10 I was in the SpiritN,x on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpety 11 saying, “Writez on a scrollO what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

12 Then I turned to see whose voiceaa it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,ab 13 and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man,P,ac dressed in a robead and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest.ae 14 The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snowaf—and his eyes like a fiery flame.ag 15 His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace,ah and his voice like the sound of cascadingQ waters.ai 16 He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth,aj and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.ak

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man.al He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last,am 18 and the Living One.an I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever,ao and I hold the keysap of death and Hades.