Revelation 1

Chapter 1

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

¹The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which ^aGod gave Him to ^bshow to His bond-servants, ^cthe things which must soon take place; and He sent and ¹communicated it ^dby His angel to His bond-servant ^eJohn,

²who testified to ^athe word of God and to ^bthe testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

^3aBlessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and ¹heed the things which are written in it; ^bfor the time is near.

Message to the Seven Churches

^4aJohn to ^bthe seven churches that are in ^cAsia: ^dGrace to you and peace, from ^eHim who is and who was and who ¹is to come, and from ^fthe seven Spirits who are before His throne,

⁵and from Jesus Christ, ^athe faithful witness, the ^bfirstborn of the dead, and the ^cruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who ^dloves us and released us from our sins ¹by His blood—

⁶and He has made us to be a ^akingdom, priests to ^1bHis God and Father—^cto Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

^7aBehold, He is coming with the clouds, and ^bevery eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will ^cmourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.

⁸“I am ^athe Alpha and the Omega,” says the ^bLord God, “^cwho is and who was and who ¹is to come, the Almighty.”

The Patmos Vision

^9aI, John, your ^bbrother and ^cfellow partaker in the tribulation and ^dkingdom and ^1eperseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos ^fbecause of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

¹⁰I was ^1ain the Spirit on ^bthe Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice ^clike the sound of a trumpet,

¹¹saying, “^aWrite in a ¹book what you see, and send it to the ^bseven churches: to ^cEphesus and to ^dSmyrna and to ^ePergamum and to ^fThyatira and to ^gSardis and to ^hPhiladelphia and to ⁱLaodicea.”

¹²Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw ^aseven golden lampstands;

¹³and ^ain the middle of the lampstands I saw one ^blike ¹a son of man, ^cclothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and ^dgirded across His chest with a golden sash.

¹⁴His head and His ^ahair were white like white wool, like snow; and ^bHis eyes were like a flame of fire.

¹⁵His ^afeet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His ^bvoice was like the sound of many waters.

¹⁶In His right hand He held ^aseven stars, and out of His mouth came a ^bsharp two-edged sword; and His ^cface was like ^dthe sun ¹shining in its strength.

¹⁷When I saw Him, I ^afell at His feet like a dead man. And He ^bplaced His right hand on me, saying, “^cDo not be afraid; ^dI am the first and the last,

¹⁸and the ^aliving One; and I ^1bwas dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have ^cthe keys of death and of Hades.

¹⁹“Therefore ^awrite ^bthe things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place ^cafter these things.

²⁰“As for the ^amystery of the ^bseven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the ^cseven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of ^dthe seven churches, and the seven ^elampstands are the seven churches.