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Hosea 1-4
Contemporary English Version
Hosea 1-4
Contemporary English Version
1 (A) I am Hosea son of Beeri. When Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were the kings of Judah, and when Jeroboam son of Jehoash[a] was king of Israel,[b] the Lord spoke this message to me.
Hosea's Family
2 The Lord said, “Hosea, Israel has betrayed me like an unfaithful wife.[c] Marry such a woman and have children by her.” 3 So I married Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and we had a son.
4 (B) Then the Lord said, “Hosea, name your son Jezreel,[d] because I will soon punish the descendants of King Jehu of Israel for the murders he committed in Jezreel Valley.[e] I will destroy his kingdom, 5 and in Jezreel Valley I will break the power of Israel.”
6 Later, Gomer had a daughter, and the Lord said, “Name her Lo-Ruhamah,[f] because I will no longer have mercy and forgive Israel. 7 But I am the Lord God of Judah, and I will have mercy and save Judah by my own power—not by wars and arrows or swords and cavalry.”
8 After Gomer had stopped nursing Lo-Ruhamah, she had another son. 9 Then the Lord said, “Name him Lo-Ammi,[g] because these people are not mine, and I am not their God.”
Hope for Israel
10 (C) Someday it will be impossible to count the people of Israel, because there will be as many of them as there are grains of sand along the seashore. They are now called “Not My People,” but in the future they will be called “Children of the Living God.” 11 Israel and Judah will unite and choose one leader. Then they will take back their land, and this will be a great day for Jezreel.[h] 2 1 So let your brothers be called “My People” and your sisters be called “Shown Mercy.”[i]
The Lord Promises To Punish Israel
2 Accuse! Accuse your mother!
She is no longer my wife,
and now I, the Lord,
am not her husband.
Beg her to give up prostitution
and stop being unfaithful,[j]
3 or I will strip her naked
like the day she was born.
I will make her barren
like a desert,
and she will die of thirst.
4 You children are the result
of her unfaithfulness,
and I'll show you no pity.
5 Your mother was unfaithful.
She was disgraceful and said,
“I'll run after my lovers.
Everything comes from them—
my food and drink,
my linen and wool,
my olive oil and wine.”
6 I, the Lord, will build
a fence of thorns
to block her path.
7 She will run after her lovers,
but not catch them;
she will search,
but not find them.
Then she will say, “I'll return
to my first husband.
Life was better then.”
8 She didn't know that her grain,
wine, and olive oil
were gifts from me,
as were the gold and silver
she used in worshiping Baal.[k]
9 So I'll hold back the harvest
of grain and grapes.
I'll take back
my wool and my linen
that cover her body.
10 Then I'll strip her naked
in the sight of her lovers.[l]
No one can rescue her.
11 I'll stop Israel's celebrations—
no more New Moon Festivals,
Sabbaths, or other feasts.
12 She said, “My lovers gave me
vineyards and fig trees
as payment[m] for sex.”
Now I, the Lord, will ruin
her vineyards and fig trees;
they will become clumps of weeds
eaten by wild animals.
13 I'll punish her for the days
she worshiped Baal
and burned incense to him.
I'll punish her for the times
she forgot about me
and wore jewelry and rings
to attract her lovers.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
The Lord Will Help Israel
14 Israel, I, the Lord,
will lure you into the desert
and speak gently to you.
15 (D) I will return your vineyards,
and then Trouble Valley[n]
will become Hopeful Valley.
You will say “Yes” to me
as you did in your youth,
when leaving Egypt.
16 I promise from that day on, you will call me your husband instead of your master.[o] 17 I will no longer even let you mention the names of those pagan gods that you called “Master.” 18 And I will agree to let you live in peace—you will no longer be attacked by wild animals and birds or by weapons of war. 19 I will accept you as my wife forever, and instead of a bride price[p] I will give you justice, fairness, love, kindness, 20 and faithfulness. Then you will truly know who I am.
21 I will command the sky to send rain on the earth, 22 and it will produce grain, grapes, and olives in Jezreel Valley. 23 (E) I will scatter the seeds and show mercy to Lo-Ruhamah.[q] I will say to Lo-Ammi,[r] “You are my people,” and they will answer, “You are our God.”
God's Love Offers Hope
3 Once again the Lord spoke to me. And this time he said, “Hosea, fall in love with an unfaithful woman[s] who has a lover. Do this to show that I love the people of Israel, even though they worship idols and enjoy the offering cakes made with fruit.”
