Khải Huyền 3

To the church in Sardis

¹To the angel of the church in Sardis, write: “This is the message of the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works. People speak of you as alive, but you are dead. ²Become watchful, and put strength into what remains and was on the point of dying, for I have found that your works are not complete before my God. ³Think back, then, to the way you received the message and heard it. Keep it, and repent. If you stay asleep, I will come like a thief, and you will never know the hour when I come against you. ⁴Still, you have a few people in Sardis who have not stained their clothes. They will walk with me dressed in white, for they deserve it. ⁵Everyone who overcomes will be clothed in this way, in white. I will never erase their name from the book of life. Before my Father and before his angels I will openly own their name. ⁶Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

To the church in Philadelphia

⁷To the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write: “This is the message of the holy and true one, the one with the key of David: when he opens, no one will shut, and when he shuts, no one opens: ⁸I know your works. Look: I have opened a door for you, and no one can shut it. Your strength is small, yet you have kept my word, and you have not disowned my name.^{a 9}Look at what I will do with those from Satan’s synagogue, who claim to be Jews and are not, but lie: I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.^{b 10}You have kept my call to endure, and so I in turn will keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come over the whole world, to put the people of the earth to the test.^{c 11}I am coming soon. Keep a firm grip on what you have, so that no one takes your crown. ¹²I will make everyone who overcomes a pillar in the temple of my God, never again to go out of it. On them I will write the name of my God, and the name of my God’s city, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name. ¹³Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

To the church in Laodicea

¹⁴To the angel of the church in Laodicea, write: “This is the message of the Amen, the witness who is faithful and true, the origin of God’s creation:^{d 15}I know your works: you are not cold, and you are not hot.^e If only you were one or the other, cold or hot! ¹⁶As it is, you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, and so I am about to spew you out of my mouth. ¹⁷You tell yourself, ‘I am rich. I have built up my wealth, and I lack nothing.’ You do not see that it is you who are wretched and to be pitied, poor and blind and naked. ¹⁸So here is my advice: buy from me gold that has been through the fire, and you will be rich; buy white garments and dress in them, and the shame of your nakedness will not be seen; and buy ointment for your eyes and put it on them, and you will see. ¹⁹I correct and train all whom I love. Be eager, then, and repent. ²⁰Look: I am standing at the door, knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and share a meal with them, and they with me. ²¹To everyone who overcomes I will give a place beside me on my throne, just as I overcame and took my seat beside my Father on his throne. ²²Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”