Revelation 2

2 ¹ To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands:

² I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear those who are evil; you have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not, and you have found them to be false. ³ You have persevered and have endured for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary. ⁴ But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love you had at first. ⁵ Remember, then, from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. ⁶ But you do have this: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Holy Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of our Father.

The First and the Last

⁸ To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the first and the last, who died and came to life:

⁹ I know your tribulation and your poverty — though you are rich — and the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. The devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and for ten days you will face tribulation. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Holy Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.

The Sharp Two-Edged Sword

¹² To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, two-edged sword:

¹³ I know where you live, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast to my name, and you did not deny your faith in me even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan lives. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel, so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵ So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Repent, then. If not, I will come to you soon and make war against them with the sword of my mouth. ¹⁷ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Holy 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 stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.

Eyes Like Flame

¹⁸ To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of our Father, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze:

¹⁹ I know your works — your love and faith and service and patient endurance — and that your latter works exceed the first. ²⁰ But I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her immorality. ²² I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works. ²³ And I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. ²⁴ But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what they call the deep things of Satan — to you I say, I lay no other burden on you; ²⁵ only hold fast to what you have until I come. ²⁶ The one who conquers and keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, ²⁷ and he will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots — even as I also have received authority from my Father. ²⁸ And I will give him the morning star. ²⁹ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Holy Spirit says to the churches.