Prologue
1 This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants the things which must happen soon. He sent it and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw.
3 Blessed is he who reads this and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, for the time is at hand.
John Greets the Seven Churches
4 John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace to you and peace from God, who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne, 5 and 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, 6 and made us a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. It shall be so! Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
John’s Vision on Patmos
9 I, John, your brother and partner with you in the tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the island that is called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet 11 saying, “What you see, write in a book and send to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
12 I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. 13 And among the lampstands was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.
15 His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 He had seven stars in his right hand. A sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid. I am the first, and the last, 18 and the Living one. I was dead, and I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
19 Write down, therefore, the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen after this. 20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. The seven lampstands are seven churches.”