⁹ I, John, ·am your brother. All of us share [^Lyour brother and partner] ·with Jesus [or in Jesus; ^Creferring to salvation as joining oneself to Christ] in ·suffering [persecution], in the kingdom, and in ·patience to continue [perseverance]. I was on the island of Patmos [^Ca small island in the Aegean Sea near Asia Minor, present-day Turkey], because ·I had preached [^Lof] the word of God and the ·message [witness; testimony] about Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord’s day [^Cprobably a reference to the first day of the week, Sunday, when Christians met for worship] I was in the ·Spirit [or spirit; ^Ca state of deep spiritual communion with God], and I heard a loud voice behind me that sounded like a trumpet [^Ctrumpet blasts often precede a divine appearance or speech; Ex. 19:16, 19]. ¹¹ The voice said, “Write what you see in a ·book [scroll] and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea [^Clocations in western Asia Minor, present-day Turkey].”

¹² I turned to see who was talking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands ¹³ and someone among the lampstands who was “like a Son of Man [^Creferring to Jesus; the title he most often used to refer to himself; Dan. 7:13–14].” He was dressed in a long robe and had a gold ·band [sash] around his chest [^Cthe clothes of a dignitary; Dan. 10:5]. ¹⁴ His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow [Dan. 7:9], and his eyes were like ·flames of [blazing] fire [Dan. 10:6]. ¹⁵ His feet were like bronze ·that glows hot [refined; fired] in a furnace [Dan. 10:6], and his voice was like the noise of ·flooding water [rushing water; ^Lmany waters; Ezek. 43:2]. ¹⁶ He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword came out of his mouth. ·He [^LHis face] looked like the sun shining ·at its brightest time [or with full power/force; ^Lin its strength].

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He put his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the One who lives; I was dead, but ·look [^Tbehold], I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys to death and ·to the place of the dead [^LHades]. ¹⁹ So write the things you ·see [or have seen], ·what is now [^Lwhat is] and what will happen ·later [^Lafter these things]. ²⁰ Here is the ·secret [mystery] of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the ·angels [or messengers; ^Cthese may be guardian angels, human leaders, or the personified “spirit” of each church] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.