Revelation 1

New King James Version

Introduction and Benediction

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, ^(A)which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must ^[a]shortly take place. And ^(B)He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, ²^(C)who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things ^(D)that he saw. ³^(E)Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for ^(F)the time is near.

Greeting the Seven Churches

⁴John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from Him ^(G)who is and ^(H)who was and who is to come, ^(I)and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, ^(J)the faithful ^(K)witness, the ^(L)firstborn from the dead, and ^(M)the ruler over the kings of the earth.

To Him ^(N)who ^[b]loved us ^(O)and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶and has ^(P)made us ^[c]kings and priests to His God and Father, ^(Q)to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

⁷Behold, He is coming with ^(R)clouds, and every eye will see Him, even ^(S)they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

⁸^(T)“I am the Alpha and the Omega, ^[d]the Beginning and the End,” says the ^[e]Lord, ^(U)“who is and who was and who is to come, the ^(V)Almighty.”

Vision of the Son of Man

⁹I, John, ^[f]both your brother and ^(W)companion in the tribulation and ^(X)kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. ¹⁰^(Y)I was in the Spirit on ^(Z)the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me ^(AA)a loud voice, as of a trumpet, ¹¹saying, ^[g]“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches ^[h]which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

¹²Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned ^(AB)I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³^(AC)and in the midst of the seven lampstands ^(AD)One like the Son of Man, ^(AE)clothed with a garment down to the feet and ^(AF)girded about the chest with a golden band. ¹⁴His head and ^(AG)hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and ^(AH)His eyes like a flame of fire; ¹⁵^(AI)His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and ^(AJ)His voice as the sound of many waters; ¹⁶^(AK)He had in His right hand seven stars, ^(AL)out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, ^(AM)and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. ¹⁷And ^(AN)when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But ^(AO)He laid His right hand on me, saying ^[i]to me, “Do not be afraid; ^(AP)I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸^(AQ)I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, ^(AR)I am alive forevermore. Amen. And ^(AS)I have the keys of ^[j]Hades and of Death. ¹⁹^[k]Write the things which you have ^(AT)seen, ^(AU)and the things which are, ^(AV)and the things which will take place after this. ²⁰The ^[l]mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are ^(AW)the ^[m]angels of the seven churches, and ^(AX)the seven lampstands ^[n]which you saw are the seven churches.

Footnotes

Revelation 1:1 quickly or swiftly
Revelation 1:5 NU loves us and freed; M loves us and washed
Revelation 1:6 NU, M a kingdom
Revelation 1:8 NU, M omit the Beginning and the End
Revelation 1:8 NU, M Lord God
Revelation 1:9 NU, M omit both
Revelation 1:11 NU, M omit “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and,
Revelation 1:11 NU, M omit which are in Asia
Revelation 1:17 NU, M omit to me
Revelation 1:18 Lit. Unseen; the unseen realm
Revelation 1:19 NU, M Therefore, write
Revelation 1:20 hidden truth
Revelation 1:20 Or messengers
Revelation 1:20 NU, M omit which you saw

Revelation 1

The Message

1 ^1-2A revealing of Jesus, the Messiah. God gave it to make plain to his servants what is about to happen. He published and delivered it by Angel to his servant John. And John told everything he saw: God’s Word—the witness of Jesus Christ!

³How blessed the reader! How blessed the hearers and keepers of these oracle words, all the words written in this book!

Time is just about up.

His Eyes Pouring Fire-Blaze

^4-7I, John, am writing this to the seven churches in Asia province: All the best to you from The God Who Is, The God Who Was, and The God About to Arrive, and from the Seven Spirits assembled before his throne, and from Jesus Christ—Loyal Witness, Firstborn from the dead, Ruler of all earthly kings.

Glory and strength to Christ, who loves us,
    who blood-washed our sins from our lives,
Who made us a Kingdom, Priests for his Father,
    forever—and yes, he’s on his way!
Riding the clouds, he’ll be seen by every eye,
    those who mocked and killed him will see him,
People from all nations and all times
    will tear their clothes in lament.
        Oh, Yes.

⁸The Master declares, “I’m A to Z. I’m The God Who Is, The God Who Was, and The God About to Arrive. I’m the Sovereign-Strong.”

^9-17I, John, with you all the way in the trial and the Kingdom and the passion of patience in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of God’s Word, the witness of Jesus. It was Sunday and I was in the Spirit, praying. I heard a loud voice behind me, trumpet-clear and piercing: “Write what you see into a book. Send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.” I turned and saw the voice.

I saw a gold menorah
    with seven branches,
And in the center, the Son of Man,
    in a robe and gold breastplate,
    hair a blizzard of white,
Eyes pouring fire-blaze,
    both feet furnace-fired bronze,
His voice a roar,
    right hand holding the Seven Stars,
His mouth a sharp-biting sword,
    his face a blinding sun.

I saw this and fainted dead at his feet. His right hand pulled me upright, his voice reassured me:

^17-20“Don’t fear: I am First, I am Last, I’m Alive. I died, but I came to life, and my life is now forever. See these keys in my hand? They open and lock Death’s doors, they open and lock Hell’s gates. Now write down everything you see: things that are, things about to be. The Seven Stars you saw in my right hand and the seven-branched gold menorah—do you want to know what’s behind them? The Seven Stars are the Angels of the seven churches; the menorah’s seven branches are the seven churches.”

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Message (MSG)

Revelation 1 New King James Version