¹⁷ When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last,^{(A) 18} and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.

The Letter to Smyrna

⁸ “Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna:

“The First and the Last, the One who was dead and came to life, says: