REVELATION 1 [†]The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God  a gave him  b to show to his servants [1] the things that must soon take place.  c He made it known by sending his angel to his servant [2] John, 2 d who bore witness to the word of God and to  e the testimony of Jesus Christ, even  f to all that he saw. 3[†] g Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it,  h for the time is near.

4[†]John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from  i him  j who is and  k who was and who is to come, and from  l the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ  m the faithful witness,  n the firstborn of the dead, and  o the ruler of kings on earth.

To  p him who loves us and  q has freed us from our sins by his blood 6and made us  r a kingdom,  r priests to  s his God and Father, to him be  t glory and  u dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7[†]Behold,  v he is coming with the clouds, and  w every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail [3] on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8 x “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God,  y “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

9[†]I, John, your brother and  z partner in  a the tribulation and  b the kingdom and  c the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos  d on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10[†] e I was in the Spirit  f on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice  g like a trumpet 11[†]saying,  h “Write what you see 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.”

12Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw  i seven golden lampstands, 13[†]and in the midst of the lampstands  j one like  k a son of man,  l clothed with a long robe and  m with a golden sash around his chest. 14[†] n The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow.  o His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15[†] p his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and  q his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16[†] r In his right hand he held seven stars,  s from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and  t his face was like the sun shining  u in full strength.

17[†] v When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But  v he laid his right hand on me,  w saying, “Fear not,  x I am the first and the last, 18[†]and the living one.  y I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and  z I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19[†] a Write therefore  b the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20[†]As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and  c the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and  d the seven lampstands are the seven churches.