Revelation 2 (Today's New International Version)

To the Church in Ephesus

1 "To the angel^a of the church in Ephesus¹ write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand² and walks among the seven golden lampstands.³ 2 I know your deeds,⁴ your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested⁵ those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.⁶ 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name,⁷ and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.⁸ 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent⁹ and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand¹⁰ from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans,¹¹ which I also hate. 7 Whoever has ears, let them hear¹² what the Spirit says to the churches. To those who are victorious,¹³ I will give the right to eat from the tree of life,¹⁴ which is in the paradise¹⁵ of God.

To the Church in Smyrna

8 "To the angel of the church in Smyrna¹⁶ write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last,¹⁷ who died and came to life again.¹⁸ 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty--yet you are rich!¹⁹ I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not,²⁰ but are a synagogue of Satan.²¹ 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you,²² and you will suffer persecution for ten days.²³ Be faithful,²⁴ even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown.²⁵ 11 Whoever has ears, let them hear²⁶ what the Spirit says to the churches. Those who are victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.²⁷

To the Church in Pergamum

12 "To the angel of the church in Pergamum²⁸ write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.²⁹ 13 I know where you live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me,³⁰ not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness,³¹ who was put to death in your city--where Satan lives.³² 14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you:³³ There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam,³⁴ who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols³⁵ and committed sexual immorality.³⁶ 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.³⁷ 16 Repent³⁸ therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.³⁹ 17 Whoever has ears, let them hear⁴⁰ what the Spirit says to the churches. To those who are victorious,⁴¹ I will give some of the hidden manna.⁴² I will also give each of them a white stone with a new name⁴³ written on it, known only to the one who receives it.⁴⁴

To the Church in Thyatira

18 "To the angel of the church in Thyatira⁴⁵ write: These are the words of the Son of God,⁴⁶ whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.⁴⁷ 19 I know your deeds,⁴⁸ your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. 20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel,⁴⁹ who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.⁵⁰ 21 I have given her time⁵¹ to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.⁵² 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery⁵³ with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds,⁵⁴ and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.⁵⁵ 24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets, 'I will not impose any other burden on you,⁵⁶ 25 except to hold on to what you have⁵⁷ until I come.'⁵⁸ 26 To those who are victorious⁵⁹ and do my will to the end,⁶⁰ I will give authority over the nations⁶¹-- 27 they 'will rule them with an iron scepter⁶² and will dash them to pieces like pottery'^b63--just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give them the morning star.⁶⁴ 29 Whoever has ears, let them hear⁶⁵ what the Spirit says to the churches.