Revelation 3:2

Revelation 3:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
• New International Version (NIV)Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.

Context of Revelation 3:2

1‘Write this to the angel of the church at Sardis: “This is the message to you from the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know everything that you do. I know that people praise you. They think that you are alive. But that is not true, because really you are dead in your spirits. Wake up! You must become strong again. Do not let the little bit of life that you have completely disappear! I know that there are still more things for you to do to please my Father God. 3So remember God's message that you have heard. Obey what God has said. Turn away from the wrong things that you do. Change the way that you live. If you do not wake up, I will come to punish you. I will come secretly, like someone who robs people. So you will not know what time I will come to you. 4But you have a few people among you in Sardis who have not done these bad things. They are like people who have kept their clothes clean. They will walk with me and they will wear white clothes. They are good people and it is right for them to wear these white clothes.

Revelation 3:2 word by word

γίνου γρηγορῶν καὶ στήρισον τὰ λοιπὰ ἃ ἔμελλον ἀποθανεῖν· οὐ γὰρ εὕρηκά σου τὰ ἔργα πεπληρωμένα ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ μου.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Beγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• watchfulγρηγορέωgrēgoreuō · to keep watchG1127
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• strengthenστηρίζωstērizō · to establishG4741
• the things which remainλοιπόςloipoi · remainingG3062
• thatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• are ready toμέλλωmellō · to ensueG3195
• dieἀποθνήσκωapothnēskō · to dieG599
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• I haveεὑρίσκωheuriskō · to find/meetG2147
• notοὐou · noG3756
• thyσύsu · youG4771
• worksὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• worksἔργονergon · workG2041
• perfectπληρόωplēroō · to fulfillG4137
• beforeἐνώπιονenōpion · beforeG1799
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316

Cross-references for Revelation 3:2

• Revelation 16:15The Lord says: ‘Listen! I will come secretly, like someone who robs people. If you continue to watch carefully, you will be happy. Keep your clothes with you all the time. Then, when I come, you will not be ashamed because you have no clothes.’
• Isaiah 56:10Israel's guards are blind! They do not see what is happening. They are all like dogs that cannot make a noise. They cannot warn people about danger. They love to lie on the ground and they dream while they sleep.
• Isaiah 62:6I have put guards on your walls, Jerusalem. They should never be quiet, during the day and during the night. You people who cause the Lord to remember his promises, never stop and rest!
• Ezekiel 34:8My sheep do not have any shepherds to take care of them. So they are not safe from danger. They have become food for all the wild animals. You, my shepherds, have not gone to look for the sheep that were lost. You only wanted to help yourselves instead of my sheep. So I, the Almighty Lord, promise you this, as surely as I live.
• Zechariah 11:16I have chosen a man to watch the sheep. He will not help the sheep that are dying. He will not look for the sheep that have gone away. He will not help the sick sheep or feed the strong sheep. He will eat the meat of the fat sheep. He will tear off their feet to get all the meat.
• Matthew 24:42So you must watch carefully! You do not know the day when your Master will come back.
• Matthew 25:13Then Jesus said to the people, ‘So you must watch carefully. You do not know on what day or at what time I will return.’
• Mark 13:33Watch carefully! Keep awake! You do not know the time when all these things will happen.
• Acts 20:28You who are leaders should be careful about how you live. Also take care of the group of people that the Holy Spirit has chosen you to lead. Keep them safe like shepherds who take care of their sheep. All the believers belong to God because his Son, Jesus, died for them. He bought them with his blood which poured out on the cross.
• 2 Timothy 4:1Timothy, I tell you this seriously, as God and Christ Jesus see everything that we do. When Christ Jesus comes to rule as king, he will judge everyone. He will judge the people who are alive and also those who have already died. When he appears, he will decide what should happen to them all. So I tell you this now:
• 1 Peter 4:7All things in this world will soon come to an end. So you must think clearly. Then you will be able to pray in a serious way.
• 1 Peter 5:8Think seriously about how you live. Watch carefully for danger. Remember that the Devil is your enemy. He wants to hurt you. He walks about like a hungry lion. He is looking for someone to kill and then eat them!
• Revelation 2:4But I have something to say against you. You loved me very much when you first believed in me. You do not love me as much now.
• Deuteronomy 3:28Now you must tell Joshua what to do. Tell him to be brave and strong. He will lead my people across the river into the land that you see. He will help them to take the land for themselves.’
• Job 4:4With your words, you have saved people from danger. You have helped people who are in trouble to be brave.
• Job 16:5But, instead, I would help you to be strong. I would say things to comfort you.

Commentaries on Revelation 3:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Be watchful - Ye have lost ground by carelessness and inattention. Awake, and keep awake! Strengthen the things which remain - The convictions and good desires, with any measure of the fear of God and of a tender conscience, which, although still subsisting, are about to perish, because the Holy Spirit, who is the author of them, being repeatedly grieved, is about finally to depart. Thy works perfect - · Filled up. They performed duties of all kinds, but…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Be watchful - Be wakeful; be attentive and earnest - in contradistinction from the drowsy condition of the church. Strengthen the things which remain - The true piety that still lives and lingers among you. Whatever there was of religion among them, it was of importance to strengthen it, that the love of the Saviour might not become wholly extinct. An important duty in a low and languishing state of religion is, to “strengthen the things that still…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-3The church in Sardis needed to wake up and pay attention. If they did not, they would face sudden judgment. The city of Sardis had experienced this kind of surprise attack twice. The first happened when the forces of Cyrus entered the city through a secret tunnel around 549 or 546 BC. The second happened in 189 BC when Antiochus III attacked the city in the same way. In both cases, the watchmen were not alert, and the city fell. The same would happen to…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-221. Sardis--the ancient capital of Lydia, the kingdom of wealthy Croesus, on the river Pactolus. The address to this Church is full of rebuke. It does not seem to have been in vain; for Melito, bishop of Sardis in the second century, was eminent for piety and learning. He visited Palestine to assure himself and his flock as to the Old Testament canon and wrote an epistle on the subject [Eusebius Ecclesiastical History, 4.26]; he also wrote a commentary on…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 3:2

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Backsliders
• Church
• Instability
• Lukewarmness
• Repentance
• Sardis
• Temptation
• Watchfulness
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Angel
• Chasten
• Cold
• Counsel
• Dead
• Lukewarm
• Naked
• Poor

Commentaries on Revelation 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings