Revelation 1:1–20

PROLOGUE

1The revelation of^A Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants^a what must soon take place.^b He made it known by sending his angel^c to his servant John,^{d 2}who testified to the word of God and to the testimony^B 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 keep^D what is written in it, because the time is near.

⁴John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peace^g to you from^E the one who is, who was, and who is to come,^h and from the seven spirits^Fi before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,^j the firstborn from the dead^k and the ruler of the kings of the earth.^l

To him who loves us and has set us free^G from our sins by his blood,^{m 6}and made us a kingdom,^H priestsⁿ to his God and Father—to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.^o

⁷Look, he is coming with the clouds,^p

and every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him.

And all the tribes^J of the earth^Kq

will mourn over him.^LMr

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

⁹I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction,^t kingdom,^u and endurance^v 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 Spirit^Nx on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet^{y 11}saying, “Write^z on a scroll^O what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹²Then I turned to see whose voice^aa 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,^Pac dressed in a robe^ad and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest.^{ae 14}The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snow^af—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 cascading^Q 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

¹⁷When 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 keys^ap of death and Hades. ¹⁹Therefore write what you have seen,^aq what is, and what will take place after this. ²⁰The mystery^ar of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels^A of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands^B are the seven churches.^as