Revelation 3:17
What does Revelation 3:17 mean?
A plain-English look at Revelation 3:17 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Revelation 3:17 means
Laodicea says, “I am rich, I have acquired wealth, and I need nothing.” Jesus unmasks this as delusion: they are actually wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Material prosperity has blinded them to spiritual bankruptcy. Their self-assessment is the opposite of Christ’s assessment. The fivefold description shows the depth of their need—emptiness of heart, lack of joy, poverty before God, inability to see truth, and exposure to shame. The issue is not wealth itself but self-sufficiency that displaces dependence on the Lord. Until they accept his verdict, they cannot be healed. This piercing diagnosis is a mercy designed to break pride and open the way to receive true riches from Christ.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked:
KJV
King James Version · 1611Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked:
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949For you say, I have wealth, and have got together goods and land, and have need of nothing; and you are not conscious of your sad and unhappy condition, that you are poor and blind and without clothing.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862because thou sayest--I am rich, and have grown rich, and have need of nothing, and hast not known that thou art the wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Because thou sayest: I am rich and made wealthy and have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Because thou sayest, I am rich, and am grown rich, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art the wretched and the miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked;
Context
After warning of being spit out (verse 16), Jesus explains why: their boast of wealth and self-sufficiency conceals desperate need. This sets up verse 18, where he counsels them to acquire from him what they truly lack—refined gold, white garments, and eye salve. The movement from diagnosis to prescription shows that Christ aims not to condemn but to restore, if they will abandon illusions and respond to his counsel.
v.16So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
v.17This passage
v.18I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Romans 11:20
Well; by their unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by thy faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
- Romans 7:24
Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?
- Genesis 3:10
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
- Deuteronomy 8:12
lest, when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
- Zechariah 11:5
whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich; and their own shepherds pity them not.
- Proverbs 13:7
There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great wealth.
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