Revelation 3

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

To Sardis

¹ "And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: These things says He who has the seven spirits of Elohim and the seven stars: I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, and you are dead. ² Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have not found your works complete before My Elohim. ³ Remember therefore how you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If therefore you do not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. ⁴ But you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life; and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ⁶ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies."

To Philadelphia

⁷ "And to the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: These things says the Holy One, the True One, He who has the key of David, He who opens, and no one will shut it except He who opens; and no one will open: ⁸ I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut, because you have a little strength, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. ⁹ See, I will give some of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews and are not, but lie; see, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and know that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept the word of My endurance, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. ¹² He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My Elohim, and he shall go out no more; and I will write on him the name of My Elohim, and the name of the city of My Elohim, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My Elohim, and My new name. ¹³ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies."

To Laodicea

¹⁴ "And to the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the beginning of the creation of Elohim: ¹⁵ I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and do not know that you are the wretched one, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. ¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. Be zealous therefore, and repent. ²⁰ See, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹ To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. ²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies."

Notes

• 3:2 Here the Majority Text reads "which you were about to throw away" (apoballein), where many Bibles, older and modern, read "which were about to die" (apothanein). Either way Yeshua's call is the same: wake up and strengthen what is left.
• 3:5 The book of life is an image from Israel's Scriptures: Moses prayed, "please blot me out of Your book that You have written" (Exodus 32:32), the psalmist asked that the wicked "be blotted out of the book of the living" (Psalm 69:28), and Daniel was told that his people would be delivered, "everyone who is found written in the book" (Daniel 12:1). Here the promise is turned around: "I will not blot out his name."
• 3:7 The key of David comes from Isaiah 22:22, where Elohim gives the faithful steward Eliakim authority over the king's house: "And I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open." Here the Messiah holds that key. The Majority Text has a different wording in the second half of the verse from most Bibles, "and no one will shut it except He who opens; and no one will open," and the TRB translates it as it stands; the sense remains that only the Messiah opens and shuts.
• 3:9 The words echo promises Isaiah made to Israel: "and all who despised you shall bow down at the soles of your feet" (Isaiah 60:14), and "I love you" (Isaiah 43:4). As in 2:9, "those who say they are Jews and are not" speaks of particular opponents of the believers in that city, not of the Jewish people; the promise is that the small, faithful assembly will be shown to be loved by its Lord.
• 3:10 "Keep you from" is tērēsō ek. Students of the Bible differ on this promise: some read it as being taken away before the time of trial comes, others as being kept safe through it, and the same words "keep … from" appear in Yeshua's prayer, "that You should keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15). The TRB translates the Greek and leaves the question open.
• 3:14 "Amen" is a Hebrew word from the root of firmness and faithfulness, said to confirm what is true; where Isaiah 65:16 says "the Elohim of truth," the Hebrew reads "the Elohim of amen." "The beginning (archē) of the creation of Elohim" is read by many as its source and ruler, in line with "all things were made through Him" (John 1:3) and Paul's "the firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15), and others have read it differently; the Greek word can mean beginning, origin or first place.

Revelation 2 · Revelation 4

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