The Revelation to John
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 angel to his
servant, John, who testified to God's word, and of the testimony of Jesus
Christ, about everything that he saw. 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 at hand. John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you
and peace, from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven
Spirits who are before his throne; 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; and he made us to be a
Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion
forever and ever. Amen. 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. "I am the Alpha and the Omega,*" says the Lord God, "who is
and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
I John, your brother and partner
with you in oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the
isle that is called Patmos because of God's Word and the testimony of Jesus
Christ.I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud
voice, like a trumpet saying, "*What you see, write in a book and send to the
seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia,
and to Laodicea." I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I
saw seven golden lampstands. And among the lampstands was one like a son of man,
clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his
chest. His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were
like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been
refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters. 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. When I saw him, I fell at his
feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, "Don't be afraid.
I am the first and the last, and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I
am alive forevermore. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades. Write
therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the
things which will happen hereafter; the 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 assemblies. The seven lampstands are seven assemblies.
To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus
write: "He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among
the seven golden lampstands says these things: "I know your works, and your toil
and perseverance, and that you can't tolerate evil men, and have tested those
who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false. You have
perseverance and have endured for my name's sake, and have* not grown weary. But
I have this against you, that you left your first love. Remember therefore from
where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to
you swiftly, and will move your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent.
But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also
hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To
him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the
Paradise of my God.
"To the angel of the assembly
in Smyrna write: "The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to
life says these things: "I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but
you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are
not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Don't be afraid of the things which you are
about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison,
that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful
to death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won't be harmed by the
second death.
"To the angel of the assembly in
Pergamum write: "He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things: "I know
your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. You hold firmly to my
name, and didn't deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful
one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things
against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who
taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat
things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. So you also have
some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans likewise*. Repent therefore, or
else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword
of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I
will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one
knows but he who receives it.
"To the angel of the
assembly in Thyatira write: "The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of
fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things: I know your
works, your love, faith, service, patient endurance, and that your last works
are more than the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate your
woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my
servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. I
gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into
great oppression, unless they repent of her works. I will kill her children with
Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and
hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. But to you I
say, to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as don't have this teaching, who
don't know what some call 'the deep things of Satan,' to you I say, I am not
putting any other burden on you. Nevertheless, hold firmly that which you have,
until I come. He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I
will give authority over the nations. He will rule them with a rod of iron,
shattering them like clay pots; as I also have received of my Father: and I will
give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says
to the assemblies.
"And to the angel of the
assembly in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven
stars says these things: "I know your works, that you have a reputation of being
alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you
were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my
God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If
therefore you won't watch, I will come as a thief, and you won't know what hour
I will come upon you. Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not
defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He
who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his
name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and
before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
assemblies.
"To the angel of the assembly in
Philadelphia write: "He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of
David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says
these things: "I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door,
which no one can shut), that you have a little power, and kept my word, and
didn't deny my name. Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say
they are Jews, and they are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them to come and
worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you kept my
command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is to
come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. I am coming
quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown. He
who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go
out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of
the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my
God, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says
to the assemblies.
"To the angel of the assembly in
Laodicea write: "The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the
Head of God's creation, says these things: "I know your works, that you are
neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So, because you are
lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.
Because you say, 'I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of
nothing;' and don't know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind,
and naked; I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may
become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the
shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes,
that you may see. As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous
therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone
hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine
with him, and he with me. He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down
with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his
throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
assemblies."
After these things I looked and
saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet
speaking with me, was one saying, "Come up here, and I will show you the things
which must happen after this."
Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold,
there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne that looked like
a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an
emerald to look at. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. On the thrones
were twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold
on their heads. Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders.
There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven
Spirits of God. Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to
crystal. In the midst of the throne, and around the throne were four living
creatures full of eyes before and behind. The first creature was like a lion,
and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a
man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each one
of them having six wings, are full of eyes around about and within. They have no
rest day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy,
holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!"
When the living creatures give glory, honor, and
thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, the
twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him
who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying,
"Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the
honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire
they existed, and were created!"
I saw, in the
right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside,
sealed shut with seven seals. I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud
voice, "Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?" no one in heaven
above, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to
look in it. And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book,
or to look in it. One of the elders said to me, "Don't weep. Behold, the Lion
who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the
book and its seven seals." I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four
living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it
had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits
of God, sent out into all the earth. Then he came, and he took it out of the
right hand of him who sat on the throne. Now when he had taken the book, the
four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each
one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of
the saints. They sang a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the
book, And to open its seals: For you were killed,
And bought us for God with your blood, Out of every tribe, language,
people, and nation, And made them kings and priests to our God, And
they reign on earth."
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