Chapter 2

1“To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write: Here's what the one says who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven gold lampstands. Performance review number one. Ephesus.

2I know what you've done. Your hard work and your toughness. I know you can't stand bad people. You tested the people who claim to be apostles but aren't, and you found out they're fakes. You caught the fakes. Good. Very good. Fact-checked them. Real fact-checking.

3You've hung in there and put up with a lot for my name, and you haven't quit. Never quit. Good.

4But I have this against you. You've lost the love you had at first. The enthusiasm. Where's the enthusiasm? You used to show up early. Front row. Now you're sitting in the back.

5Remember how far you've fallen! Turn around and do what you did at first. If you don't, I'll come and take your lampstand away. Lose the energy, you lose the lampstand. You lose the franchise.

6But you do have this going for you. You hate what the Nicolaitans do, which I also hate. Good. Hate the right people. We both hate them. Great thing to have in common.

7Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the winner, I'll give the right to eat from the tree of life in God's paradise. The winner. Always the winner gets the prize.

8To the angel of the church in Smyrna, write: Here's what the one says who's the First and the Last, who died and came back to life. Smyrna. Review number two.

9I know your troubles and your poverty. But you're rich! Poor now, rich later. I know about the trash talk from the people who claim to be the real thing and aren't. Satan's club. Fakes. Trash talkers.

10Don't be afraid of what you're about to suffer. The devil's going to throw some of you in prison to test you, and you'll have trouble for ten days. Stay loyal, even to the point of death, and I'll give you the crown of life. Ten days. Short sentence. Stay loyal. Pardon coming. Crown coming.

11Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The winner won't be hurt at all by the second death. Second death. Never happens to winners.

12To the angel of the church in Pergamum, write: Here's what the one says who has the sharp double-edged sword. Pergamum. Review three. Mixed.

13I know where you live. Where Satan has his throne. Satan's headquarters. Very bad neighborhood. Worst zip code. Yet you hold on to my name. You didn't deny your loyalty to me, even when Antipas, my loyal witness, was killed in your city, where Satan lives. Antipas. A hero. A real hero.

14But I have a few things against you. Some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to make the Israelites trip by eating food sacrificed to idols and sleeping around. Balaam. Took the money from the wrong side. Again with Balaam.

15Same with some of you who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. The Nicolaitans. Again. I hate them.

16So turn around! Otherwise, I'll come to you soon and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. The sword of my mouth. Very sharp mouth. You don't want to be on the other end of it.

17Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the winner I'll give some of the hidden manna. I'll also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who gets it. A new name. A nickname. I give the best nicknames. Only good ones for the winners.

18To the angel of the church in Thyatira, write: Here's what the Son of God says, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze. Thyatira. Where Lydia's from. Purple cloth. Great town.

19I know what you've done. Your love and loyalty, your service and toughness, and that you're doing more now than you did at first. More now than at first. Growing. Numbers going up. Great.

20But I have this against you. You put up with that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. She misleads my servants into sleeping around and eating food sacrificed to idols. Calls herself a prophet. Self-appointed. Fake.

21I've given her time to turn around, but she doesn't want to. Gave her time. Very patient. Very generous with the time.

22So I'm going to throw her on a bed of suffering, and I'll make the people who cheat with her suffer a lot, unless they turn around from what she's doing.

23I'll strike her kids dead. Then all the churches will know I'm the one who searches hearts and minds, and I'll repay each of you for what you've done. He searches everything. Everything. Every heart. Every phone.

24Now I'm talking to the rest of you in Thyatira, who don't hold to her teaching and haven't learned Satan's so-called deep secrets. I won't put any other burden on you. The so-called deep secrets. Deep state secrets. You didn't learn them. Good.

25Just hold on to what you have until I come. Hold on. I'm coming. Two weeks.

26To the winner and the one who does what I want to the end, I'll give authority over the nations.

27He'll rule them with an iron rod and smash them like pottery. Just like I got authority from my Father. Iron rod. Strong rule. Very strong.

28I'll also give him the morning star. A star. You get a star. Like the Walk of Fame. I have a star.

29Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”