Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Whence - from what a height.
Do the first works - which flowed from thy first love. Not merely 'feel thy first feelings,' but do works flowing from the same principle as formerly (Galatians 5:6).
I will come - `I am coming' in special judgment on thee.
Quickly. So B; omitted in 'Aleph (') A C, Vulgate, Coptic versions.
Remove thy candlestick out of his place - "remove" the Church from Ephesus elsewhere. 'Removal of the candlestick, not extinction of the candle, is threatened here; judgment for some, the occasion of mercy for others. The seat of the Church has been changed; the Church itself survives. What the East lost, the West has gained. One who lately visited Ephesus found only three Christians, and these so ignorant as scarcely to have heard the names of Paul or John' (Trench).