The Revelation of Jesus the Messiah to the Seven Churches

1 This is^[a] the revelation of Jesus the Messiah,^[b] which God gave him to show his servants the things that must happen soon. He made it known by sending his messenger^[c] to his servant John, ² who testified about this message from God and the testimony about Jesus the Messiah.^{[d] 3} How blessed is the one who reads aloud and those who hear the words of this prophecy and obey what is written in it, for the time is near!

⁴ From^[e] John to the seven churches in Asia. May grace and peace be yours from the one who is, who was, and who is coming, from the seven spirits who are in front of his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus the Messiah,^[f] the witness, the faithful one,^[g] the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has freed^[h] us from our sins by his blood ⁶ and has made us a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

So be it! Amen.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” declares the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.”

John’s Vision of the Messiah

⁹ I am John, your brother and partner in the oppression, kingdom, and patience that comes because of Jesus. I was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. ¹⁰ I came to be in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord, when I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, “Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹² Then I turned to see who^[i] was talking to me, and when I turned I saw seven gold lamp stands. ¹³ Among the lamp stands there was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash around his chest.^{[j] 14} His head and his hair were white like wool, in fact, as white as snow. His eyes were like flames of fire, ¹⁵ his feet were like glowing bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of raging waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His face was like the sun when it shines with full force.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. But he placed his right hand on me and said, “Stop being afraid! I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ the living one. I was dead—but look!—I am alive forever and ever! I have the keys of Death and Hades.^{[k] 19} Therefore, write down what you have seen, what is, and what is going to happen after this. ²⁰ The secret meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lamp stands is this: the seven stars are the messengers^[l] of the seven churches, and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches.”