Revelation 2 (NMV)
1 Write to the spiritual leader of the church in Ephesus: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands says:
2 I know your works, your hard labor and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who claim to be apostles and are not, and have found them to be false.
3 You have persevered and endured hardships for My name and have not grown weary.
4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.
5 Remember then how far you have fallen; turn back to God, and do what you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you turn back.
6 You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans [those who claimed to follow Christ but still engaged in the idolatry and immorality of their culture], which I also hate.
7 Let anyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
8 Write to the spiritual leader of the church in Smyrna: The First and the Last, the One who was dead and came back to life, says:
9 I know your suffering and your poverty, though you are rich. I also know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer for ten days. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 Let anyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will never be harmed by the second death.
12 Write to the spiritual leader of the church in Pergamum: The One who has the sharp, double-edged sword says:
13 I know where you live, where Satan's throne is. Yet you are holding on to My name and did not deny your faith in Me, even in the days of Antipas, My faithful witness who was killed among you, where Satan lives.
14 But I have a few things against you: You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cause the Israelites to stumble by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.
15 In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
16 Turn away from this, otherwise I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
17 Let anyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give them a white stone, and on the stone a new name is written that no one knows except the one who receives it.
18 Write to the spiritual leader of the church in Thyatira: The Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire and whose feet are like polished bronze, says:
19 I know your works, your love, faith, service, and endurance. I know that your most recent works are greater than the ones before.
20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and leads My servants into sexual immorality and into eating food sacrificed to idols.
21 I gave her time to turn back to God, but she is unwilling to turn away from her sexual immorality.
22 Look, I will throw her onto a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her into great pressure and suffering, unless they turn from her ways.
23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the One who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
24 But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to this teaching, who haven't known the so-called 'deep things of Satan', I will not place any other burden on you.
25 Only hold on to what you have until I come.
26 To the one who overcomes and keeps My works to the end, I will give authority over the nations,
27 and he will shepherd them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery, just as I have received this authority from My Father.
28 I will also give him the morning star.
29 Let anyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.