Revelation 3:17 (ASV)

Passage

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:

Nearby Context

Revelation 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

Revelation 3:16 So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.

Revelation 3:17 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:

Revelation 3:18 I 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.

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "sayest", "rich", "gotten", "riches", "need", "nothing", and "knowest". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "sayest", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "So because thou art lukewarm and neither..." into verse 18's "I counsel thee to buy of me...", so "thou" and "sayest" belong inside that flow. In Revelation context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "sayest" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.