2 So I paid 15 pieces of silver and about 150 kilograms of grain for such a woman. 3 Then I said, “Now you are mine! You will have to remain faithful to me, though it will be a long time before we sleep together.”
4 It will also be a long time before Israel has a king or before sacrifices are offered at the temple or before there is any way to get guidance from God. 5 But later, Israel will turn back to the Lord their God and to David their king. At that time they will come to the Lord with fear and trembling, and he will be good to them.
Israel Is Unfaithful
4 Israel, listen
as the Lord accuses
everyone in the land!
No one is faithful or loyal
or truly cares about God.
2 Cursing, dishonesty, murder,
robbery, unfaithfulness—
these happen all the time.
Violence is everywhere.
3 And so your land is a desert.
Every living creature is dying—
people and wild animals,
birds and fish.
The Lord Warns the Priests
4 Don't accuse just anyone!
Not everyone is at fault.
My case is against you,
the priests.[t]
5 You and the prophets
will stumble day and night;
I'll silence your mothers.
6 You priests have rejected me,
and my people are destroyed
by refusing to obey.
Now I'll reject you and forget
your children, because you
have forgotten my Law.
7 By adding more of you priests,
you multiply the number
of people who sin.
Now I'll change your pride
into shame.
8 You encourage others to sin,
so you can stuff yourselves
on their sin offerings.
9 That's why I will punish
the people for their deeds,
just as I will punish
you priests.
10 Their food won't satisfy,
and having sex at pagan shrines
won't produce children.
My people have rebelled
11 and have been unfaithful
to me, their Lord.
God Condemns Israel's Idolatry
My people, you are foolish
because of too much pleasure
and too much wine.
12 You expect wooden idols
and other objects of wood
to give you advice.
Lusting for sex at pagan shrines
has made you unfaithful
to me, your God.
13 You offer sacrifices
on mountaintops and hills,
under oak trees, and wherever
good shade is found.
Your own daughters
and daughters-in-law
sell themselves for sex.
14 But I won't punish them.
You men are to blame,
because you go to prostitutes
and offer sacrifices with them
at pagan shrines.
Your own foolishness
will lead to your ruin.
15 Israel, you are unfaithful,
but don't lead Judah to sin.
Stop worshiping at Gilgal
or at sinful Bethel.[u]
And quit making promises
in my name—the name
of the living Lord.
16 You are nothing more
than a stubborn cow—
so stubborn that I, the Lord,
cannot feed you like lambs
in an open pasture.
17 You people of Israel[v]
are charmed by[w] idols.
Leave those people alone!
18 You get drunk, then sleep
with prostitutes;
you would rather be vulgar
than lead a decent life.[x]
19 And so you will be swept away[y]
in a whirlwind
for sacrificing to idols.
Footnotes
- 1.1 Jehoash: The Hebrew text has “Joash,” another spelling of the name.
- 1.1 kings of Judah … king of Israel: Uzziah (781–740 b.c.), Jotham (740-736), Ahaz (736–716), Hezekiah (716–687), and Jeroboam II (783–743).
- 1.2 unfaithful wife: In some Canaanite religions of Old Testament times, young women were expected to have sex with the worshipers of their god before marriage. Such women were called “temple prostitutes.” Many of the Israelite women did this same thing, and Hosea is told to marry one of them to show that the nation has turned from the Lord to worship idols.
- 1.4 Jezreel: In Hebrew “Jezreel” means “God scatters (seed).” Here the name is used as a threat (meaning the Lord will punish Israel by scattering its people), while in verse 11 it is used as a promise (meaning the Lord will bless Israel by giving their nation many people, just as a big harvest comes when many seeds are scattered in a field).
- 1.4 murders … Valley: Jehu murdered the wife and relatives of King Ahab (see 2 Kings 9.15—10.14).
- 1.6 Lo-Ruhamah: In Hebrew “Lo-Ruhamah” means “No Mercy.”
- 1.9 Lo-Ammi: In Hebrew “Lo-Ammi” means “Not My People.”
- 1.11 Jezreel: See the note at 1.4.
- 2.1 My People … Shown Mercy: In Hebrew “My People” is “Ammi” and “Shown Mercy” is “Ruhamah” (see Lo-Ruhamah in 1.6 and Lo-Ammi in 1.9).
- 2.2 prostitution … unfaithful: See the note at 1.2.
- 2.8 Baal: A Canaanite god of fertility.
