Read the Bible

Message to Ephesus

¹ "To the angel (divine messenger) of the church in ^(F1)(C1)Ephesus write: These are the words of the One who holds firmly ^(C2)the seven stars which are the angels or messengers of the seven churches in His right hand, the One who walks ^(C3)among the seven golden lampstands (the seven churches):

² '^(C1)I know ^(F1)your deeds and your toil, and your patient endurance, and that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and have ^(C2)tested and critically appraised those who call themselves ^(C3)apostles (special messengers, personally chosen representatives, of Christ), and in fact are not, and have found them to be liars and impostors;³ and I know that you who believe are enduring patiently and are bearing up ^(C1)for My name's sake, and that you have not grown weary of being faithful to the truth.⁴ 'But I have this charge against you, that you have ^(C1)left your first love you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me.⁵ 'So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and ^(C1)repent change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God's will and ^(C2)do the works you did at first when you first knew Me; otherwise, I will visit you and remove your ^(C3)lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place—unless you repent.⁶ 'Yet you have this to your credit, that you hate the works and corrupt teachings of the ^(F1)(C1)Nicolaitans that mislead and delude the people, which I also hate.⁷ '^(C1)He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(C2)To him who ^(F1)overcomes the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God, I will grant the privilege to eat the fruit from ^(C3)the tree of life, which is in the ^(C4)Paradise of God.' ^(VR1)

Message to Smyrna

⁸ "And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in ^(F1)(C1)Smyrna write: These are the words of ^(C2)the First and the Last absolute Deity, the Son of God who ^(C3)died and came to life again: ^(VR1)

⁹ 'I know your ^(C1)suffering and your ^(C2)poverty (but you are ^(C2)rich), and how you are blasphemed and slandered by those who ^(C3)say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of ^(C4)Satan they are Jews only by blood, and do not believe and truly honor the God whom they claim to worship.¹⁰ 'Fear nothing that you are about to suffer. Be aware that the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be ^(C1)tested in your faith, and ^(C2)for ten days you will have tribulation. Be ^(C3)faithful to the point of death if you must die for your faith, and I will give you ^(C4)the crown consisting of life. ^(VR1)11 '^(C1)He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(C2)He who overcomes the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God will not be hurt by the ^(C3)second death (^(F1)the lake of fire).' ^(VR1)

Message to Pergamum

¹² "And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in ^(F1)(C1)Pergamum write: These are the words of Him who has and wields ^(C2)the sharp two-edged sword in judgment:

¹³ 'I know where you dwell, a place where ^(C1)Satan sits enthroned. Yet you are holding fast to My name, and you did not deny ^(F1)(C2)My faith even in the days of ^(F2)Antipas, My ^(C3)witness, My ^(C4)faithful one, who was killed (martyred) among you, ^(C5)where Satan dwells.¹⁴ 'But ^(C1)I have a few things against you, because you have there some among you who are holding to the corrupt ^(C2)teaching of Balaam, who taught ^(F1)Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, enticing them ^(C3)to eat things that had been sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of sexual ^(F2)immorality. ^(VR1)15 'You also have some who in the same way are holding to the teaching of the ^(F1)(C1)Nicolaitans.¹⁶ 'Therefore ^(C1)repent change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God's will; or else ^(C2)I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war and fight against them with ^(C3)the sword of My mouth in judgment.¹⁷ '^(C1)He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(C1)To him who overcomes the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God, to him I will give the privilege of eating some of the ^(F1)hidden ^(C2)manna, and I will give him a ^(F2)white stone with a ^(C3)new name engraved on the stone ^(C4)which no one knows except the one who receives it.' ^(VR1)

Message to Thyatira

¹⁸ "And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in ^(F1)(C1)Thyatira write: These are the words of ^(C2)the Son of God, ^(C3)who has eyes that flash like a flame of fire in righteous judgment, and whose feet are like burnished white-hot bronze: ^(VR1)

¹⁹ '^(C1)I know your deeds, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your last deeds are more numerous and greater than the first.²⁰ 'But ^(C1)I have this charge against you, that you tolerate the woman ^(C2)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess claiming to be inspired, and she teaches and misleads My bond-servants so that they ^(C3)commit acts of sexual immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols. ^(VR1)21 '^(C1)I gave her time to repent to change her inner self and her sinful way of thinking, but she ^(C2)has no desire to repent of her immorality and refuses to do so.²² '^(F1)Listen carefully, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who ^(C1)commit adultery with her I will bring into great anguish, unless they repent of her deeds.²³ 'And I will kill her children (followers) with ^(F1)pestilence thoroughly annihilating them, and all the churches will know without any doubt that I am He who ^(C1)searches the ^(F2)minds and hearts the innermost thoughts, purposes; and ^(C2)I will give to each one of you a reward or punishment according to your deeds. ^(VR1)24 'But to the rest of you in ^(C1)Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not explored and known the ^(F1)(C2)depths of Satan, as they call them—I ^(C3)place no other burden on you,²⁵ except to hold tightly to ^(C1)what you have ^(C2)until I come.²⁶ 'And ^(C1)he who overcomes the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God and he who keeps My deeds doing things that please Me ^(C2)until the very end, ^(C3)TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY and POWER OVER THE NATIONS; ^(VR1)27 AND HE SHALL ^(C1)SHEPHERD and RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, ^(C2)AS THE EARTHEN POTS ARE BROKEN IN PIECES, as I also have received authority and power to rule them from My Father; ^(VR1)28 and I will give him ^(C1)the ^(F1)Morning Star.²⁹ '^(C1)He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.'