1The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his slaves, [even] the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified [it] by his angel to his slave John; 2who bore witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, [even] of all things that he saw. 3Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it: for the time is at hand. 4John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you{+} and peace, from Him Who Is and Who Was and Who Is To Come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne; 5and from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood; 6and he made us [to be] a kingdom, [to be] priests to his God and Father; to him [be] the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7Look, he comes with the clouds; and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen. 8I am the Alpha and the Omega, says Yahweh God, He Who Is and Who Was and Who Is To Come, the Almighty. 9I John, your{+} brother and copartner with you{+} in the tribulation and kingdom and patience [which are] in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet 11saying, What you see, write 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. 12And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13and among the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girded about at the breasts with a golden belt. 14And his head and his hair were white as white wool, [white] as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15and his feet like burnished bronze, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters. 16And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shines in his strength. 17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand on me, saying, Don't be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18and the Living one; and I became dead, and look, I am alive forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19Write therefore the things which you saw, and the things which are, and the things which will come to pass after these things; 20the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven lampstands are seven churches.