1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show his servants
the things which must quickly come to pass. And he declared
it by delivering
it by
means of his angel to his servant John,
2who testified
that all the
things which he saw
were the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3Blessed
is he
who reads, and those
who hear, the words of the prophecy, and
who keep the
things written in it, for the time
is near.
4From John to the seven churches in Asia, grace to you and peace from God,
who is, and who was, and who
is to come, and from the seven spirits which
are before his throne,
5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him
who loves us and washed us from our sins by his blood,
6and
who made us
into a kingdom,
priests to his God and father, to him
be glory and might throughout the durations of the ages. Amen.
7Behold,
he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, including
those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth
will mourn for him. Indeed
so; amen.
8I am the Alpha and the Omega, says
the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who
is to come, the Almighty.
9I John, your brother and sharer in the tribulation and
in the kingdom and
in patience in Christ Jesus, arrived on the island called Patmos for
the cause of the word of God and for
the cause of the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10I came to be in
the power of the spirit on
the day of the Lord, and I heard a voice behind me, loud like a trumpet,
11and it said, “Write what you see in a book and send
it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
12And I turned round on the spot to see the voice which was speaking to me, and when I turned round, I saw seven golden lampstands,
13and in
the middle of the seven lampstands
I saw a figure like the son of man, clothed down to the feet and girded round at the chest with a golden girdle.
14And his head and
his hair
were as white as white wool, like snow, and his eyes
were like a fiery flame.
15And his feet
were like refined bronze, as if
they had been refined in a furnace, and his voice
was like
the sound of much water.
16And he
was holding seven stars in his right hand, and out of his
mouth a sharp double-edged
sword was coming, and his appearance
was as the sun shining with
all its power.
17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as if dead, but he put his right
hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid.
I am the first and the last,
18and he
who is alive, although I was dead, and behold, I am alive throughout the durations of the ages, truly, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19Now write down
the things you have seen, and
the things which are, and
the things which are going to take place after these
things.
20Record the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right
hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are
the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are
the seven churches.
Reference(s) in Chapter 1: v.4 ↔ Exodus 3:14 ● v.6 ↔ Exodus 19:6, Isaiah 61:6 ● v.7 ↔ Daniel 7:13, Zechariah 12:10 ● v.8 ↔ Isaiah 41:4, Isaiah 44:6, Exodus 3:14 ● v.10 ↔ Isaiah 13:6, Isaiah 13:9, Ezekiel 13:5, Joel 1:15, Joel 2:1, Joel 2:11, Amos 5:18, Amos 5:20, Obadiah 1:15, Zephaniah 1:7, Zephaniah 1:14, Malachi 3:23MT (Malachi 4:5AV); Also Isaiah 2:12, Ezekiel 30:3, Zechariah 14:1, Zechariah 14:7 ● v.13 ↔ Daniel 7:13 ● v.16 ↔ Isaiah 49:2 ● v.17 ↔ Isaiah 41:4, Isaiah 44:6.