Revelation 1–7

Prologue

1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his slaves the things which must take place in a short time, and communicated it by^* sending it through his angel to his slave John, ²who testified about the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, all that he saw. ³Blessed is the one who reads aloud and blessed are^* those who hear the words of the prophecy and observe the things written in it, because the time is near!

Greetings to the Churches

⁴John, to the seven churches in Asia:^a grace to you and peace from the one who is and the one who was and the one who is coming, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To the one who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood ⁶and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the power forever and ever^b. Amen.

⁷Behold, he is coming with the clouds,

and every eye will see him,

even every one who pierced him,

and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him.

Yes, amen.

⁸I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, the one who is and the one who was and the one who is coming, the All-Powerful.

John’s Vision of the Son of Man

⁹I, John, your brother and co-sharer in the affliction and kingdom and steadfastness in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. ¹⁰I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great sound like a trumpet ¹¹saying, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

¹²And I turned to see the voice which was speaking with me, and when I^* turned, I saw seven gold lampstands, ¹³and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded around his^* chest with a golden belt, ¹⁴and his head and hair were white like wool, white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame, ¹⁵and his feet were like fine bronze when it has been fired in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters, ¹⁶and he had in his right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.

¹⁷And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person, and he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, ¹⁸and the one who lives, and I was dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever^c, and I hold the keys of death and of Hades. ¹⁹Therefore, write the things which you saw, and the things which are, and the things which are about to take place after these things. ²⁰As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands—the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

The Letter to the Church in Ephesus

2“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

“This is what the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand says, the one who walks in the midst of the seven gold lampstands: ²‘I know your works, and your labor and patient endurance, and that you are not able to tolerate evil, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you found them to be false. ³And you have patient endurance, and have endured many things because of my name, and have not become weary. ⁴But I have this against you: that you have left your first love. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the works you did at first^a. But if you do not, I am coming to you, and I will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. ⁶But you do have this: that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, things which I also hate. ⁷The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will grant to him to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.’

The Letter to the Church in Smyrna

⁸“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

“This is what the first and the last says, who was dead and came to life: ⁹‘I know your affliction and poverty (but you are rich), and the slander of those who call themselves Jews^b and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Do not be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and you will experience affliction ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.’

The Letter to the Church in Pergamum

¹²“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

“This is what the one who has the sharp double-edged sword says: ¹³‘I know where you live, where the throne of Satan is. And you hold fast to my name and did not deny your^* faith in me, even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan lives. ¹⁴But I have a few things against you: that you have there those who hold fast to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat food sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵So likewise you also have those who hold fast to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Therefore repent! But if you do not, I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war with them with the sword from my mouth. ¹⁷The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give to him some of the hidden manna, and I will give to him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

The Letter to the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

“This is what the Son of God says, the one who has his eyes like a fiery flame and his feet like fine bronze: ¹⁹‘I know your works, and your love, and faith, and service, and patient endurance—and your last works are greater than the first. ²⁰But I have against you that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, the one who calls herself a prophetess, and teaches and deceives my slaves to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹And I have given her time in order to repent, and she did not want to repent from her sexual immorality. ²²Behold, I am throwing her into a sickbed and those who committed adultery with her into great affliction, unless they repent from her deeds. ²³And I will kill her children with deadly disease, and all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. ²⁴But I say to you, to the rest who are in Thyatira, all those who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they say, I do not put upon you any other burden. ²⁵Nevertheless, hold fast to what you have until I come. ²⁶And the one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him authority over the nations, ²⁷and “he will shepherd them with an iron rod; he will break them in pieces like jars made of clay,”^{c 28}as I also have received from my Father, and I will give him the morning star. ²⁹The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

The Letter to the Church in Sardis

3“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write:

“This is what the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says: ‘I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, and you are dead. ²Be on the alert and strengthen the remaining things that are about to die, for I have not found your works completed before my God. ³Therefore remember how you have received and heard, and observe it, and repent. If therefore you are not on the alert, I will come like a thief, and you will never know at what hour I will come against you. ⁴But you have a few people^a in Sardis who have not defiled their clothing, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy. ⁵The one who conquers in this way will be dressed in white clothing, and I will never erase his name from the book of life, and I will declare his name before my Father and before his angels. ⁶The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

The Letter to the Church in Philadelphia

⁷“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

“This is what the holy one, the true one, the one who has the key of David, the one who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one can open, says: ⁸‘I know your works (behold, I have put before you an opened door that no one is able to shut^*) that you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and did not deny my name. ⁹Behold, I am causing those of the synagogue of Satan, the ones who call themselves Jews and are not, but are lying—behold, I will make them come^b and kneel down before your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰Because you have kept the word of my patient endurance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole inhabited world, to put to the test those who live on the earth. ¹¹I am coming quickly! Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may take away your crown. ¹²The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go outside again, and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God, and my new name. ¹³The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

The Letter to the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

“This is what the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator^c of God’s creation, says: ¹⁵‘I know…