3 [2] Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and who keep the things which are written in it [heeding them and taking them to heart]; for the time [of fulfillment] is near.

4 [3] John, to the seven churches that are in [the province of][4] Asia:[5] Grace [be granted] to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being], from Him Who is [existing forever] and Who was [continually existing in the past] and Who is to come, and from[6] the seven Spirits that are before His throne,

5 and from Jesus Christ, the[7] faithful and trustworthy Witness, the[8] Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who [always] loves us and who [has once for all][9] freed us [or washed us] from our sins by His own blood (His sacrificial death)—