PROLOGUE

1 The revelation ofA Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servantsa what must soon take place.b He made it known by sending his angelc to his servant John,d 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimonyB 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 keepD what is written in it, because the time is near.

4 John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peaceg to you fromE the one who is, who was, and who is to come,h and from the seven spiritsF,i before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,j the firstborn from the deadk and the ruler of the kings of the earth.l

To him who loves us and has set us freeG from our sins by his blood,m 6 and made us a kingdom,H priests* n to his God and Father—to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.o

7 Look, he is coming with the clouds,p

and every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him.

And all the tribesJ of the earthK,q

will mourn over him.L,M,r

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

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction,t kingdom,u and endurancev 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 SpiritN,x on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpety 11 saying, “Writez on a scrollO what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

12 Then I turned to see whose voiceaa 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,P,ac dressed in a robead and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest.ae 14 The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snowaf—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 cascadingQ 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

17 When 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 keysap of death and Hades. 19 Therefore write what you have seen,aq what is, and what will take place after this. 20 The mysteryar of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angelsR of the seven churches, and the seven lampstandsS are the seven churches.as