Revelation 1:1-8

New Living Translation

Prologue

1 This is a revelation from^[a] Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon^[b] take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, ²who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

³God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.

John’s Greeting to the Seven Churches

⁴This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia.^[c]

Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit^[d] before his throne; ⁵and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world.

All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. ⁶He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

⁷Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven.
    And everyone will see him—
    even those who pierced him.
And all the nations of the world
    will mourn for him.
Yes! Amen!

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,”^[e] says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”

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Footnotes

1:1a Or of.
1:1b Or suddenly, or quickly.
1:4a Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey.
1:4b Greek the seven spirits.
1:8 Greek I am the Alpha and the Omega, referring to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.