³⁰ This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’^(A)

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”^(A) says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come,^(B) the Almighty.”^(C)

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet^(A) as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me^(B) and said: “Do not be afraid.^(C) I am the First and the Last.^(D)