- 2.10 I'll strip … lovers: Or “I'll show her lovers how disgusting she is.”
- 2.12 fig trees … payment: Hosea uses an unusual word for “fig tree,” which is spelled something like the word for “payment.”
- 2.15 Trouble Valley: Or “Achor Valley.” The exact location of the valley is unknown, but in Hebrew “Achor” sounds like “Achan,” who brought trouble on Israel by disobeying the Lord (see Joshua 7.24-26).
- 2.16 husband … master: In Hebrew the word “master” is the same as the name of the god Baal. But the Lord promises that his people will have a deep personal relationship with him (like a devoted wife and husband) rather than merely a legal tie (like a wife and her “master”).
- 2.19 bride price: It was the custom for the husband to pay his wife's parents a bride price. Instead of money, the Lord will give much better benefits to Israel.
- 2.23 Lo-Ruhamah: See the note at 1.6.
- 2.23 Lo-Ammi: See the note at 1.9.
- 3.1 unfaithful woman: This may refer to Gomer, the woman Hosea married (see 1.3), or it may refer to another woman.
- 4.4 priests: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 4. Hosea may have had in mind only one priest, possibly the chief priest.
- 4.15 sinful Bethel: The Hebrew text has “Beth-Aven,” which means “house of sin” or “house of nothing,” referring to “Bethel,” which means “house of God.”
- 4.17 Israel: The Hebrew text has “Ephraim,” the leading tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel, which sometimes stands for the whole kingdom.
- 4.17 charmed by: Or “joined to.”
- 4.18 life: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 18.
- 4.19 And so … swept away: Or “And so you will be ashamed.”
Hosea 1-4
New International Version
Hosea 1-4
New International Version
1 The word of the Lord that came(A) to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah,(B) Jotham,(C) Ahaz(D) and Hezekiah,(E) kings of Judah,(F) and during the reign of Jeroboam(G) son of Jehoash[a] king of Israel:(H)
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous(I) woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness(J) to the Lord.” 3 So he married Gomer(K) daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel,(L) because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.(M)”
6 Gomer(N) conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”),(O) for I will no longer show love to Israel,(P) that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow,(Q) sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God,(R) will save them.”
8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah,(S) Gomer had another son. 9 Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.[b](T)
10 “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted.(U) In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’(V) 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together;(W) they will appoint one leader(X) and will come up out of the land,(Y) for great will be the day of Jezreel.[c](Z)
2 [d]“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’(AA)
Israel Punished and Restored
2 “Rebuke your mother,(AB) rebuke her,
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous(AC) look from her face
and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
3 Otherwise I will strip(AD) her naked
and make her as bare as on the day she was born;(AE)
I will make her like a desert,(AF)
turn her into a parched land,
and slay her with thirst.
4 I will not show my love to her children,(AG)
because they are the children of adultery.(AH)
5 Their mother has been unfaithful
and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,(AI)
who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’(AJ)
6 Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.(AK)
7 She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
she will look for them but not find them.(AL)
Then she will say,
‘I will go back to my husband(AM) as at first,(AN)
for then I was better off(AO) than now.’
8 She has not acknowledged(AP) that I was the one
who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,(AQ)
who lavished on her the silver and gold(AR)—
which they used for Baal.(AS)
9 “Therefore I will take away my grain(AT) when it ripens,
and my new wine(AU) when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
intended to cover her naked body.
10 So now I will expose(AV) her lewdness
before the eyes of her lovers;(AW)
no one will take her out of my hands.(AX)
11 I will stop(AY) all her celebrations:(AZ)
her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.(BA)
12 I will ruin her vines(BB) and her fig trees,(BC)
which she said were her pay from her lovers;(BD)
I will make them a thicket,(BE)
and wild animals will devour them.(BF)
13 I will punish her for the days
she burned incense(BG) to the Baals;(BH)
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,(BI)
and went after her lovers,(BJ)
but me she forgot,(BK)”
declares the Lord.(BL)
14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness(BM)
and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor[e](BN) a door of hope.
