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.