Revelation 1
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Prologue
1 The revelation of[a] Jesus Christ that God gave Him to show His slaves(A) what must quickly[b] take place.(B) He sent it and signified it[c] through His angel(C) to His slave John,(D) 2 who testified to God’s word and to the testimony[d] about Jesus Christ,(E) in all he saw.[e] 3 The one who reads this is blessed,(F) and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep[f] what is written in it are blessed, because the time is near!
4 John:
To the seven churches in Asia.
Grace and peace(G) to you from[g] the One who is, who was, and who is coming;(H) from the seven spirits[h](I) before His throne; 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To Him who loves us and has set us free[i] from our sins by His blood, 6 and made us a kingdom,[j] priests[k](J) to His God and Father—the glory and dominion are His forever and ever. Amen.
7 Look! He is coming with the clouds,(K)
and every eye will see Him,
including those who pierced[l] Him.
And all the families of the earth[m](L)[n]
will mourn over Him.[o](M)[p]
This is certain. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”(N) says the Lord God, “the One who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.”
John’s Vision of the Risen Lord
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of God’s word and the testimony about Jesus.[q](O) 10 I was in the Spirit[r][s](P) on the Lord’s day,[t] and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write on a scroll[u] what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 I turned to see whose voice(Q) it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven gold lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man,[v](R) dressed in a long robe and with a gold sash wrapped around His chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool—white as snow—and His eyes like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, and His voice like the sound of cascading[w] waters.(S) 16 He had seven stars in His right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth,(T) and His face was shining like the sun at midday.[x]
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,(U) 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. 19 Therefore write what you have seen, what is, and what will take place after this. 20 The secret of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven gold lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[y] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands[z] are the seven churches.
Footnotes
- Revelation 1:1 Or Revelation of, or A revelation of
- Revelation 1:1 Or soon
- Revelation 1:1 Made it known through symbols
- Revelation 1:2 Or witness
- Revelation 1:2 Lit as many as he saw
- Revelation 1:3 Or follow, or obey
- Revelation 1:4 Other mss add God
- Revelation 1:4 Or the sevenfold Spirit
- Revelation 1:5 Other mss read has washed us
- Revelation 1:6 Other mss read kings and
- Revelation 1:6 Or made us into (or to be) a kingdom of priests; Ex 19:6
- Revelation 1:7 Or impaled
- Revelation 1:7 Or all the tribes of the land
- Revelation 1:7 Gn 12:3; 28:14; Zch 14:17
- Revelation 1:7 Or will wail because of Him
- Revelation 1:7 Dn 7:13; Zch 12:10
- Revelation 1:9 Lit the witness of Jesus
- Revelation 1:10 Or in spirit; lit I became in the Spirit
- Revelation 1:10 John was brought by God’s Spirit into a realm of spiritual vision.
- Revelation 1:10 Sunday
- Revelation 1:11 Or book
- Revelation 1:13 Or like a son of man
- Revelation 1:15 Lit many
- Revelation 1:16 Lit like the sun shines in its power
- Revelation 1:20 Or messengers
- Revelation 1:20 Other mss add that you saw
Revelation 1
Lexham English Bible
Prologue
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his slaves the things which must take place in a short time, and communicated it by[a] sending it through his angel to his slave John, 2 who testified about the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud and blessed are[b] those who hear the words of the prophecy and observe the things written in it, because the time is near!
Greetings to the Churches
4 John, to the seven churches in Asia:[c] grace to you and peace from the one who is and the one who was and the one who is coming, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To the one who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the power forever and ever[d]. Amen.
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even every one who pierced him,
and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him.
Yes, amen.
8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, the one who is and the one who was and the one who is coming, the All-Powerful.
John’s Vision of the Son of Man
9 I, John, your brother and co-sharer in the affliction and kingdom and steadfastness in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great sound like a trumpet 11 saying, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
12 And I turned to see the voice which was speaking with me, and when I[e] turned, I saw seven gold lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded around his[f] chest with a golden belt, 14 and his head and hair were white like wool, white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame, 15 and his feet were like fine bronze when it has been fired in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters, 16 and he had in his right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person, and he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, 18 and the one who lives, and I was dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever[g], and I hold the keys of death and of Hades. 19 Therefore, write the things which you saw, and the things which are, and the things which are about to take place after these things. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands—the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Footnotes
- Revelation 1:1 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“sending”) which is understood as means
- Revelation 1:3 The phrase “blessed are” is an understood repetition from the beginning of the verse
- Revelation 1:4 A reference to the Roman province of Asia (modern Asia Minor)
- Revelation 1:6 Literally “for the ages of the ages”
- Revelation 1:12 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“turned”) which is understood as temporal
- Revelation 1:13 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Revelation 1:18 Literally “for the ages of the ages”
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