REVELATION

PROLOGUE

1 The revelation ofA Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servantsa what must soon take place.b He made it known by sending his angelc to his servant John,d 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimonyB of Jesus Christ,e whatever he saw.C 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy,f and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keepD what is written in it, because the time is near.

4 John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peaceg to you fromE the one who is, who was, and who is to come,h and from the seven spiritsF,i before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,j the firstborn from the deadk and the ruler of the kings of the earth.l

To him who loves us and has set us freeG from our sins by his blood,m 6 and made us a kingdom,H priests* n to his God and Father—to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.o

7 Look, he is coming with the clouds,p

and every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him.

And all the tribesJ of the earthK,q

will mourn over him.L,M,r

So it is to be. Amen.

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

JOHN’S VISION OF THE RISEN LORD

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction,t kingdom,u and endurancev that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.w 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

THE LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES

THE LETTER TO EPHESUS

2 “Write to the angel* of the church in Ephesus: Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands:at 2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance,au and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not,a and you have found them to be liars.b 3 I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name,c and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.d 5 Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.e Otherwise, I will come to youA and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will givef the right to eat from the tree of life, which is inB the paradise of God.g

THE LETTER TO SMYRNA

8 “Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: Thus says the First and the Last,h the one who was dead and came to life: 9 I know yourC affliction and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.i 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devilj is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will experience affliction for ten days.k Be faithful to the point of death,l and I will give you the crownD of life.m

11 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.n

THE LETTER TO PERGAMUM

12 “Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum: Thus says the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword:o 13 I knowE where you live—where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding on to my name and did not deny your faith in me,F,p even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witnessq who was put to death among you, where Satan lives. 14 But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam,r who taught Balak to place a stumbling blockG in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idolss and to commit sexual immorality.t 15 In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.H 16 So repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quicklyu and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.v

17 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna.I,w I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new namex is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.

THE LETTER TO THYATIRA

18 “Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira: Thus says the Son of God,y the one whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze:z 19 I know your works—your love, faithfulness,J service, and endurance.aa I know that your last works are greater than the first. 20 But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel,ab who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols.ac 21 I gave her time to repent,ad but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality.ae 22 Look, I will throw her into a sickbedaf and those who commit adultery with herag into great affliction.ah Unless they repent of herK works, 23 I will strike her children dead.L,ai Then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines minds and hearts,aj and I will give to each of you according to your works.ak 24 I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who haven’t known “the so-called secretsM,al of Satan”am—as they say—I am not putting any other burden on you.an 25 Only hold on to what you have until I come.ao 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations—

27 and he will ruleN,ap them with an iron scepter;

he will shatter them like potteryO,aq—

28 just as I have received this from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.ar

29 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

THE LETTER TO SARDIS

3 “Write to the angel* of the church in Sardis: Thus says the one who has the seven spirits of Goda and the seven stars:b I know your works;c you have a reputationB for being alive, but you are dead.d 2 Be alerte and strengthenC what remains, which is about to die,D for I have not found your works complete before my God. 3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will comeE like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you.f 4 But you have a few peopleF in Sardis who have not defiledG their clothes,g and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy.

5 “In the same way, the one who conquersh will be dressed in white clothes,i and I will never erase his name from the book of lifej but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.k

6 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listenl to what the Spirit saysm to the churches.

THE LETTER TO PHILADELPHIA

7 “Write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia: Thus says the Holy One, the true one,n the one who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and who closes and no one opens:o 8 I know your works. Look, I have placed before you an open door that no one can close because you have but little power; yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.p 9 Note this: I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down at your feet,q and they will know that I have loved you.r 10 Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testings that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.t 11 I am coming soon.u Hold on to what you have,v so that no one takes your crown.w

12 “The one who conquers I will make a pillarx in the temple of my God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the new Jerusalem,y which comes down out of heaven from my God—and my new name.z

13 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

THE LETTER TO LAODICEA

14 “Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea: Thus says the Amen,aa the faithful and true witness, the originatorH,ab of God’s creation: 15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomitI you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ac and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich,ad white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be