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. 19 Therefore write what you have seen,aq what is, and what will take place after this. 20 The mysteryar of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angelsR of the seven churches, and the seven lampstandsS are the seven churches.as