Prologue

¹The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God agave him bto show to his servants1 the things that must soon take place. cHe made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ²dwho bore witness to the word of God and to ethe testimony of Jesus Christ, even fto all that he saw. ³gBlessed 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, hfor the time is near.

Greeting to the Seven Churches

⁴John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from ihim jwho is and kwho was and who is to come, and from lthe seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ mthe faithful witness, nthe firstborn of the dead, and othe ruler of kings on earth.

To phim who loves us and qhas freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶and made us ra kingdom, rpriests to shis God and Father, to him be tglory and udominion forever and ever. Amen. ⁷Behold, vhe is coming with the clouds, and wevery eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail2 on account of him. Even so. Amen.

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

Vision of the Son of Man

⁹I, John, your brother and zpartner in athe tribulation and bthe kingdom and cthe patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos don account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰eI was in the Spirit fon the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice glike a trumpet ¹¹saying, 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 iseven golden lampstands, ¹³and in the midst of the lampstands jone like ka son of man, lclothed with a long robe and mwith a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴nThe hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. oHis eyes were like a flame of fire, ¹⁵phis feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and qhis voice was like the roar of many waters. ¹⁶rIn his right hand he held seven stars, sfrom his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and this face was like the sun shining uin full strength.

¹⁷vWhen I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But vhe laid his right hand on me, wsaying, “Fear not, xI am the first and the last, ¹⁸and the living one. yI died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and zI have the keys of Death and Hades. ¹⁹aWrite therefore bthe things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. ²⁰As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and cthe seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and dthe seven lampstands are the seven churches.

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To the Church in Ephesus

¹“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of ehim who holds the seven stars in his right hand, fwho walks among the seven golden lampstands.

²g“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but hhave tested those iwho call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up jfor my name's sake, and you khave not grown weary. ⁴But I have this against you, that you have abandoned lthe love you had at first. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do mthe works you did at first. If not, nI will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. ⁶Yet this you have: you hate the works of othe Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. qTo the one who conquers I will grant to eat of rthe tree of life, which is in sthe paradise of God.’

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of tthe first and the last, uwho died and came to life.

⁹“‘I know your tribulation and vyour poverty (vbut you are rich) and the slander1 of wthose who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, wthat you may be tested, and for xten days yyou will have tribulation. zBe faithful aunto death, and I will give you bthe crown of life. ¹¹cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. cThe one who conquers will not be hurt by dthe second death.’

To the Church in Pergamum

¹²“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has ethe sharp two-edged sword.

¹³“‘I know where you dwell, fwhere Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not gdeny my faith2 even in the days of Antipas hmy faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of iBalaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might jeat food sacrificed to idols and kpractice sexual immorality. ¹⁵So also you have some who hold the teaching of lthe Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Therefore repent. If not, mI will come to you soon and nwar against them with ethe sword of my mouth. ¹⁷cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. cTo the one who conquers I will give some of othe hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with pa new name written on the stone qthat no one knows except the one who receives it.’

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, rwho has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

¹⁹s“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. ²⁰But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman tJezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants uto practice sexual immorality and uto eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹I gave her time to repent, but vshe refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ²²Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, ²³and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he wwho searches mind and heart, and xI will give to each of you according to your works. ²⁴But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ythe deep things of Satan, to you I say, I zdo not lay on you any other burden. ²⁵Only hold fast awhat you have until I come. ²⁶bThe one who conquers and who keeps my works cuntil the end, dto him I will give authority over the nations, ²⁷and ehe will frule3 them with a rod of iron, gas when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. ²⁸And I will give him hthe morning star. ²⁹pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

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To the Church in Sardis

¹“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him iwho has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation jof being alive, kbut you are dead. ²Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works lcomplete in the sight of my God. ³mRemember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, nI will come olike a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. ⁴Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not psoiled their garments, and they will walk with me qin white, for they are rworthy. ⁵sThe one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never tblot his name out of uthe book of life. vI will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. ⁶pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Philadelphia

⁷“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of wthe holy one, xthe true one, ywho has the key of David, zwho opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

⁸“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you aan open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹Behold, I will make those of bthe synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, cI will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that dI have loved you. ¹⁰eBecause you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try fthose who dwell on the earth. ¹¹gI am coming soon. hHold fast what you have, so that no one may seize iyour crown. ¹²jThe one who conquers, I will make him ka pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him lthe name of my God, and mthe name of the city of my God, mthe new Jerusalem, nwhich comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own onew name. ¹³pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the pAmen, qthe faithful and true witness, rthe beginning of God's creation.

¹⁵“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. sWould that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷tFor you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, ublind, and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you vto buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and wwhite garments so that you may clothe yourself and xthe shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, uso that you may see. ¹⁹yThose whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. ²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and zknock. aIf anyone hears my voice and opens the door, bI will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. ²¹cThe one who conquers, dI will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as eI also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²²pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

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The Throne in Heaven

¹After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me flike a trumpet, said, g“Come up here, and hI will show you what must take place after this.” ²At once iI was in the Spirit, and behold, ja throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. ³And he who sat there had the appearance of kjasper and carnelian, and around the throne was la rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. ⁴Around the throne were mtwenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, nclothed in white garments, with ogolden crowns on their heads. ⁵From the throne came pflashes of lightning, and rumblings1 and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning qseven torches of fire, rwhich are the seven spirits of God, ⁶and before the throne there was sas it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are tfour living creatures, ufull of eyes in front and behind: ⁷vthe first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. ⁸And the four living creatures, weach of them with six wings, are xfull of eyes all around and within, and yday and night they never cease to say,

z“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

awho was and is and is to come!”

⁹And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, bwho lives forever and ever, ¹⁰the twenty-four elders cfall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast dtheir crowns before the throne, saying,

¹¹e“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for fyou created all things,

and gby your will they existed and were created.”

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The Scroll and the Lamb

¹Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne ha scroll written within and on the back, isealed with seven seals. ²And jI saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” ³And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, ⁴and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁵And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, kthe Lion lof the tribe of Judah, mthe Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw na Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with oseven eyes, which are pthe seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. ⁸And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders qfell down before the Lamb, reach holding a harp, and sgolden bowls full of incense, twhich are the prayers of the saints. ⁹And they sang ua new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for vyou were slain, and by your blood wyou ransomed people for God

from xevery tribe and language and people and nation,

¹⁰and you have made them ya kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth.”

¹¹Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering zmyriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ¹²saying with a loud voice,

a“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”

¹³And I heard bevery creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

¹⁴And the four living creatures csaid, “Amen!” and the elders dfell down and worshiped.

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