Revelation 2:12-14

Contemporary English Version

The Letter to Pergamum

¹²This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Pergamum:

I am the one who has the sharp double-edged sword! Listen to what I say.

¹³I know you live where Satan has his throne.^[a] But you have kept true to my name. Right there where Satan lives, my faithful witness Antipas^[b] was taken from you and put to death. Even then you did not give up your faith in me.

¹⁴^(A) I do have a few things against you. Some of you are following the teaching of Balaam.^[c] Long ago he told Balak to teach the people of Israel to eat food that had been offered to idols and to be immoral.

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Footnotes

2.13 where Satan has his throne: The meaning is uncertain, but it may refer to the city as a center of pagan worship or of Emperor worship.
2.13 Antipas: Nothing else is known about this man, who is mentioned only here in the New Testament.
2.14 Balaam: According to Numbers 22–24, Balaam refused to disobey the Lord. But in other books of the Old Testament, he is spoken of as evil (see Deuteronomy 23.4,5; Joshua 13.22; 24.9,10; Nehemiah 13.2).