There she will respond[f](BO) as in the days of her youth,(BP)
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.(BQ)
16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;(BR)
you will no longer call me ‘my master.[g]’
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;(BS)
no longer will their names be invoked.(BT)
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the creatures that move along the ground.(BU)
Bow and sword and battle
I will abolish(BV) from the land,
so that all may lie down in safety.(BW)
19 I will betroth(BX) you to me forever;
I will betroth you in[h] righteousness and justice,(BY)
in[i] love and compassion.(BZ)
20 I will betroth you in[j] faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge(CA) the Lord.(CB)
21 “In that day I will respond,”
declares the Lord—
“I will respond(CC) to the skies,
and they will respond to the earth;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
the new wine and the olive oil,(CD)
and they will respond to Jezreel.[k](CE)
23 I will plant(CF) her for myself in the land;
I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.[l](CG)’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,[m]’ ‘You are my people’;(CH)
and they will say, ‘You are my God.(CI)’”
Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife
3 The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.(CJ) Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.(CK)”
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels[n] of silver and about a homer and a lethek[o] of barley. 3 Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”
4 For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince,(CL) without sacrifice(CM) or sacred stones,(CN) without ephod(CO) or household gods.(CP) 5 Afterward the Israelites will return and seek(CQ) the Lord their God and David their king.(CR) They will come trembling(CS) to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.(CT)
The Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge(CU) to bring
against you who live in the land:(CV)
“There is no faithfulness,(CW) no love,
no acknowledgment(CX) of God in the land.(CY)
2 There is only cursing,[p] lying(CZ) and murder,(DA)
stealing(DB) and adultery;(DC)
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.(DD)
3 Because of this the land dries up,(DE)
and all who live in it waste away;(DF)
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.(DG)
4 “But let no one bring a charge,
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.(DH)
5 You stumble(DI) day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother(DJ)—
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(DK)
“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(DL) of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
7 The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God[q](DM) for something disgraceful.(DN)
8 They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.(DO)
9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.(DP)
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.(DQ)
10 “They will eat but not have enough;(DR)
they will engage in prostitution(DS) but not flourish,
because they have deserted(DT) the Lord
to give themselves 11 to prostitution;(DU)
old wine(DV) and new wine
take away their understanding.(DW)
12 My people consult a wooden idol,(DX)
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.(DY)
A spirit of prostitution(DZ) leads them astray;(EA)
they are unfaithful(EB) to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak,(EC) poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.(ED)
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution(EE)
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.(EF)
14 “I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots(EG)
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes(EH)—
a people without understanding(EI) will come to ruin!(EJ)
15 “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.
“Do not go to Gilgal;(EK)
do not go up to Beth Aven.[r](EL)
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’(EM)
16 The Israelites are stubborn,(EN)
like a stubborn heifer.(EO)
How then can the Lord pasture them
like lambs(EP) in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18 Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19 A whirlwind(EQ) will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.(ER)
Footnotes
- Hosea 1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash
- Hosea 1:9 Or your I am
- Hosea 1:11 In Hebrew texts 1:10,11 is numbered 2:1,2.
- Hosea 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-23 is numbered 2:3-25.
- Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
- Hosea 2:15 Or sing
- Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal
- Hosea 2:19 Or with
- Hosea 2:19 Or with
- Hosea 2:20 Or with
- Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah (see 1:6)
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi (see 1:9)
- Hosea 3:2 That is, about 6 ounces or about 170 grams
- Hosea 3:2 A homer and a lethek possibly weighed about 430 pounds or about 195 kilograms.
- Hosea 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse on
- Hosea 4:7 Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory
- Hosea 4:15 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
Revelation 1
Contemporary English Version
Revelation 1
Contemporary English Version
1 This is what God showed to Jesus Christ, so that he could tell his servants what must happen soon. Christ then sent his angel with the message to his servant John. 2 And John told everything he had seen about God's message and about what Jesus Christ had said and done.
3 God will bless everyone who reads this prophecy to others,[a] and he will bless everyone who hears and obeys it. The time is almost here.
4 (A) From John to the seven churches in Asia.[b]
I pray that you
will be blessed
with kindness and peace
from God, who is and was
and is coming.
May you receive
kindness and peace
from the seven spirits
before the throne of God.
5 (B) May kindness and peace
be yours
from Jesus Christ,
the faithful witness.
Jesus was the first
to conquer death,
and he is the ruler
of all earthly kings.
Christ loves us,
and by his blood
he set us free
from our sins.
6 (C) He lets us rule as kings
and serve God his Father
as priests.
To him be glory and power
forever and ever! Amen.
7 (D) Look! He is coming
with the clouds.
Everyone will see him,
even the ones who stuck
a sword through him.
All people on earth
will weep because of him.
Yes, it will happen! Amen.
