequence, in the Hebrew manner). “Dine”: Gr. δειπνέω; cf. δεῖπνον, the wedding supper (19:9). ↩
3:21 “Grant”: Gr. δώσω, lit. “I will give”. Cf. 2:26–27; 22:1. ↩