Revelation 1:1–8

Prologue

1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God ^agave him ^bto show to his servants¹ the things that must soon take place. ^cHe made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ^2dwho bore witness to the word of God and to ^ethe testimony of Jesus Christ, even ^fto all that he saw. ^3gBlessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, ^hfor the time is near.

Greeting to the Seven Churches

⁴John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from ⁱhim ^jwho is and ^kwho was and who is to come, and from ^lthe seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ ^mthe faithful witness, ⁿthe firstborn of the dead, and ^othe ruler of kings on earth.

To ^phim who loves us and ^qhas freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶and made us ^ra kingdom, ^rpriests to ^shis God and Father, to him be ^tglory and ^udominion forever and ever. Amen. ⁷Behold, ^vhe is coming with the clouds, and ^wevery eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail³ on account of him. Even so. Amen.

^8x“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, ^y“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”