Revelation 1–7

Prologue

1The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave^a him to show his servants what must soon take place.^b He made it known by sending his angel^c to his servant John,^{d 2}who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God^e 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

⁴John,

To the seven churchesⁱ in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you^j from him who is, and who was, and who is to come,^k and from the seven spirits^al before his throne, ⁵and 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 us^p and has freed us from our sins by his blood,^{q 6}and has made us to be a kingdom and priests^r to serve his God and Father^s—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.^t

⁷“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”^bu

and “every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him”;^v

and all peoples on earth “will mourn^w 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

⁹I, John,^a your brother and companion in the suffering^b and kingdom^c and patient endurance^d that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God^e and the testimony of Jesus.^{f 10}On the Lord’s Day^g 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 see^j and send it to the seven churches:^k to Ephesus,^l Smyrna,^m Pergamum,ⁿ Thyatira,^o Sardis,^p Philadelphia^q and Laodicea.”^r

¹²I 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 lampstands^t was someone like a son of man,^du dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet^v 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 sun^c shining in all its brilliance.

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet^d as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me^e 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. ²⁰The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand^l and of the seven golden lampstands^m is this: The seven stars are the angels^e of the seven churches,ⁿ and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.^o

To the Church in Ephesus

2“To the angel^a of the church in Ephesus^p write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand^q 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 tested^t 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.

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

⁷Whoever has ears, let them hear^a 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 paradise^d of God.

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸“To the angel of the church in Smyrna^e 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

¹¹Whoever has ears, let them hear^o 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 Pergamum^q 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

¹⁴Nevertheless, 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 idols^x and committed sexual immorality.^{y 15}Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.^{z 16}Repent^a therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.^b

¹⁷Whoever has ears, let them hear^c 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 name^f 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 Thyatira^h 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.

²⁰Nevertheless, 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 adultery^p with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. ²³I 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

²⁴Now 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 have^t until I come.’^u

²⁶To the one who is victorious^v and does my will to the end,^w I will give authority over the nations^x—²⁷that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter^y and will dash them to pieces like pottery’^bz—just as I have received authority from my Father. ²⁸I will also give that one the morning star.^{a 29}Whoever has ears, let them hear^b what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Sardis

3“To the angel^a of the church in Sardis^c write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits^bd 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. ³Remember, 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 time^j I will come to you.

⁴Yet 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. ⁵The one who is victorious^m 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 Father^p and his angels. ⁶Whoever has ears, let them hear^q what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Philadelphia

⁷“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia^r write:

These are the words of him who is holy^s 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. ⁸I know your deeds.^v See, I have placed before you an open door^w 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 feet^a and acknowledge that I have loved you.^{b 10}Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you^c from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world^d to test^e the inhabitants of the earth.^f

¹¹I 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 victorious^j I will make a pillar^k in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God^l 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. ¹³Whoever has ears, let them hear^o what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴“To the angel of the church in Laodicea^p write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness,^q the ruler of God’s creation.^{r 15}I know your deeds,^s that you are neither cold nor hot.^t I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’^u But you do not realize that you are wretched, …