8 (E) The Lord God says, “I am Alpha and Omega,[c] the one who is and was and is coming. I am God All-Powerful!”
A Vision of the Risen Lord
9 I am John, a follower together with all of you. We suffer because Jesus is our king, but he gives us the strength to endure. I was sent to Patmos Island,[d] because I had preached God's message and had told about Jesus. 10 On the Lord's day the Spirit took control of me, and behind me I heard a loud voice that sounded like a trumpet. 11 The voice said, “Write in a book what you see. Then send it to the seven churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”[e]
12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 (F) There with the lampstands was someone who seemed to be the Son of Man.[f] He was wearing a robe that reached down to his feet, and a gold cloth was wrapped around his chest. 14 (G)(H) His head and his hair were white as wool or snow, and his eyes looked like flames of fire. 15 (I) His feet were glowing like bronze being heated in a furnace, and his voice sounded like the roar of a waterfall. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword was coming from his mouth. His face was shining as bright as the sun at noon.
17 (J) When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person. But he put his right hand on me and said:
Don't be afraid! I am the first, the last, 18 and the living one. I died, but now I am alive forever, and I have the keys to death and the world of the dead.[g] 19 Write what you have seen and what is and what will happen after these things. 20 I will explain the mystery of the seven stars you saw at my right side and the seven gold lampstands. The seven stars are the angels[h] of the seven churches, and the lampstands are the seven churches.
Footnotes
- 1.3 who reads this prophecy to others: A public reading, in a worship service.
- 1.4 Asia: The section 1.4—3.22 is in the form of a letter. Asia was in the eastern part of the Roman Empire and is present day Turkey.
- 1.8 Alpha and Omega: The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, which sometimes mean “first” and “last.”
- 1.9 Patmos Island: A small island where prisoners were sometimes kept by the Romans.
- 1.11 Ephesus … Laodicea: Ephesus was in the center with the six other cities forming a half-circle around it.
- 1.13 Son of Man: That is, Jesus.
- 1.18 keys to death and the world of the dead: That is, power over death and the world of the dead.
- 1.20 angels: Perhaps guardian angels that represent the churches, or they may be church leaders or messengers sent to the churches.
Revelation 1
New International Version
Revelation 1
New International Version
Prologue
1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave(A) him to show his servants what must soon take place.(B) He made it known by sending his angel(C) to his servant John,(D) 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God(E) and the testimony of Jesus Christ.(F) 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it,(G) because the time is near.(H)
Greetings and Doxology
4 John,
To the seven churches(I) in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you(J) from him who is, and who was, and who is to come,(K) and from the seven spirits[a](L) before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,(M) the firstborn from the dead,(N) and the ruler of the kings of the earth.(O)
To him who loves us(P) and has freed us from our sins by his blood,(Q) 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests(R) to serve his God and Father(S)—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.(T)
7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”[b](U)
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;(V)
and all peoples on earth “will mourn(W) because of him.”[c]
So shall it be! Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”(X) says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come,(Y) the Almighty.”(Z)
John’s Vision of Christ
9 I, John,(AA) your brother and companion in the suffering(AB) and kingdom(AC) and patient endurance(AD) that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God(AE) and the testimony of Jesus.(AF) 10 On the Lord’s Day(AG) I was in the Spirit,(AH) and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,(AI) 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see(AJ) and send it to the seven churches:(AK) to Ephesus,(AL) Smyrna,(AM) Pergamum,(AN) Thyatira,(AO) Sardis,(AP) Philadelphia(AQ) and Laodicea.”(AR)
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,(AS) 13 and among the lampstands(AT) was someone like a son of man,[d](AU) dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet(AV) and with a golden sash around his chest.(AW) 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.(AX) 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace,(AY) and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.(AZ) 16 In his right hand he held seven stars,(BA) and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.(BB) His face was like the sun(BC) shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet(BD) as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me(BE) and said: “Do not be afraid.(BF) I am the First and the Last.(BG) 18 I am the Living One; I was dead,(BH) and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!(BI) And I hold the keys of death and Hades.(BJ)
19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen,(BK) what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand(BL) and of the seven golden lampstands(BM) is this: The seven stars are the angels[e] of the seven churches,(BN) and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.(BO)
Footnotes
- Revelation 1:4 That is, the sevenfold Spirit
- Revelation 1:7 Daniel 7:13
- Revelation 1:7 Zech. 12:10
- Revelation 1:13 See Daniel 7:13.
- Revelation 1:20 Or messengers
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