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Revelation 2

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

2“I know your deeds, your toil and endurance, and that you cannot bear evil people. You tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them false. 3You have endurance and have borne up for my name, and you have not grown weary. 4But I have this against you: you have left your first love. 5So remember where you have fallen from, repent, and do the deeds you did at first. Otherwise I am coming to you and will move your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6But you have this in your favor: you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7Let anyone who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To the one who overcomes I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

8“To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: These are the words of the first and the last, who was dead and came to life:

9“I know your affliction and poverty—but you are rich—and the slander from those who call themselves Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look! The devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and you will have affliction for ten days. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11Let anyone who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. The one who overcomes will certainly not be harmed by the second death.

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

13“I know where you live, where Satan's throne is. You hold fast to my name and did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan lives. 14But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15In the same way, you too have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16So repent. Otherwise I am coming to you soon and will wage war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17Let anyone who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To the one who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.

18“To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze:

19“I know your deeds, your love and faith and service and endurance, and that your later deeds are greater than the first. 20But I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and misleads my slaves to commit sexual immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols. 21I gave her time to repent, but she is unwilling to repent of her sexual immorality. 22Look! I am throwing her onto a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction, unless they repent of her deeds. 23I will kill her children with death, and all the assemblies will know that I am the one who searches kidneys and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your deeds. 24But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known what they call the deep things of Satan, I say: I am putting no other burden on you. 25Only hold fast to what you have until I come. 26To the one who overcomes and keeps my deeds to the end, I will give authority over the nations, 27and he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as clay vessels are shattered, 28just as I too have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. 29Let anyone who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”

Translation notes 6

2:1–29 — You and overcoming. Each message addresses an assembly through its angel with singular “you,” while some passages shift to the community's plural “you.” “Overcomes” carries the same victory language used of the Lamb, his people, and their enemies later in the book. It is not a promise of immunity from martyrdom.

2:4, 7 — Love and paradise. “First love” can mean the love they had at first; its object is not specified. Paradise carries garden imagery. “The right” in verse 7 is supplied to express the promise of being allowed to eat.

2:9–10 — Synagogue and suffering. This severe accusation concerns the particular opponents described in the message; it is not a statement about every Jewish person or synagogue. “To the point of death” preserves the cost of faithfulness. The ten days are left as stated, without converting them into a modern chronology.

2:13–17 — Faith, Balaam, and the stone. “Your faith in me” interprets the compressed Greek “my faith” as allegiance to Jesus. The Balaam language connects sexual and idolatrous compromise. The white stone's precise background is uncertain; acquittal and admission tokens are among the proposals. Neither explanation is inserted into the text.

2:20–23 — Jezebel and bodily images. The name probably characterizes a teacher through the biblical queen's reputation. Some witnesses read “your wife” rather than “the woman.” The bed turns her sexual activity into a judgment image; her children may be her followers. “Kill … with death” can mean killing by pestilence. Kidneys and hearts are the ancient bodily image for inward desires and thoughts, not an anatomical explanation of how thinking works.

2:24, 26–28 — Depths and shepherding. “As they say” may label the whole expression “deep things of Satan” or turn an opponents' claim to deep knowledge against them. “Shepherd” preserves the royal image also found in 12:5 and 19:15; the iron rod and shattered pottery make its judicial force unmistakable. “Authority” in verse 28 is supplied from verse 26. Jesus calls himself the morning star in 22:16.