New King James Version
Revelation 3:3
3Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
Revelation 3:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
- New International Version (NIV)Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.
Context of Revelation 3:3
1“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 4You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Read all of Revelation 3Revelation 3:3 word by word
μνημόνευε οὖν πῶς εἴληφας καὶ ἤκουσας, καὶ τήρει καὶ μετανόησον. ἐὰν οὖν μὴ γρηγορήσῃς, ἥξω ὡς κλέπτης, καὶ οὐ μὴ γνῷς ποίαν ὥραν ἥξω ἐπὶ σέ.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Rememberμνημονεύωmnēmoneuō · to rememberG3421
- thereforeοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
- howπῶςpōs · how?!G4459
- thou hast receivedλαμβάνωlambanō · to takeG2983
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- heardἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
- hold fastτηρέωtēreō · to keep: observeG5083
- repentμετανοέωmetanoeō · to repentG3340
- Ifἐάνean · ifG1437
- thou shaltγρηγορέωgrēgoreuō · to keep watchG1127
- notμήmē · notG3361
- I will comeἥκωhēkō · to come/be presentG2240
- onἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
- theeσύsu · youG4771
- asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
- a thiefκλέπτηςkleptēs · thiefG2812
- notοὐou · noG3756
- knowγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097
- whatποῖοςpoios · what?G4169
- hourὥραhōra · hourG5610
Cross-references for Revelation 3:3
- Revelation 2:5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
- Ezekiel 16:61Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your older and your younger sisters; for I will give them to you for daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.
- Ezekiel 20:43And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed.
- Ezekiel 36:31Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.
- Hebrews 2:1Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
- 2 Peter 1:13Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you,
- 2 Peter 3:1Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder),
- Revelation 3:11Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
- Revelation 2:25But hold fast what you have till I come.
- 1 Timothy 6:20O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—
- 2 Timothy 1:13Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
- Revelation 3:19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
- Revelation 16:15“Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
- Matthew 24:42Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
- Luke 12:39But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
Commentaries on Revelation 3:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Remember - Enter into a serious consideration of your state. How thou hast received - With what joy, zeal, and gladness ye heard the Gospel of Christ when first preached to you. Hold fast - Those good desires and heavenly influences which still remain. And repent - Be humbled before God, because ye have not been workers together with him, but have received much of his grace in vain. If therefore thou shalt not watch - If you do not consider your ways…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Remember therefore how thou hast received - This may refer either to some uniqueness in the manner in which the gospel was conveyed to them - as, By the labors of the apostles, and by the remarkable effusions of the Holy Spirit; or to the ardor and love with which they embraced it; or to the greatness of the favors and privileges conferred on them; or to their own understanding of what the gospel required, when they were converted. It is not possible to…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. 33. how thou hast received--(Col 2:6; 1Th 4:1; 1Ti 6:20). What Sardis is to "remember" is, not how joyfully she had received originally the Gospel message, but how the precious deposit was committed to her originally, so that she could not say, she had not "received and heard" it. The Greek is not aorist (as in Re 2:4, as to Ephesus, "Thou didst leave thy first love"), but "thou hast received" (perfect), and still hast the permanent deposit of doctrine…Read the comment
Topics related to Revelation 3:3
In the dictionaries
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries