Revelation

Introduction

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave it to him to let his servants know what is soon to take place. He sent his angel to make it known to his servant John,

who reports everything he saw, for this is the word of God and the declaration of Jesus Christ. 

Blessed is the one who reads aloud these prophetic words, and blessed are those who hear them, and treasure everything written here, for the time is near.

Message to the Seven Churches: Greeting

From John to the seven churches of Asia: receive grace and peace from him who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits of God, which are before his throne,

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us, and has washed away our sins with his own blood,

making us a kingdom and priests for God his Father, to him be the glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen.

See, he comes with the clouds,

and everyone will see him,

even those who pierced him;

on his account, all the nations of the earth

will beat their breast. Yes. It will be so.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, “the one who is, and who was, and who is to come: the Almighty.”

Vision of Jesus Christ

I, John, your brother, who shares with you in Jesus the sufferings, the kingdom, and the patient endurance, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my witness to Jesus.

On the Lord’s day, the Spirit took control of me, and I heard a voice behind me that sounded like a trumpet, 

“Write down everything you see in a book, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” 

I turned to see who was speaking to me; behind me were seven golden lampstands 

and in the middle of them, I saw someone like a son of man dressed in a long robe, tied with a golden girdle. 

His head and hair are white as wool, or snow, and his eyes are like flames of fire. 

His feet are like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice is like the roar of the waves. 

I saw seven stars in his right hand and a sharp, double-edged sword coming out of his mouth; his face shone like the sun in all its brilliance. 

Seeing him, I fell at his feet as though I were dead. But he placed his right hand on me and said:

“Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last.

I am the living one; I was dead; and now I am alive, for ever and ever; and mine are the keys of death and the netherworld. 

Now write what you have seen, both what is and what is yet to come. 

Know the secret of the seven stars you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches.