Revelation 2:2

2:2 ‘I know your works as well as your ¹  labor and steadfast endurance, and that you cannot tolerate ²  evil. You have even put to the test ³  those who refer to themselves as apostles (but are not), and have discovered that they are false.

Revelation 2:9

2:9 ‘I know the distress you are suffering ⁴  and your poverty (but you are rich). I also know ⁵  the slander against you ⁶  by those who call themselves Jews and really are not, but are a synagogue ⁷  of Satan.

Revelation 3:17

3:17 Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, ⁸  and need nothing,” but ⁹  do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, ¹⁰  poor, blind, and naked,

Revelation 9:4

9:4 They ¹¹  were told ¹²  not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree, but only those people ¹³  who did not have the seal of God on their ¹⁴  forehead.

Revelation 11:9

11:9 For three and a half days those from every ¹⁵  people, tribe, ¹⁶  nation, and language will look at their corpses, because they will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. ¹⁷ 

Revelation 12:11

12:11 But ¹⁸  they overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their lives ¹⁹  so much that they were afraid to die.

Revelation 14:4

14:4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves ²⁰  with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,

Revelation 16:18

16:18 Then ²¹  there were flashes of lightning, roaring, ²²  and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake – an earthquake unequaled since humanity ²³  has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake.

Revelation 18:7

18:7 As much as ²⁴  she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, ²⁵  to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, ²⁶  ‘I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’

¹ tn Although the first possessive pronoun σου (sou) is connected to τὰ ἔργα (ta erga) and the second σου is connected to ὑπομονήν (Jupomonhn), semantically κόπον (kopon) is also to be understood as belonging to the Ephesian church. The translation reflects this.

² tn The translation “tolerate” seems to capture the sense of βαστάσαι (bastasai) here. BDAG 171 s.v. βαστάζω 2.b.β says, “bear, endure…κακούς Rv 2:2.…bear patiently, put up with: weaknesses of the weak Ro 15:1; cf. IPol 1:2; evil Rv 2:3.”

³ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle was broken off from the previous sentence and translated as an indicative verb beginning a new sentence here in the translation.

⁴ tn Or “know your suffering.” This could refer to suffering or distress caused by persecution (see L&N 22.2).

⁵ tn Because of the length and complexity of this Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the phrase “I also know” to link this English sentence back to “I know” at the beginning of the verse.

⁶ tn The words “against you” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

⁷ sn A synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (e.g., Mt 4:23, Mk 1:21, Lk 4:15, Jn 6:59).

⁷ tn Grk “and have become rich.” The semantic domains of the two terms for wealth here, πλούσιος (plousios, adjective) and πλουτέω (ploutew, verb) overlap considerably, but are given slightly different English translations for stylistic reasons.

⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

⁹ tn All the terms in this series are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹¹ tn The dative indirect object (αὐταῖς, autais) was converted into the subject (“they”) as this more closely approximates English usage. The following ἵ῞να (Jina) is taken as substantival, introducing a direct object clause. In this case, because it is reported speech, the ἵνα is similar to the declarative ὅτι (Joti).

¹² tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here of both men and women.

¹³ tn The article τῶν (twn) has been translated as a possessive pronoun here (ExSyn 215).

¹³ tn The word “every” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the following list.

¹⁴ tn The Greek term καί (kai) has not been translated before this and the following items in the list, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

¹⁵ tn Or “to be buried.”

¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.

¹⁷ sn They did not love their lives. See Matt 16:25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25.

¹⁹ tn The aorist passive verb is rendered as a reflexive (“defiled themselves”) by BDAG 657 s.v. μολύνω 2.

²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

²³ tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”

²⁴ tn The singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used generically here to refer to the human race.

²⁵ tn “As much as” is the translation of ὅσα (Josa).

²⁶ tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”

²⁷ tn Grk “said in her heart,” an idiom for saying something to oneself.