¹ This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel¹ to his servant, John,

1. Or, "messenger" (here and wherever angel is mentioned)

² who testified to God's word, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw.

³ Blessed 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 near.

⁴ John, to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him¹ who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne;

1. NU P Ph. M TR read "God" instead of "him"

⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood;

⁶ and he made us to be a Kingdom,¹ priests² to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1. NU M P Ph Vg. TR reads "kings" instead of "Kingdom"
2. Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 61:6

⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.

⁸ "I am the Alpha and the Omega,¹" says Jehovah God,² "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

1. TR adds "the Beginning and the End"
2. TR omits "God"

⁹ I John, your brother and partner with you in persecution, Kingdom, and patient endurance in Jesus¹, was on the island that is called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus².

1. NU Ph. M TR P add "Christ"
2. NU Vg. M TR add "Christ"

¹⁰ I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet¹

1. Or, "shofar" (here and wherever trumpet is mentioned)

¹¹ saying, "¹What you see, write in a scroll and send to the seven churches²: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."

1. TR adds "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last"
2. TR adds "which are in Asia"

¹² I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands¹.

1. Or, "Menorah's" (here and wherever lampstands are mentioned)

¹³ And among the¹ lampstands was one like a son of man,² clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest.

1. NU P Ph. M TR add "seven"
2. Daniel 7:13

¹⁴ His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.

¹⁵ His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters.

¹⁶ He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last,

¹⁸ and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.¹ I have the keys of Death and of hell².

1. NU Vg. M TR add "Amen"
2. Greek: Hades, Hebrew: Sheol

¹⁹ Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter;

²⁰ the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels¹ of the seven churches. The seven lampstands are seven churches.

1. Or, "messengers" (here and wherever angels are mentioned)