The Letter to the Church in Ephesus

2 “Here is what I command you to write to the church in Ephesus.

Here are the words of Jesus, who holds the seven stars in his right hand. He also walks among the seven golden lampstands. He says,

² ‘I know what you are doing. You work long and hard. I know you can’t put up with evil people. You have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not. You have found out that they are liars. ³ You have been faithful and have put up with a lot of trouble because of me. You have not given up.

⁴ ‘But here is something I hold against you. You have turned away from the love you had at first. ⁵ Think about how far you have fallen! Turn away from your sins. Do the things you did at first. If you don’t, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you do have this in your favor. You hate the way the Nicolaitans act. I hate it too.

⁷ ‘Whoever has ears should listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches. Here is what I will do for anyone who has victory over sin. I will let that person eat from the tree of life in God’s paradise.’

The Letter to the Church in Smyrna

⁸ “Here is what I command you to write to the church in Smyrna.

Here are the words of Jesus, who is the First and the Last. He is the one who died and came to life again. He says,

⁹ ‘I know that you suffer and are poor. But you are rich! Some people say they are Jews but are not. I know that their words are evil. Their worship comes from Satan. ¹⁰ Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you. You will be treated badly for ten days. Be faithful, even if it means you must die. Then I will give you life as your crown of victory.

¹¹ ‘Whoever has ears should listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches. Here is what I will do for anyone who has victory over sin. I will not let that person be hurt at all by the second death.’

The Letter to the Church in Pergamum

¹² “Here is what I command you to write to the church in Pergamum.

Here are the words of Jesus, who has the sharp sword with two edges. He says,

¹³ ‘I know that you live where Satan has his throne. But you remain faithful to me. You did not give up your faith in me. You didn’t give it up even in the days of Antipas. Antipas, my faithful witness, was put to death in your city, where Satan lives.

¹⁴ ‘But I have a few things against you. Some of your people follow the teaching of Balaam. He taught Balak to lead the people of Israel into sin. So they ate food that had been offered to statues of gods. And they committed sexual sins. ¹⁵ You also have people who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ So turn away from your sins! If you don’t, I will come to you soon. I will fight against those people with the sword that comes out of my mouth.

¹⁷ ‘Whoever has ears should listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches. Here is what I will do for anyone who has victory over sin. I will give that person hidden manna to eat. I will also give each of them a white stone with a new name written on it. Only the one who receives this name will know what it is.’

The Letter to the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸ “Here is what I command you to write to the church in Thyatira.

Here are the words of the Son of God. He is Jesus, whose eyes are like blazing fire. His feet are like polished bronze. He says,

¹⁹ ‘I know what you are doing. I know your love and your faith. I know how well you have served. I know you don’t give up easily. In fact, you are doing more now than you did at first.

²⁰ ‘But here is what I have against you. You put up with that woman Jezebel. She calls herself a prophet. With her teaching, she has led my servants into sexual sin. She has tricked them into eating food offered to statues of gods. ²¹ I’ve given her time to turn away from her sinful ways. But she doesn’t want to. ²² She lay down to commit her sin so I will make her lie down in suffering. Those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly too. Their only way out is to turn away from what she taught them to do. ²³ I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I search hearts and minds. I will pay each of you back for what you have done.

²⁴ ‘I won’t ask the rest of you in Thyatira to do anything else. You don’t follow the teaching of Jezebel. You haven’t learned what some people call Satan’s deep secrets. ²⁵ Just hold on to what you have until I come.

²⁶ ‘Here is what I will do for anyone who has victory over sin. I will do it for anyone who carries out my plans to the end. I will give that person authority over the nations. ²⁷ It is written, “They will rule them with an iron scepter. They will break them to pieces like clay pots.” (Psalm 2:9) Their authority is like the authority I’ve received from my Father. ²⁸ I will also give the morning star to all who have victory. ²⁹ Whoever has ears should listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches.’