Revelation 2:4
New International Version
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.

New Living Translation
“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!

English Standard Version
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Berean Standard Bible
But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.

Berean Literal Bible
But I have against you that you have abandoned your first love.

King James Bible
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

New King James Version
Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

New American Standard Bible
But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

NASB 1995
But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

NASB 1977
‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Legacy Standard Bible
But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Amplified Bible
But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me].

Christian Standard Bible
But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.

American Standard Version
But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“But I have something against you, because you have left your former love.”

Contemporary English Version
But I do have something against you! And it is this: You don't have as much love as you used to.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity.

English Revised Version
But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
However, I have this against you: The love you had at first is gone.

Good News Translation
But this is what I have against you: you do not love me now as you did at first.

International Standard Version
However, I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.

Literal Standard Version
But I have against you that you left your first love!

Majority Standard Bible
But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.

New American Bible
Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first.

NET Bible
But I have this against you: You have departed from your first love!

New Revised Standard Version
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

New Heart English Bible
But I have this against you, that you left your first love.

Webster's Bible Translation
Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Weymouth New Testament
Yet I have this against you--that you no longer love Me as you did at first.

World English Bible
But I have this against you, that you left your first love.

Young's Literal Translation
'But I have against thee: That thy first love thou didst leave!

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
To the Church in Ephesus
3Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name. 4But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. 5Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.…

Cross References
Jeremiah 2:2
"Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: 'I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

Matthew 24:12
Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.


Treasury of Scripture

Nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love.

I have.

Revelation 2:14,20
But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication…

because.

Revelation 3:14-17
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; …

Jeremiah 2:2-5
Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown…

Matthew 24:12,13
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold…

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Abandoned First Forsaken Hold Love Nevertheless Somewhat Turned
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Abandoned First Forsaken Hold Love Nevertheless Somewhat Turned
Revelation 2
1. What is commanded to be written to the angels, that is, the ministers of the churches of Ephesus,
8. Smyrna,
12. Pergamos,
18. Thyatira, and what is commended and lacking in them.














(4) Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee.--Better, I have against thee that thou didst let go. This is the fault, and it is no trifle which is blamed, as the word "somewhat" (which is not to be found in the original) might be taken to imply; for the decay of love is the decay of that without which all other graces are as nothing (1Corinthians 13:1-3), since "all religion is summed up in one word, Love. God asks this; we cannot give more; He cannot take less" (Norman Macleod, Life, i., p. 324). Great as the fault is, it is the fault which Love alone would have detected. "Can any one more touchingly rebuke than by commencing, 'Thou no longer lovest me enough?'" It is the regretful cry of the heavenly Bridegroom, recalling the early days of His Bride's love, the kindness of her youth, the love of her espousals (Jeremiah 2:2. Comp. Hosea 2:15). It is impossible not to see some reference in this to the language of St. Paul (which must have been familiar to the Ephesian Christians) in Ephesians 5:23-33, where human love is made a type of the divine.

Verse 4. - But I have (this) against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love. The Authorized Version unwarrantably softens the censure by inserting "somewhat;" the Greek means rather, "I have (this grave thing) against thee." In "hath aught against thee" (Matthew 5:23) and "have aught against any" (Mark 11:25), the "aught" (τι) is expressed in the Greek; here nothing is expressed. "Thy first love" is expressed very emphatically with the article repeated; "thy love, thy first one." The meaning of it is much disputed. It cannot mean "thy former gentleness towards evil men and false apostles." It may mean "thy love of the brethren," so much insisted upon in St. John's First Epistle. More probably it means "thy first love for me." Christ is here speaking as the Bridegroom, and addresses the Church of Ephesus as his bride (comp. Jeremiah 2:2-13). This thought would be familiar to the Ephesians from St. Paul's teaching (Ephesians 5:23-33). It shows strange ignorance of human frailty and of history to argue that "a generation at least must have passed away, and the thirty years from Nero to Domitian must have elapsed, ere the change here noted could come to pass." Does this writer forget the Epistle to the Galatians? In a very few years the Churches of Galatia had left their first love. The frequent and rapid lapses of Israel into idolatry show the same thing from the time when Aaron made the calf down to the Captivity. This verse is certainly no obstacle to the theory that the Apocalypse was written about A.D. .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
But
Ἀλλὰ (Alla)
Conjunction
Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise.

I have
ἔχω (echō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

this
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

against
κατὰ (kata)
Preposition
Strong's 2596: A primary particle; down, in varied relations (genitive, dative or accusative) with which it is joined).

you:
σοῦ (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

You have abandoned
ἀφῆκες (aphēkes)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 863: From apo and hiemi; to send forth, in various applications.

your
σου (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

first
πρώτην (prōtēn)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4413: First, before, principal, most important. Contracted superlative of pro; foremost.

love.
ἀγάπην (agapēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 26: From agapao; love, i.e. Affection or benevolence; specially a love-feast.


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NT Prophecy: Revelation 2:4 But I have this against you that (Rev. Re Apocalypse)
Revelation 2:3
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