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Revelation 3

1“To the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: These are the words of the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars:

“I know your deeds: you have a name for being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up, and strengthen what remains, which was about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete before my God. 3So remember how you received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will certainly not know at what hour I will come upon you. 4But you have a few names in Sardis who have not stained their clothes. They will walk with me in white, because they are worthy. 5The one who overcomes will be clothed like this in white clothes, and I will certainly not erase his name from the book of life. I will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels. 6Let anyone who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

7“To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens:

8“I know your deeds. Look! I have set before you an open door that no one can shut, because you have little power and have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9Look! I am giving you some from the synagogue of Satan, who call themselves Jews and are not, but are lying. Look! I will make them come and bow before your feet and know that I have loved you. 10Because you have kept my word about endurance, I too will keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole inhabited world, to test those who live on the earth. 11I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one takes your crown. 12The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name. 13Let anyone who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

14“To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation:

15“I know your deeds: you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. 16So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit you out of my mouth. 17You say, ‘I am rich, I have become wealthy, and I need nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked. 18I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white clothes to wear so that the shame of your nakedness may not be exposed, and ointment to apply to your eyes so that you may see. 19All those I love, I reprove and discipline. So be zealous and repent. 20Look! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. 21To the one who overcomes I will give a seat with me on my throne, just as I too overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22Let anyone who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”

Translation notes 4

3:1–5 — Names and clothing. “A name for being alive” means a reputation. “A few names” means a few people; the name imagery continues into the book of life and public acknowledgment. The promise not to erase a name is retained without adding a theory about whose names can be erased.

3:8–10 — Open door and testing. “Because” is the draft's way of connecting verse 8's clauses; “although you have little power” is another possible interpretation. Verse 9's accusation concerns the stated opponents, not Jews as a whole. “My word about endurance” can also mean the command to endure or the message of Jesus' own endurance. “Keep you from” does not by itself specify removal from the earth or protection while present.

3:14 — Origin of creation. The Greek term can mean beginning or origin and can carry the sense of ruling authority. “Origin” provisionally expresses Jesus as the source of God's creation. “Beginning of God's creation” is a closer formal rendering, but can be heard as first created member; “ruler of God's creation” is another interpretation. This is a lexical question, not a different Greek text.

3:15–20 — Lukewarmness and the meal. The text prefers either cold or hot to lukewarm; it does not simply equate cold with unbelief. “Vomit” preserves the force of the bodily verb. The invitation to dine addresses this assembly and its members; the door is not explicitly called the door of an individual's heart.