And to the angel of the church in Smyrna, write:
Thus speaks he who is the fust and the last, who was dead and came to life: I know your affliction and your poverty, yet you are rich, and I know the blasphemy of those who call themselves Jews and are not, but a congregation of Satan. Do not fear what you are to suffer. See, the devil will throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and you will be afflicted for ten days. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has ears, let him listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The victor shall not be hurt by the second death.
And to the angel of the church in Pergamum, write:
Thus speaks he who holds the sharp two-edged sword: I know where you live. It is where the throne of Satan is. And you keep my name and did not deny your faith in me even in the days of Antipas, who testified to me and was faithful and was put to death in the place where you are and where Satan dwells. But I hold against you a few things; that you have there some who hold with the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to set a trap in the way of the sons of Israel so they should eat what was sacrificed to idols, and commit fornication. So too you have those who hold with the teaching of the followers of Nicolaus. Repent then, or else I shall come to you speedily and fight with them with the sword of my mouth. He who has ears, let him listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the victor I will give of the manna that is hidden, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone will be written his new name, which no one knows, only he who receives it.
And to the angel of the church in Thyatira, write:
Thus speaks he who is the son of God, who has eyes like the flame of fire and his feet are like bronze: I know your works, your love and faith and service and endurance, and that your last works are more than your first. But I hold it against you that you have forgiven the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and teaches my slaves and leads them astray into fornication and the eating of what was sacrificed to idols. And I have given her time in which to repent, and she will not repent of her fornication. Behold, I will cast her upon a bed, and will cast her adulterers into great affliction, if they do not repent of their acts, and I will strike down her children in death; and all the churches shall learn that I am he who examines the vitals and the hearts, and I will give to each of you according to his acts. I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say: I shall not put another burden upon you, but that which you have, keep it until I come. And the victor and he who keeps my works to the end, I shall give him power over the nations, and he shall shepherd them with a staff of iron, breaking them as pottery is broken, as I too have been given by my father; and I will give him the morning star. He who has ears, let him listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
41 And to the angel of the church in Sardis, write:
Thus speaks he who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works, that you have the name of being alive, and are dead. Be wakeful, and strengthen what is left, which was on the point of death; for I have not found that your tasks were carried out in the sight of my God. Remember then what you have been given to do, and have been told, and observe this, and repent. If you are not wakeful, I shall come to you like a thief, and you cannot tell at what hour I shall come to you. But you have the names of a few in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes, and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy. And he who is thus victorious shall be clothed in robes of white, and I shall not obliterate his name from the book of life, and I shall acknowledge his name in the presence of my father and in the presence of the angels. He who has ears, let him listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write: Thus speaks he who is holy, who is true, who holds the key to David, who opens and none shall close, who closes and none shall open: I know your works. See, I have given you an open door which is before you, and none shall be able to close it; because you have little power, and you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I deliver to you those of the congregation of Satan, those who call themselves Jews, and they are not, but are lying; behold, I shall make them come and worship before your feet, and know that I have given you my love. Because you have kept the word, which was that you should wait for me, I too shall keep you from the time of trial which will come upon the whole inhabited world, to try those who live on earth. I shall come soon. Keep what you have, so that none may take away your crown. The victor, I shall make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall never go forth from it again, and I shall write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which will come down from heaven from my God; and also my new name. He who has ears, let him listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
And to the angel of the church in Laodicea, write:
Thus speaks he who is Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. You should be cold or hot. Thus because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich, and have grown rich, and have no need; and you do not know that you are the wretched one, the pitiful, the poor, the blind, the naked; I advise you to buy of me gold that has been refined in the fire, so that you may be rich; and white clothes to put upon you so that the shame of your nakedness may not be seen; and coUyrium to salve your eyes with so that you may see. And those I love, I reprove and admonish. Be eager, then, and repent. See, I stand at the door and knock. If one hears my voice and opens the door, I shall come in to him, and dine with him, and he with me. The victor, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I too have been victorious and sat with my father on his throne. He who has ears, let him listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
41 After that, I looked, and behold, a door opened in the sky, and the first voice I heard as the voice of a trumpet talking to me, saying: Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this. And at once I was possessed by the Spirit; and behold, a throne was set in the sky, and there was one sitting upon the throne, and he who was sitting was like stone of jasper and cornelian to see, and a rainbow in a circle around the throne, like emerald to see. And in a circle about the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones were twenty-four elders seated, in white clothing, and crowns of gold upon their heads. And from the throne issue lightning flashes and voices and thunders; and seven lamps of fire bum before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God; and before the throne it is like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the presence of the throne and in a circle about the throne are four animals, teeming with eyes, both before and behind. And the first animal is like a lion, and the second animal is like a calf, and the third animal has a face like a man's, and the fourth animal is like an eagle flying. And the four animals, each by each of them, have six wings, and round about and within they are full of eyes; and they take no rest, day and night, from saying: Holy holy holy, the Lord God, the almighty, who was and is and is to come. And when the animals give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits upon the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders shall fall down before him who sits upon the throne, and shall worship him who lives forever and ever, and they shall cast down their crowns before the throne, saying: You are worthy, our lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and through your will they were, and were created.