The Letter to Sardis

Revelation 3 This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Sardis:

I have the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Listen to what I say.

I know what you are doing. Everyone may think you are alive, but you are dead. ²Wake up! You have only a little strength left, and it is almost gone. So try to become stronger. I have found that you are not completely obeying God. ³Remember the teaching that you were given and that you heard. Hold firmly to it and turn from your sins. If you don't wake up, I will come when you least expect it, just as a thief does.

⁴A few of you in Sardis have not dirtied your clothes with sin. You will walk with me in white clothes, because you are worthy. ⁵Everyone who wins the victory will wear white clothes. Their names will not be erased from the book of life, and I will tell my Father and his angels that they are my followers.

⁶If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

The Letter to Philadelphia

⁷This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia:

I am the one who is holy and true, and I have the keys that belonged to David. When I open a door, no one can close it. And when I close a door, no one can open it. Listen to what I say.

⁸I know everything you have done. And I have placed before you an open door that no one can close. You were not very strong, but you obeyed my message and did not deny that you are my followers. ⁹Now you will see what I will do with those people who belong to Satan's group. They claim to be God's people, but they are liars. I will make them come and kneel down at your feet. Then they will know that I love you.

¹⁰You obeyed my message and endured. So I will protect you from the time of testing that everyone in all the world must go through. ¹¹I am coming soon. So hold firmly to what you have, and no one will take away the crown that you will be given as your reward.

¹²Everyone who wins the victory will be made into a pillar in the temple of my God, and they will stay there forever. I will write on each of them the name of my God and the name of his city. It is the new Jerusalem that my God will send down from heaven. I will also write on them my own new name.

¹³If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

The Letter to Laodicea

¹⁴This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Laodicea:

I am the one called Amen! I am the faithful and true witness and the source of God's creation. Listen to what I say.

¹⁵I know everything you have done, and you are not cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other. ¹⁶But since you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷You claim to be rich and successful and to have everything you need. But you don't know how bad off you are. You are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

¹⁸Buy your gold from me. It has been refined in a fire, and it will make you rich. Buy white clothes from me. Wear them and you can cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy medicine for your eyes, so that you will be able to see.

¹⁹I correct and punish everyone I love. So make up your minds to turn away from your sins. ²⁰Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together. ²¹Everyone who wins the victory will sit with me on my throne, just as I won the victory and sat with my Father on his throne.

²²If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Nehemiah's Enemies

Nehemiah 4 When Sanballat, the governor of Samaria, heard that we were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, he became angry and started insulting our people. ²In front of his friends and the Samaritan army he said, "What is this feeble bunch of Jews trying to do? Are they going to rebuild the wall and offer sacrifices all in one day? Do they think they can make something out of this pile of scorched stones?"
³Tobiah from Ammon was standing beside Sanballat and said, "Look at the wall they are building! Why, even a fox could knock over this pile of stones."
⁴But I prayed, "Our God, these people hate us and have wished horrible things for us. Please answer our prayers and make their insults fall on them! Let them be the ones to be dragged away as prisoners of war. ⁵Don't forgive the mean and evil way they have insulted the builders."
⁶The people worked hard, and we built the walls of Jerusalem halfway up again. ⁷But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from the city of Ashdod saw the walls going up and the holes being repaired. So they became angry ⁸and decided to stir up trouble, and to fight against the people of Jerusalem. ⁹But we kept on praying to our God, and we also stationed guards day and night.
¹⁰Meanwhile, the people of Judah were singing a sorrowful song:
"So much rubble for us to haul!
Worn out and weary,
will we ever finish this wall?"
¹¹Our enemies were saying, "Before those Jews know what has happened, we will sneak up and kill them and put an end to their work."
¹²On at least ten different occasions, the Jews living near our enemies warned us against attacks from every side, ¹³and so I sent people to guard the wall at its lowest places and where there were still holes in it. I placed them according to families, and they stood guard with swords and spears and with bows and arrows. ¹⁴Then I looked things over and told the leaders, the officials, and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of your enemies! The Lord is great and fearsome. So think of him and fight for your relatives and children, your wives and homes!"
¹⁵Our enemies found out that we knew about their plot against us, but God kept them from doing what they had planned. So we went back to work on the wall.
¹⁶From then on, I let half of the young men work while the other half stood guard. They wore armor and had spears and shields, as well as bows and arrows. The leaders helped the workers ¹⁷who were rebuilding the wall. Everyone who hauled building materials kept one hand free to carry a weapon. ¹⁸Even the workers who were rebuilding the wall strapped on a sword. The worker who was to blow the signal trumpet stayed with me.
¹⁹I told the people and their officials and leaders, "Our work is so spread out, that we are a long way from one another. ²⁰If you hear the sound of the trumpet, come quickly and gather around me. Our God will help us fight."
²¹Every day from dawn to dark, half of the workers rebuilt the walls, while the rest stood guard with their spears.
²²I asked the men in charge and their workers to stay inside Jerusalem and stand guard at night. So they guarded the city at night and worked during the day. ²³I even slept in my work clothes at night; my children, the workers, and the guards slept in theirs as well. And we always kept our weapons close by.

Psalm 98
The LORD Works Miracles

¹Sing a new song to the LORD! He has worked miracles,
and with his own powerful arm,
he has won the victory.
²The LORD has shown the nations
that he has the power to save and to bring justice.
³God has been faithful in his love for Israel,
and his saving power is seen everywhere on earth.

⁴Tell everyone on this earth
to sing happy songs in praise of the LORD.
⁵Make music for him on harps. Play beautiful melodies!
⁶Sound the trumpets and horns
and celebrate with joyful songs
for our LORD and King!

⁷Command the ocean to roar with all of its creatures,
and the earth to shout with all of its people.
⁸Order the rivers to clap their hands,
and all of the hills to sing together.
⁹Let them worship the LORD!
He is coming to judge everyone on the earth,
and he will be honest and fair.