1 This is the unveiling of Jesus Christ,[1] which God gave him to share with his loving servants[2] what must occur swiftly.[3] He clearly made it known[4] by sending his angel[5] to his loving servant John.[6]
2 I, John, bore witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3 A joyous blessing[7] rests upon the one who reads this message and upon those who hear and embrace the words of this prophecy, for the appointed time is in your hands.[8]
4 From John to the seven churches[9] in western Turkey:[10] May the kindness of God’s grace and peace overflow to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come,[11] and from the seven spirits[12] who are in front of his throne,
5 and from Jesus Christ the Faithful Witness,[13] the Firstborn from among the dead[14] and the ruling King, who rules over the kings of the earth![15]Now to the one who constantly loves us and has loosed us from our sins[16] by his own blood,[17]
6 and to the one who has made us to rule as a kingly priesthood[18] to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and dominion throughout the eternity of eternities! Amen!
7 Behold! He appears[19] within the clouds,[20] and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him.[21] And all the people groups of the earth will weep with sorrow because of him. And so it is to be! Amen.
8 “I am the Aleph and the Tav,”[22] says the Lord God, “who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
9 I, John, am your brother and companion in tribulation,[23] the kingdom,[24] and the patience that are found in Jesus.[25] I was exiled on the island of Patmos[26] because of the ministry of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
10 I was in the spirit realm[27] on the Lord’s day,[28] and I heard behind[29] me a loud voice sounding like a trumpet,[30]
11 saying to me: Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches:[31] to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
12 When I turned[32] to see the voice that was speaking to me, I saw seven golden lampstands.[33]
13 And walking among the lampstands, I saw someone like a son of man,[34] wearing a full-length robe[35] with a golden sash over his chest.[36]
14 His head and his hair were white like wool — white as glistening snow.[37] And his eyes were like flames of fire![38]
15 His feet were gleaming like bright metal,[39] as though they were glowing in a fire,[40] and his voice was like the roar of many rushing waters.[41]
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.[42] And his face was shining like the brightness of the blinding sun![43]
17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet as good as dead,[44] but he laid his right hand on me[45] and I heard his reassuring voice saying: Don’t yield to fear. I am the Beginning and I am the End,
18 the Living One! I was dead, but now look — I am alive forever and ever. And I hold the keys[46] that unlock death and the unseen world.[47]
19 Now I want you to write what you have seen, what is, and what will be after the things that I reveal to you.
20 The mystery of the lampstands[48] and the seven stars is this: the seven lampstands are the seven churches, and the seven stars in my right hand are the seven messengers[49] of the seven churches.[50]