Revelation

A book of visions and symbols, Revelation is the only New Testament book that concentrates on prophecy. It completes the story, begun in Genesis, of the cosmic battle between good and evil being waged on earth. It ends with a picture of a new heaven and new earth and a plea for Jesus’ timely return.

Prologue

1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gavea him to show his servants what must soon take place.b He made it known by sending his angelc to his servant John,d 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of Gode and the testimony of Jesus Christ.f 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it,g because the time is near.h

Greetings and Doxology

4 John,

To the seven churchesi in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to youj from him who is, and who was, and who is to come,k and from the seven spiritsa l before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,m the firstborn from the dead,n and the ruler of the kings of the earth.o

To him who loves usp and has freed us from our sins by his blood,q 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priestsr to serve his God and Fathers—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.t

7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”b u

and “every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him”;v

and all peoples on earth “will mournw because of him.”c

So shall it be! Amen.

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

John’s Vision of Christ

9 I, John,a your brother and companion in the sufferingb and kingdomc and patient enduranced that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of Gode and the testimony of Jesus.f 10 On the Lord’s Dayg I was in the Spirit,h and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,i 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you seej and send it to the seven churches:k to Ephesus,l Smyrna,m Pergamum,n Thyatira,o Sardis,p Philadelphiaq and Laodicea.”r

12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,s 13 and among the lampstandst was someone like a son of man,d u dressed in a robe reaching down to his feetv and with a golden sash around his chest.w 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.x 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace,y and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.z 16 In his right hand he held seven stars,a and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.b His face was like the sunc shining in all its brilliance.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feetd as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on mee and said: “Do not be afraid.f I am the First and the Last.g 18 I am the Living One; I was dead,h and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!i And I hold the keys of death and Hades.j

19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen,k what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right handl and of the seven golden lampstandsm is this: The seven stars are the angelse of the seven churches,n and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.o

To the Church in Ephesus

2 “To the angela of the church in Ephesusp write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right handq and walks among the seven golden lampstands.r 2 I know your deeds,s your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have testedt those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.u 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name,v and have not grown weary.

4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.w 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repentx and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstandy from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans,z which I also hate.

7 Whoever has ears, let them heara what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious,b I will give the right to eat from the tree of life,c which is in the paradised of God.

To the Church in Smyrna

8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrnae write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last,f who died and came to life again.g 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!h I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not,i but are a synagogue of Satan.j 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you,k and you will suffer persecution for ten days.l Be faithful,m even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.n

11 Whoever has ears, let them hearo what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.p

To the Church in Pergamum

12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamumq write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.r 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me,s not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness,t who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.u

14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you:v There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam,w who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idolsx and committed sexual immorality.y 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.z 16 Repenta therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.b

17 Whoever has ears, let them hearc what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious,d I will give some of the hidden manna.e I will also give that person a white stone with a new namef written on it, known only to the one who receives it.g

To the Church in Thyatira

18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatirah write:

These are the words of the Son of God,i whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.j 19 I know your deeds,k your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel,l who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.m 21 I have given her timen to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.o 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adulteryp with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds,q and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.r

24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you,s 25 except to hold on to what you havet until I come.’u

26 To the one who is victoriousv and does my will to the end,w I will give authority over the nationsx—27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron sceptery and will dash them to pieces like pottery’b z—just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give that one the morning star.a 29 Whoever has ears, let them hearb what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Sardis

3 “To the angela of the church in Sardisc write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spiritsb d of God and the seven stars.e I know your deeds;f you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.g 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.h But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief,i and you will not know at what timej I will come to you.

4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.k They will walk with me, dressed in white,l for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victoriousm will, like them, be dressed in white.n I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life,o but will acknowledge that name before my Fatherp and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hearq what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Philadelphia

7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphiar write:

These are the words of him who is holys and true,t who holds the key of David.u What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds.v See, I have placed before you an open doorw that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.x 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan,y who claim to be Jews though they are not,z but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feeta and acknowledge that I have loved you.b 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep youc from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole worldd to teste the inhabitants of the earth.f

11 I am coming soon.g Hold on to what you have,h so that no one will take your crown.i 12 The one who is victoriousj I will make a pillark in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my Godl and the name of the city of my God,m the new Jerusalem,n which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hearo what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Laodicea

14 “To the angel of the church in Laodiceap write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness,q the ruler of God’s creation.