Revelation 3:15-17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
15 “I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot.[a] I wish you were either cold or hot. 16 [b]So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 [c](A)For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’ and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 3:15–16 Halfhearted commitment to the faith is nauseating to Christ; cf. Rom 12:11.
- 3:16 Spit: literally, “vomit.” The image is that of a beverage that should be either hot or cold. Perhaps there is an allusion to the hot springs of Hierapolis across the Lycus river from Laodicea, which would have been lukewarm by the time they reached Laodicea.
- 3:17 Economic prosperity occasioned spiritual bankruptcy.
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