The Lord Will Be Gracious

19 For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; ^xyou shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. ^yAs soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord ^zgive you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. ^aYou will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”

23 And he will give rain for the ^bseed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, ^cthe light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord ^dbinds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

To the Church in Ephesus

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds ^lthe seven stars in his right hand, ^mwho walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and ⁿyou have ^onot grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; ^prepent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the ^qNicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 ^rHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the ^stree of life, which is in the ^tparadise of God.’

To the Church in Smyrna

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of ^uthe first and the last, who ^vdied and came to life.

9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are ^wrich) and the slander¹ of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a ^xsynagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the ^ydevil is about to throw some of you into ^zprison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have ^atribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the ^bcrown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by ^cthe second death.’

To the Church in Pergamum

12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp ^dtwo-edged sword.

13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith² even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold ^ethe teaching of ^fBalaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to ^gidols and practice ^hsexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them ⁱwith the sword of my mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden ^jmanna, and I will give him a white stone, with a ^knew name written on the stone ^lthat no one knows except the one who receives it.’

To the Church in Thyatira

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, ^mwho has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like ⁿburnished bronze.

19 “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman ^oJezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she ^prefuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and ^qthose who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who ^rsearches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only ^shold fast what you have ^tuntil I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him ^uI will give ^vauthority over the nations, 27 and ^whe will rule³ them ^xwith a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received ^yauthority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the ^zmorning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’