Chronological

Introduction

1 The revelation from Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants the things that must soon take place. Christ expressed this revelation by means of symbols sent^[a] through his angel to his servant John. ² John spoke as a witness to the word of God and to the testimony about^[b] Jesus Christ, that is, to everything he saw. ³ Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear it and hold on to the things written in it, because the time is near.

Greeting

⁴ John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia:^[c]

Grace to you and peace from him who is, who was, and who is coming, and from the seven spirits that 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 him who loves us and has freed^[d] us from our sins by his own blood ⁶ and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever. Amen.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”^[e] says the Lord God, the one who is, and who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.

God Tells John to Write Down What He Sees

⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingship and patient endurance in Jesus,^[f] was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus.^[g]

¹⁰ I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard a loud voice behind me, like a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, “Write what you see on a scroll and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

Jesus Appears

¹² I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. When I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was one like a son of man. He was clothed with a robe that reached to his feet, and around his chest he wore a gold sash. ¹⁴ His head and his hair were white, like white wool or like snow. His eyes were like blazing flames. ¹⁵ His feet were like polished bronze being refined in a furnace. His voice was like the roar of many waters. ¹⁶ He held seven stars in his right hand. A sharp two-edged sword was coming out of his mouth. His face was shining as the sun shines in all its brightness.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last— ¹⁸ the Living One. I was dead and, see, I am alive forever and ever! I also hold the keys of death and hell.^[h]

¹⁹ “So write what you have seen, both those things that are and those that will take place after this.

²⁰ “The mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand, and the seven gold lampstands is this: The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

Letter to the Church in Ephesus

2 To the messenger of the church in Ephesus write:

The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven gold lampstands, says this:

² I know your works, your^[i] labor, and your patient endurance, and that you are not able to tolerate evil people. You have tested those who say they are apostles, but are not, and have found them to be liars. ³ Indeed, you do have patient endurance. You have endured hardships on account of my name and have not become weary.

⁴ But I have this against you: You have forsaken your first love.^{[j] 5} Remember, therefore, the state from which you have fallen! Repent and do the works you did at first. Otherwise I will come to you^[k] and remove your lampstand from its place, if you do not repent.

⁶ But you do have this: You hate the actions of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious I will give the privilege to eat from the tree of life, which is in^[l] the paradise of God.

Letter to the Church in Smyrna

⁸ To the messenger of the church in Smyrna write:

The First and the Last, who was dead and came to life again, says this:

⁹ I know^[m] your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich. And I know the blasphemy that comes from those who say they are Jews but are not; rather, they are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not fear anything that^[n] you are about to suffer. Look, the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you will be tested, and you will suffer for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

¹¹ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

Letter to the Church in Pergamum

¹² To the messenger of the church in Pergamum write:

The one who has the sharp, two-edged sword says this:

¹³ I know^[o] where you live—where the throne of Satan is. And I know that you hold fast to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me even in the days when Antipas, my faithful witness,^[p] was put to death near you, the place where Satan lives.

¹⁴ But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block in front of the children of Israel so that they would eat things offered to idols and commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵ Likewise, you also have some people who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Therefore,^[q] repent! If not, I will come to you soon, and I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

¹⁷ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious I will give some of the hidden manna.^[r] I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one will know except the one who receives it.

Letter to the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸ To the messenger of the church in Thyatira write:

The Son of God, whose eyes are like fiery flames and whose feet are like polished bronze, says this:

¹⁹ I know your works and love and faith and service, as well as your patient endurance, and that you are doing more now than you did at first.

²⁰ But I have this against you: You allow that woman Jezebel, the one who calls herself a prophetess, to deceive my servants and to teach them to commit sexual immorality and eat things offered to idols. ²¹ I gave her time to repent, but she is not willing to repent of her sexual immorality. ²² Look, I am going to throw her onto a bed and throw those who commit adultery with her into great suffering, if they do not repent of her^[s] works. ²³ And I will put her children to death. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches hearts and minds, and that I will give to each of you according to your works.

²⁴ To the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to this teaching, who do not know Satan’s “deep things,” as they call them, I say that I will not lay any other burden on you. ²⁵ Only hold fast to what you have until I come.

²⁶ To the one who is victorious and continues to do my works until the end, I will give him authority over the nations, ²⁷ and he will rule them with an iron staff and shatter them like clay pots, ²⁸ just as I myself have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.

²⁹ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Letter to the Church in Sardis

3 To the messenger of the church in Sardis write:

The one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says this:

I know your works. You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen what is left, which is about to die, for I have found that your works are not complete in the sight of my God. ³ Therefore remember what you received and heard. Hold on to it and repent! If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come upon you.

⁴ Yet you have a few names in Sardis, people who have not defiled their clothes. They will walk with me in white clothing, for they are worthy.

⁵ The one who is victorious in this way^[t] will be clothed in white clothing. I certainly will not erase his name from the Book of Life, and I will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.

⁶ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Letter to the Church in Philadelphia

⁷ To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia write:

The Holy One, the one who is true, the one who has the key of David, the one who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one can open, says this:

⁸ I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ Look, I will make those who are from the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not but are lying—look, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them realize that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will also keep you from the hour of testing, which is about to come over the whole inhabited world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown.

¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it again. I will also write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God—and my new name.

¹³ Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Letter to the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴ To the messenger of the church in Laodicea write:

The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation, says this:

¹⁵ I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. If only you were cold or hot! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm and not hot or cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, “I am rich. I have become very wealthy and need nothing.” But you do not know that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments, so that you may be clothed and the shame of your nakedness may not become public, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

¹⁹ I rebuke and discipline those whom I love. So take this seriously and repent.

²⁰ Look, I stand at the door and I am knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in with him and dine with him, and he with me. ²¹ To the one who is victorious I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.

²² Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

John’s Vision of God

4 After these things I looked, and there was a door opened in heaven! And the first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.” ² Immediately I was in spirit. And look! A throne was standing in heaven, and someone was sitting on the throne. ³ The one who was sitting there looked like a jasper stone and a ruby.^[u] Around the throne there was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.

⁴ Also around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and sitting on those thrones were twenty-four elders dressed in white garments, with gold crowns on their heads. ⁵ Out of the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and crashes of thunder. In front of the throne seven flaming lamps were burning, which are the seven spirits of God. ⁶ Also in front of the throne was something resembling a glassy sea, which was like crystal.

In the middle, near the throne and around the throne, there were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like an ox, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. ⁸ Each one of the four living creatures had six wings, and the wings were full of eyes all around and underneath.^[v] Day and night, without pause, they keep saying:

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders bow down before him who sits on the throne. They worship the one who lives forever and ever and lay down their crowns in front of his throne as they say:

The Scroll With Seven Seals

5 And I saw a scroll in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, with writing on the front^[w] and on the back, sealed with seven seals.

² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll by breaking its seals?” ³ No one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁴ And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping. Look! The Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed and is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Worthy Is the Lamb

⁶ And I saw a Lamb standing in the center, near the throne, surrounded by the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders. The Lamb seemed to have been slain, and he had seven horns and seven eyes (these are the seven spirits of God that have been sent into all the world). ⁷ The Lamb came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. ⁸ And when the Lamb took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders bowed down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and gold bowls full of incense (these are the prayers of the saints). ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:

¹¹ And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels who were around the throne and around the living creatures and the elders. Their number was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands upon thousands. ¹² With a loud voice they were saying:

¹³ I also heard every creature that is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders bowed down and worshipped.