Revelation 3:17
Because 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:
Study Note
Study Note
The oracle to Laodicea — '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' — is the New Testament's most devastating critique of prosperous self-satisfaction masquerading as spiritual well-being. Laodicea was among the wealthiest cities in Asia Minor, famous for its banking, black wool, and ophthalmological ointment — making the contrasting images of poverty, nakedness, and blindness a sharp ironic inversion of local civic pride. The verb 'knowest not' (ouk oidas) is the epistemological diagnosis: the problem is not conscious hypocrisy but genuine self-deception, the most dangerous form of spiritual blindness. The subsequent counsel (buy gold tried in fire, white raiment, eyesalve) reverses each local boast, demonstrating that what the city prides itself on is precisely what the church lacks spiritually.
Other Translations
Because 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:
because 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,
For 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.
Cross References
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves …
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I …
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee …
And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the …
There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, …
Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that …
O generation, see ye the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? …