And to the church’s angel at Sardis write thus: A message to thee from him who bears the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know of all thy doings, how thou dost pass for a living man, and all the while art a corpse.

Rouse thyself, and rally whatever else still lives, but lives at the point of death. There are tasks my God expects of thee, and I find them unfulfilled.

Remember how the gift, how the message came to thee; hold it fast, and repent. If thou failest in thy watch, I will come upon thee like a thief; thou shalt never know the hour of my coming to thee.

Yet here and there in Sardis thou canst claim souls which have kept their garments undefiled, and these shall bear me company, clothed in white; it is their due.

Who wins the victory? So shall he be clothed, in white garments; his name I will never blot out of the book of life, his name I will acknowledge before my Father and his angels.

Listen, you that have ears, to the message the Spirit has for the churches.

And to the angel of the church at Philadelphia write thus: A message to thee from him, who is all holiness and truth; who bears the key of David, so that none may shut when he opens, none open when he shuts:

I know of thy doings, and see, I have set before thee an open door, there is no shutting it. I know how little thy strength is, and yet thou hast been true to my message, and hast not denied my name.

Before long, I will give thee for thy own some of Satan’s chosen people, the men who falsely claim to be Jews when they are none; before long, I will make them come to thee, doing reverence at thy feet, and acknowledging the love I have shewn for thee.

Thou hast kept true to my lesson of endurance, and I will keep thee safe from the hour of trial which is soon to fall upon the whole world, for the testing of all who dwell on the earth.

Patience, I am coming soon; hold what is in thy grasp, so that none may rob thee of thy crown.

Who wins the victory? I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, never to leave it again. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city my God has built, that new Jerusalem which my God is even now sending down from heaven, and my own new name.

Listen, you that have ears, to the message the Spirit has for the churches.

And to the angel of the church at Laodicea write thus: A message to thee from the Truth, the faithful and unerring witness, the source from which God’s creation began:

I know of thy doings, and find thee neither cold nor hot; cold or hot, I would thou wert one or the other.

Being what thou art, lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, thou wilt make me vomit thee out of my mouth.

I am rich, thou sayest, I have come into my own; nothing, now, is wanting to me. And all the while, if thou didst but know it, it is thou who art wretched, thou who art to be pitied. Thou art a beggar, blind and naked;

and my counsel to thee is, to come and buy from me what thou needest; gold, proved in the fire, to make thee rich, and white garments, to clothe thee, and cover up the nakedness which dishonours thee; rub salve, too, upon thy eyes, to restore them sight.

It is those I love that I correct and chasten; kindle thy generosity, and repent.

See where I stand at the door, knocking; if anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to visit him, and take my supper with him, and he shall sup with me.

Who wins the victory? I will let him share my throne with me; I too have won the victory, and now I sit sharing my Father’s throne.

Listen, you that have ears, to the message the Spirit has for the churches.