Greeting to the Seven Churches

⁴ John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from ^(A)him ^(B)who is and ^(C)who was and who is to come, and from ^(D)the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ ^(E)the faithful witness, ^(F)the firstborn of the dead, and ^(G)the ruler of kings on earth.

To ^(H)him who loves us and ^(I)has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶ and made us ^(J)a kingdom, ^(K)priests to ^(L)his God and Father, to him be ^(M)glory and ^(N)dominion forever and ever. Amen. ⁷ Behold, ^(O)he is coming with the clouds, and ^(P)every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail^[a] on account of him. Even so. Amen.

^8 (Q)“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, ^(R)“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

⁷ “And behold, ^(A)I am coming soon. ^(B)Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸ I, ^(C)John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, ^(D)I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, ^9 (E)but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those ^(F)who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

¹⁰ And he said to me, ^(G)“Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. ^11 (H)Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

¹² “Behold, ^(I)I am coming soon, ^(J)bringing my recompense with me, ^(K)to repay each one for what he has done. ^13 (L)I am the Alpha and the Omega, ^(M)the first and the last, ^(N)the beginning and the end.”

¹⁴ Blessed are those who ^(O)wash their robes,^[a] so that they may have the right to ^(P)the tree of life and that ^(Q)they may enter the city by the gates. ^15 (R)Outside are ^(S)the dogs ^(T)and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

^16 (U)“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things ^(V)for the churches. I am ^(W)the root and ^(X)the descendant of David, ^(Y)the bright morning star.”

¹⁷ The Spirit and ^(Z)the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And ^(AA)let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the ^(AB)water of life without price.

¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: ^(AC)if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, ¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in ^(AD)the tree of life and in ^(AE)the holy city, which are described in this book.

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Surely ^(AF)I am coming soon.” Amen. ^(AG)Come, Lord Jesus!

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.^[b] Amen.

⁸ But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and ^(A)a thousand years as one day. ^9 (B)The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise ^(C)as some count slowness, but ^(D)is patient toward you,^{[a] (E)}not wishing that any should perish, but ^(F)that all should reach repentance.