Revelation 1-2

New American Standard Bible

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which ^(A)God gave Him to ^(B)show to His bond-servants, ^(C)the things which must soon take place; and He sent and ^[a]communicated it ^(D)by His angel to His bond-servant ^(E)John, ² who testified to ^(F)the word of God and to ^(G)the testimony of Jesus Christ, everything that he saw. ^3 (H)Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy and ^[b]keep the things which are written in it; ^(I)for the time is near.

Message to the Seven Churches

^4 (J)John to ^(K)the seven churches that are in ^(L)Asia: ^(M)Grace to you and peace from ^(N)Him who is, and who was, and who ^[c]is to come, and from ^(O)the ^[d]seven spirits who are before His throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, ^(P)the faithful witness, the ^(Q)firstborn of the dead, and the ^(R)ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who ^(S)loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— ⁶ and He made us into a ^(T)kingdom, ^(U)priests to ^[e](V)His God and Father—^(W)to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. ^7 (X)Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and ^(Y)every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will ^(Z)mourn over Him. ^[f]So it is to be. Amen.

⁸ “I am ^(AA)the Alpha and the Omega,” says the ^(AB)Lord God, “^(AC)who is and who was and who ^[g]is to come, the Almighty.”

The Patmos Vision

^9 (AD)I, John, your ^(AE)brother and ^(AF)fellow participant in the tribulation and ^(AG)kingdom and ^[h](AH)perseverance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos ^(AI)because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ I was ^(AJ)in the ^[i]Spirit on ^(AK)the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice ^(AL)like the sound of a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, “^(AM)Write ^[j]on a scroll what you see, and send it to the ^(AN)seven churches: to ^(AO)Ephesus, ^(AP)Smyrna, ^(AQ)Pergamum, ^(AR)Thyatira, ^(AS)Sardis, ^(AT)Philadelphia, and ^(AU)Laodicea.”

¹² Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw ^(AV)seven golden lampstands; ¹³ and ^(AW)in the middle of the lampstands I saw one ^(AX)like ^[k]a son of man, ^(AY)clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and ^(AZ)wrapped around the chest with a golden sash. ¹⁴ His head and His ^(BA)hair were white like white wool, like snow; and ^(BB)His eyes were like a flame of fire. ¹⁵ His ^(BC)feet were like ^[l]burnished bronze when it has been heated to a glow in a furnace, and His ^(BD)voice was like the sound of many waters. ¹⁶ In His right hand He held ^(BE)seven stars, and out of His mouth came a ^(BF)sharp two-edged sword; and His ^(BG)face was like ^(BH)the sun ^[m]shining in its strength.

¹⁷ When I saw Him, I ^(BI)fell at His feet like a dead man. And He ^(BJ)placed His right hand on me, saying, “^(BK)Do not be afraid; ^(BL)I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the ^(BM)living One; and I ^[n](BN)was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have ^(BO)the keys of death and of Hades. ¹⁹ Therefore ^(BP)write ^(BQ)the things which you have seen, ^[o]and the things which are, and the things which will take place ^(BR)after these things. ²⁰ As for the ^(BS)mystery of the ^(BT)seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the ^(BU)seven golden lampstands: the ^(BV)seven stars are the angels of ^(BW)the seven churches, and the seven ^(BX)lampstands are the seven churches.

Message to Ephesus

2 “To the angel of the church in ^(BY)Ephesus write:

The One who holds ^(BZ)the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks ^[p](CA)among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

² ‘^(CB)I know your deeds and your labor and ^[q]perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people, and you have ^(CC)put those who call themselves ^(CD)apostles to the test, and they are not, and you found them to be false; ³ and you have ^[r]perseverance and have endured ^(CE)on account of My name, and have not become weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have ^(CF)left your first love. ⁵ Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and ^(CG)repent, and ^(CH)do the ^[s]deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and I will remove your ^(CI)lampstand from its place—unless you repent. ⁶ But you have this, that you hate the deeds of the ^(CJ)Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ^7 (CK)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(CL)To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from ^(CM)the tree of life, which is in the ^(CN)Paradise of God.’

Message to Smyrna

⁸ “And to the angel of the church in ^(CO)Smyrna write:

^(CP)The first and the last, who ^[t](CQ)was dead, and has come to life, says this:

⁹ ‘I know your ^(CR)tribulation and your ^(CS)poverty (but you are ^(CT)rich), and the ^[u]slander by those who ^(CU)say they are Jews, and are not, but are a synagogue of ^(CV)Satan. ¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, so that you will be ^(CW)tested, and you will have tribulation ^(CX)for ten days. ^[v]Be ^(CY)faithful until death, and I will give you ^(CZ)the crown of life. ^11 (DA)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(DB)The one who overcomes will not be hurt by the ^(DC)second death.’

Message to Pergamum

¹² “And to the angel of the church in ^(DD)Pergamum write:

The One who has ^(DE)the sharp two-edged sword says this:

¹³ ‘I know where you dwell, where ^(DF)Satan’s throne is; and you hold firmly to My name, and did not deny ^(DG)My faith even in the days of Antipas, My ^(DH)witness, My ^(DI)faithful one, who was killed among you, ^(DJ)where Satan dwells. ¹⁴ But ^(DK)I have a few things against you, because you have some there who hold the ^(DL)teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a ^[w]stumbling block before the sons of Israel, ^(DM)to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵ So you too, have some who in the same way hold to the teaching of the ^(DN)Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Therefore ^(DO)repent; or else ^(DP)I am coming to you quickly, and I will wage war against them with ^(DQ)the sword of My mouth. ^17 (DR)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(DS)To the one who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden ^(DT)manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a ^(DU)new name written on the stone ^(DV)which no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Message to Thyatira

¹⁸ “And to the angel of the church in ^(DW)Thyatira write:

^(DX)The Son of God, ^(DY)who has ^[x]eyes like a flame of fire, and ^[y]feet like burnished bronze, says this:

¹⁹ ‘^(DZ)I know your deeds, and your love and faith, and service and ^[z]perseverance, and that your ^[aa]deeds of late are greater than ^[ab]at first. ²⁰ But ^(EA)I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman ^(EB)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they ^(EC)commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. ^21 (ED)I gave her time to repent, and she ^(EE)does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. ²² Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who ^(EF)commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of ^[ac]her deeds. ²³ And I will kill her children with ^[ad]plague, and all the churches will know that I am He who ^(EG)searches the ^[ae]minds and hearts; and ^(EH)I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. ²⁴ But I say to you, the rest who are in ^(EI)Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the ^(EJ)deep things of Satan, as they call them—I ^(EK)place no other burden on you. ²⁵ Nevertheless ^(EL)what you have, hold firmly ^(EM)until I come. ^26 (EN)The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds ^(EO)until the end, ^(EP)I will give him authority over the ^[af]nations; ²⁷ and he shall ^[ag](EQ)rule them with a rod of iron, ^(ER)as the vessels of the potter are shattered, as I also have received authority from My Father; ²⁸ and I will give him ^(ES)the morning star. ^29 (ET)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’