And to the angel of the church in Sardis write:
These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead.
Be thou watchful, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die: for I have {Many ancient authorities read not found thy works.}found no works of thine perfected before my God.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and didst hear; and keep it, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
But thou hast a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy.
He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and that shutteth and none openeth:
I know thy works (behold, I have {Greek: given}set before thee a door opened, which none can shut), that thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name.
Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and {The Greek word denotes an act of reverence, whether paid to a creature, or to the Creator.}worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Because thou didst keep the word of my {Or, stedfastness}patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of {Or, temptation}trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole {Greek: inhabited earth.}world, to {Or, tempt}try them that dwell upon the earth.
I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.
He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the {Or, sanctuary}temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God:
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked:
I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.
As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Querverweise zu Offenbarung 3,17 Off 3,17
I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the {Or, reviling}blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
lest, when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
then thy heart be lifted up, and thou forget Jehovah thy God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;
But if thou bearest the name of a Jew, and restest upon the law, and gloriest in God,
and knowest {Or, the Will}his will, and {Or, dost distinguish the things that differ}approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,
and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness,
a {Or, an instructor}corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth;
thou therefore that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou rob temples?
thou who gloriest in the law, through thy transgression of the law dishonorest thou God?
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I send? who is blind as he that is {Or, made perfect}at peace with me, and blind as Jehovah's servant?
(Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.)
There is that {Or, feigneth}maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing:There is that {Or, feigneth}maketh himself poor, yet hath great wealth.
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is Jehovah?Or lest I be poor, and steal,And {Hebrew: handle the name.}use profanely the name of my God.
Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of {Or, this body of death}the body of this death?
Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said unto him, Are we also blind?
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves {Or, girdles}aprons.
And Ephraim said, Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth: in all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin.
O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of {Or, darkness of Jah}thick darkness? wherefore say my people, We are broken loose; we will come no more unto thee?
Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye would have no sin: but now ye say, We see: your sin remaineth.
And he said, I heard thy {Or, sound}voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
whose {Or, buyers}possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich; and {Or, their shepherd pitieth}their own shepherds pity them not.
But when he heard it, he said, They that are {Greek: strong.}whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.
For he that lacketh these things is blind, {Or, closing his eyes}seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins.
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
The hungry he hath filled with good things;And the rich he hath sent empty away.
And Jehovah smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this {See marginal note on chapter 3:12.}publican.
I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get.
Well; by their unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by thy faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in;
For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but so to think as to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith.
Already are ye filled, already ye are become rich, ye have come to reign without us: yea and I would that ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.
For, I think, God hath set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, {Or, and to angels, and to men}both to angels and men.
We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye have glory, but we have dishonor.