Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Rev C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22
Rev 3 V1 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22
OET (OET-LV) Be_becoming watching, and strengthen the other things, which were_going to_die_off, because/for not I_have_found of_you works, having_been_fulfilled before the god of_me.
OET (OET-RV) So wake up from the dead and strengthen what’s left and was about to die, because your actions have been inadequate in God’s sight.
In this section, Jesus spoke to the people who believed in him at Sardis. He said that although people thought that the believers in Sardis trusted and obeyed him well, this was not true. He told them they must begin to truly trust and obey him again. He encouraged the believers who still completely trusted and obeyed him. Lastly, he gave a promise to any believer who persevered in his faith.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
The Message to Sardis (GNT)
Jesus gave a message for the church at Sardis
Advice to the group of believers at Sardis
Translate this heading as you did for the other messages to the churches (for example, Section 2:18–29).
Wake up and strengthen what remains, which was about to die;
Awake and strengthen what you still have before it dies completely,
Open your eyes and mind/heart! Strengthen the little faith/life in me that you have left. It has almost ceased to exist.
Wake up: This is a figure of speech by which Jesus commanded the believers at Sardis to begin following/obeying him well. He compares this change to waking up from sleep and being alert. He wanted them to understand the danger they were in.
In some languages the expression Wake up is not used in that way. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:
Wake up and see/realize that your faith is dead.
Use another saying that warns someone about a danger. For example:
Look out!
Pay attention! You may then want to tell the literal words in a footnote. For example:
Literally: “Wake up!”
Translate literally and explain its meaning in a footnote. Some example footnotes are:
This command indicates that the believers in Sardis needed to become aware that they were not following/obeying Jesus well. They needed to realize that they were in danger because of that.
This command indicates that these believers needed to realize they were following/obeying Jesus poorly.
strengthen what remains, which was about to die: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as what remains is “the remaining (things).” It probably refers to all the good ways that believers are supposed behave in regard to their faith. They should have love, faith, service, and perseverance. The believers in Sardis did not love very much or believe very much or serve very much or persevere very much.
The phrase was about to die indicates that their small amount of love, faith, service, and perseverance was becoming even less. The command to strengthen indicates that they should increase their love, faith, service, and perseverance. Other ways to translate this whole clause are:
strengthen what you still have before it dies completely (GNT)
Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. (NLT)
In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
Explain what this refers to in your translation. For example:
strengthen your weak faith that is left which is close to ceasing-to-exist.Kankanaey Back Translation on TW.
Your faith is growing small and about to end, so make it big/full
Speak of people strengthening themselves. For example:
Make yourselves stronger before what you have left dies completely. (NCV)
You have only a little strength left, and it is almost gone. So try to become stronger. (CEV)
Use words different from strengthen or die. For example:
your faith is small and getting smaller, so make it big
your way of doing good deeds is like a fire about to go out, so help each other make the way good again
for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God.
because I have not found that your actions have been complete before my God.
For I have found that you have not fulfilled what my God wants you to do.
for: This word introduces a reason for the warning in 3:2a.
I have found your deeds incomplete: There are two ways to interpret the Greek clause that the BSB translates as I have found your deeds incomplete:
It refers to the believers not finishing the deeds that God or Jesus had given them to do. For example:
I have found that what you are doing has not been completed (GW) (BSB, NIV, NASB, NABRE, GW, CEV, NET, REB, NCV, ESV)
It refers to the believers not doing the deeds well. For example:
I find that what you have done is not yet perfect (GNT) (RSV, GNT, NJB, NLT)The KJV uses the word “perfect,” but at the time of the KJV (the year 1611) the word “perfect” also had the sense of “complete” as in option (1).
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the Greek word refers to something which is full or complete rather than the quality of something which is perfect.Beale (page 274) calls them “incomplete works.” Other ways to translate interpretation (1) are:
I have not found any work of yours brought to completion (REB)
I have found that what you are doing is less than what my God wants. (NCV)
in the sight of My God: This phrase is more literally “before My God.” It means “as God thinks about it” or “according to God.” Other ways to translate this phrase are:
before God (KJV)
by God’s measure
(reordered) I see that what you are doing is not adequate/sufficient by God’s measure, therefore awake and strengthen what you still have before it dies completely.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
γίνου γρηγορῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Γίνου γρηγορῶν καί στήρισον τά λοιπά ἅ ἔμελλον ἀποθανεῖν οὒ γάρ εὕρηκα σοῦ ἔργα πεπληρωμένα ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ μού)
Jesus is speaking as if the believers in Sardis were asleep and needed to wake up. He means that they are complacent and need to become concerned about their spiritual state. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [Become concerned about your spiritual state]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
στήρισον τὰ λοιπὰ, ἃ ἔμελλον ἀποθανεῖν
strengthen (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Γίνου γρηγορῶν καί στήρισον τά λοιπά ἅ ἔμελλον ἀποθανεῖν οὒ γάρ εὕρηκα σοῦ ἔργα πεπληρωμένα ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ μού)
When Jesus says that there are some remaining things in Sardis that are about to die, as in the previous verse, he is speaking of the absence of spiritual vibrancy as if it were literally death. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [strengthen the few things about you that are still spiritually vibrant]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
οὐ γὰρ εὕρηκά σου τὰ ἔργα, πεπληρωμένα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Γίνου γρηγορῶν καί στήρισον τά λοιπά ἅ ἔμελλον ἀποθανεῖν οὒ γάρ εὕρηκα σοῦ ἔργα πεπληρωμένα ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ μού)
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [I have not found that you have completed your works]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ μου
before the God (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Γίνου γρηγορῶν καί στήρισον τά λοιπά ἅ ἔμελλον ἀποθανεῖν οὒ γάρ εὕρηκα σοῦ ἔργα πεπληρωμένα ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ μού)
Here the expression before my God means “in front of my God,” that is, “where my God can see them.” Sight, in turn, represents attention, perspective, and judgment. Alternate translation: [from my God’s perspective]
OET (OET-LV) Be_becoming watching, and strengthen the other things, which were_going to_die_off, because/for not I_have_found of_you works, having_been_fulfilled before the god of_me.
OET (OET-RV) So wake up from the dead and strengthen what’s left and was about to die, because your actions have been inadequate in God’s sight.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.