Greeting

⁴ John,

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

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^[b] 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.

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,^[a] was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus.^[b]

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.^[c]

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.”