1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
2 who testified to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that hesaw.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
4 John to the seven churches in Asia: Grace to you and peace fromGod, who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who 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 wholoves us andwashed us from our sins with his blood
6 and made usto be a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the power foreverand ever. Amen.
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. So shall it be! Amen.
8 says the LordGod,
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation, kingdom, and endurance that arein Christ Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of JesusChrist.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like that of a trumpet,
11 saying,
12 Then I turnedin that direction to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and in the midst of theseven lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest.
14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
15 his feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though I were dead. But he placed his right hand upon me andsaid,