The
Message to Sardis
Revelation 3 "To the angel of
the church in Sardis write:
"This
is the message from the one who has the seven spirits of
God and the seven stars. I know what you are doing; I
know that you have the reputation of being alive, even
though you are dead! 2So wake up, and
strengthen what you still have before it dies completely.
For I find that what you have done is not yet perfect in
the sight of my God. 3Remember, then, what you
were taught and what you heard; obey it and turn from
your sins. If you do not wake up, I will come upon you
like a thief, and you will not even know the time when I
will come. 4But a few of you there in Sardis
have kept your clothes clean. You will walk with me,
clothed in white, because you are worthy to do so. 5Those
who win the victory will be clothed like this in white,
and I will not remove their names from the book of the
living. In the presence of my Father and of his angels I
will declare openly that they belong to me.
6"If
you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to
the churches!
The Message to Philadelphia
7"To
the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
"This
is the message from the one who is holy and true. He has
the key that belonged to David, and when he opens a door,
no one can close it, and when he closes it, no one can
open it. 8I know what you do; I know that
you have a little power; you have followed my teaching
and have been faithful to me. I have opened a door in
front of you, which no one can close. 9Listen!
As for that group that belongs to Satan, those liars who
claim that they are Jews but are not, I will make them
come and bow down at your feet. They will all know that I
love you. 10Because you have kept my command
to endure, I will also keep you safe from the time of
trouble which is coming upon the world to test all the
people on earth. 11I am coming soon. Keep
safe what you have, so that no one will rob you of your
victory prize. 12I will make those who are
victorious pillars in the temple of my God, and they will
never leave it. I will write on them the name of my God
and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem,
which will come down out of heaven from my God. I will
also write on them my new name.
13"If
you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to
the churches!
The Message to Laodicea
14"To
the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
"This
is the message from the Amen, the faithful and true
witness, who is the origin of all that God has created. 15I know
what you have done; I know that you are neither cold nor
hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! 16But
because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am
going to spit you out of my mouth! 17You say,
'I am rich and well off; I have all I need.' But you do
not know how miserable and pitiful you are! You are poor,
naked, and blind. 18I advise you, then,
to buy gold from me, pure gold, in order to be rich. Buy
also white clothing to dress yourself and cover up your
shameful nakedness. Buy also some ointment to put on your
eyes, so that you may see. 19I rebuke and
punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn
from your sins. 20Listen! I stand at the door
and knock; if any hear my voice and open the door, I will
come into their house and eat with them, and they will
eat with me. 21To those who win the victory I
will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, just
as I have been victorious and now sit by my Father on his
throne.
22"If
you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to
the churches!"
Nehemiah Overcomes
Opposition to His Work
Nehemiah 4 When Sanballat heard
that we Jews had begun rebuilding the wall, he became
furious and began to ridicule us. 2In front of
his companions and the Samaritan troops he said,
"What do these miserable Jews think they're doing?
Do they intend to rebuild the city? Do they think that by
offering sacrifices they can finish the work in one day?
Can they make building stones out of heaps of burnt
rubble?"
3Tobiah
was standing there beside him, and he added, "What
kind of wall could they ever build? Even a fox could
knock it down!"
4I prayed,
"Hear how they make fun of us, O God! Let their
ridicule fall on their own heads. Let them be robbed of
everything they have, and let them be taken as prisoners
to a foreign land. 5Don't forgive the evil
they do and don't forget their sins, for they have
insulted us who are building."
6So
we went on rebuilding the wall, and soon it was half its
full height, because the people were eager to work.
7Sanballat,
Tobiah, and the people of Arabia, Ammon, and Ashdod heard
that we were making progress in rebuilding the wall of
Jerusalem and that the gaps in the wall were being
closed, and they became very angry. 8So they
all plotted together to come and attack Jerusalem and
create confusion, 9but we prayed to our God
and kept men on guard against them day and night.
10The
people of Judah had a song they sang:
"We
grow weak carrying burdens;
There's
so much rubble to take away.
How
can we build the wall today?"
11Our
enemies thought we would not see them or know what was
happening until they were already upon us, killing us and
putting an end to our work. 12But time after
time Jews who were living among our enemies came to warn
us of the plans our enemies were making against us. 13So
I armed the people with swords, spears, and bows, and
stationed them by clans behind the wall, wherever it was
still unfinished.
14I saw
that the people were worried, so I said to them and to
their leaders and officials, "Don't be afraid of our
enemies. Remember how great and terrifying the Lord is,
and fight for your relatives, your children, your wives,
and your homes." 15Our enemies heard that
we had found out what they were plotting, and they
realized that God had defeated their plans. Then all of
us went back to rebuilding the wall.
16From
then on half of my men worked and half stood guard,
wearing coats of armor and armed with spears, shields,
and bows. And our leaders gave their full support to the
people 17who were rebuilding the wall. Even
those who carried building materials worked with one hand
and kept a weapon in the other, 18and everyone
who was building kept a sword strapped to their waist.
The man who was to sound the alarm on the bugle stayed
with me. 19I told the people and their
officials and leaders, "The work is spread out over
such a distance that we are widely separated from one
another on the wall. 20If you hear the bugle,
gather around me. Our God will fight for us." 21So
every day, from dawn until the stars came out at night,
half of us worked on the wall, while the other half stood
guard with spears.
22During
this time I told the men in charge that they and all
their helpers had to stay in Jerusalem at night, so that
we could guard the city at night as well as work in the
daytime. 23I didn't take off my clothes
even at night, neither did any of my companions nor my
servants nor my bodyguards. And we all kept our weapons
at hand.
God the Ruler
of the World
Psalm 98 Sing a new song to
the LORD;
he
has done wonderful things!
By
his own power and holy strength
he
has won the victory.
2The
LORD announced his victory;
he
made his saving power known to the nations.
3He
kept his promise to the people of Israel
with
loyalty and constant love for them.
All
people everywhere have seen the victory of our God.
4Sing
for joy to the LORD, all the earth;
praise
him with songs and shouts of joy!
5Sing
praises to the LORD!
Play
music on the harps!
6Blow
trumpets and horns,
and
shout for joy to the LORD, our
king.
7Roar,
sea, and every creature in you;
sing,
earth, and all who live on you!
8Clap
your hands, you rivers;
you
hills, sing together with joy before the LORD,
9 because
he comes to rule the earth.
He
will rule the peoples of the world
with
justice and fairness.
|