Prologue

1The revelation ofa Jesus Christ that God gave Him to show His •slavesb what must quicklyc take place.d He sent it and signified ite through His angelf to His slave John,g 2who testified to God’s word and to the testimonyh about Jesus Christ,i in all he saw.j 3The one who reads this is blessed,k and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keepl what is written in it are blessed, because the time is near!

4John:

To the seven churches in •Asia.

Grace and peacem to you fromn the One who is, who was, and who is coming;o from the seven spiritsp, q before His throne; 5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,r the firstborn from the deads and the ruler of the kings of the earth.t

To Him who loves us and has set us freeu from our sins by His blood,v 6and made us a kingdom,w priestsx, y to His God and Father — the glory and dominion are His forever and ever. •Amen.z

7Look! He is coming with the clouds,aa

and every eye will see Him,

including those who piercedab Him.

And all the families of the earthac, ad, ae

will mourn over Him.af, ag, ah

This is certain. Amen.

8“I am the •Alpha and the Omega,”ai says the Lord God, “the One who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.”

John’s Vision of the Risen Lord

9I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation,aj kingdom,ak and enduranceal that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of God’s word and the testimony about Jesus.am, an 10I was in the Spiritao, ap, aq on the Lord’s day,ar and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpetas 11saying, “Writeat on a scrollau what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

12I turned to see whose voiceav it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven gold lampstands,aw 13and among the lampstands was One like the •Son of Man,ax, ay dressed in a long robeaz and with a gold sash wrapped around His chest.ba 14His head and hair were white like wool — white as snowbb — and His eyes like a fiery flame.bc 15His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace,bd and His voice like the sound of cascadingbe waters.bf 16He had seven stars in His right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth,bg and His face was shining like the sun at midday.bhbi

17When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.bj He laid His right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last,bk 18and the Living One.bl I was dead, but look — I am alive forever and ever,bm and I hold the keysbn of death and •Hades. 19Therefore write what you have seen,bo what is, and what will take place after this. 20The •secretbp of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven gold lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angelsbq of the seven churches, and the seven lampstandsbr are the seven churches.bs