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Yet you have this [to your credit], that you hate the works and corrupt teachings of the [a]Nicolaitans [that mislead and delude the people], which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who [b]overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant [the privilege] to eat [the fruit] from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’(A)

Message to Smyrna

“And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in [c]Smyrna write:

“These are the words of the First and the Last [absolute Deity, the Son of God] who died and came to life [again]:(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 2:6 There is scant information about the cult of the Nicolaitans, but it appears they adopted a syncretistic worship, combining Christianity and idolatry. They may have held heretical views similar to those mentioned in vv 14 and 20.
  2. Revelation 2:7 The definition of one who overcomes is recorded in 1 John 5:5.
  3. Revelation 2:8 In ancient times Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey) was a beautiful, cosmopolitan city. Located on the Aegean coast, it vied with Ephesus and Pergamum in importance in Asia Minor. It was closely identified with Rome and the cult of emperor worship. Smyrna was later the home of Polycarp, the great Christian church leader who, at the age of eighty-six, was burned at the stake for his refusal to worship the Roman emperor.

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