Revelation 1
Prologue
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God agave him bto show to his servants the things that must soon take place. cHe made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 awho bore witness to the word of God and to bthe testimony of Jesus Christ, even cto all that he saw. 3 aBlessed 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, bfor the time is near.
Greeting to the Seven Churches
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from ahim bwho is and cwho was and who is to come, and from dthe seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ athe faithful witness, bthe firstborn of the dead, and cthe ruler of kings on earth.
To dhim who loves us and ehas freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us aa kingdom, apriests to bhis God and Father, to him be cglory and ddominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, ahe is coming with the clouds, and bevery eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 a“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, b“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Vision of the Son of Man
9 I, John, your brother and apartner in bthe tribulation and cthe kingdom and dthe patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos eon account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 aI was in the Spirit bon the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice clike a trumpet 11 saying, a“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.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw aseven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands aone like ba son of man, cclothed with a long robe and dwith a golden sash around his chest. 14 aThe hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. bHis eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 ahis feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and bhis voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 aIn his right hand he held seven stars, bfrom his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and chis face was like the sun shining din full strength.
17 aWhen I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But ahe laid his right hand on me, bsaying, “Fear not, cI am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. aI died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and bI have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 aWrite therefore bthe 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 athe seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and bthe seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.