20 The [a]mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are (A)the [b]angels of the seven churches, and (B)the seven lampstands [c]which you saw are the seven churches.

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 1:20 hidden truth
  2. Revelation 1:20 Or messengers
  3. Revelation 1:20 NU, M omit which you saw

20 As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels ([a]divine messengers) of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 1:20 The Greek word for “messenger” is aggelos. When the word is referring to a heavenly being, it is usually not translated, but rather transliterated as “angel”; that is, the Greek letters are converted to their English equivalents, based on the sound of the Greek word. When the word is referring to a human, it is instead translated as “messenger” or the equivalent. So whether “angel” or “messenger” is used depends on the context.

20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand(A) and of the seven golden lampstands(B) is this: The seven stars are the angels[a] of the seven churches,(C) and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 1:20 Or messengers