1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show his servants the things which must quickly come to pass. And he declared it by delivering it by means of his angel to his servant John,
2 who testified that all the things which he saw were the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written in it, for the time is near.
4 From John to the seven churches in Asia, grace to you and peace from God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne,
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and washed us from our sins by his blood,
6 and made us into a kingdom, priests to his God and father, to him be glory and might throughout the durations of the ages. Amen.
7 Behold, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn for him. Indeed so; amen.
8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the almighty.
9 I John, your brother and sharer in the tribulation and in the kingdom and in patience in Christ Jesus arrived on the island called Patmos for the cause of the word of God and for the cause of the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10 I came to be in the power of the spirit on the day of the Lord, and I heard a voice behind me, loud like a trumpet,
11 and it said, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna, and to Pergamon, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
12 And I turned round on the spot to see the voice which was speaking to me, and when I turned round, I saw seven golden lamp-stands,
13 and in the middle of the seven lamp-stands I saw one like the son of man, clothed down to the feet and girded round at the chest with a golden girdle.
14 And his head and his hair were as white as white wool, like snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame.
15 And his feet were like refined bronze, such as has been refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of much water.
16 And he was holding seven stars in his right hand, and out of his mouth a sharp double-edged sword was coming, and his appearance was as the sun shining in all its power.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as if dead, but he put his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last,
18 and he who is alive, although I was dead, and behold, I am alive throughout the durations of the ages, truly, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19 Now write down the things you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which are going to take place after these things.
20 Record the mystery of the seven stars which 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.