1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which aGod gave Him to bshow to His bond-servants, cthe things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it dby His angel to His bond-servant eJohn, 2 who testified to athe word of God and to bthe testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 aBlessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; bfor the time is near. 4 aJohn to bthe seven churches that are in cAsia: dGrace to you and peace, from eHim who is and who was and who is to come, and from fthe seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, athe faithful witness, the bfirstborn of the dead, and the cruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who dloves us and released us from our sins by His blood-- 6 and He has made us to be a akingdom, apriests to bHis God and Father--cto Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 aBEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and bevery eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will cmourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. 8 "I am athe Alpha and the Omega," says the bLord God, "cwho is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." 9 aI, John, your bbrother and cfellow partaker in the tribulation and dkingdom and eperseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos fbecause of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was ain the Spirit on bthe Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice clike the sound of a trumpet, 11 saying, "aWrite in a book what you see, and send it to the bseven churches: to cEphesus and to dSmyrna and to ePergamum and to fThyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea." 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw aseven golden lampstands; 13 and ain the middle of the lampstands I saw one blike a son of man, cclothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and dgirded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and His ahair were white like white wool, like snow; and bHis eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His afeet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His bvoice was like the sound of many waters. 16 In His right hand He held aseven stars, and out of His mouth came a bsharp two-edged sword; and His cface was like dthe sun shining in its strength. 17 When I saw Him, I afell at His feet like a dead man. And He bplaced His right hand on me, saying, "cDo not be afraid; dI am the first and the last, 18 and the aliving One; and I bwas dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have cthe keys of death and of Hades. 19 "Therefore awrite bthe things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place cafter these things. 20 "As for the amystery of the bseven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the cseven golden lampstands: the bseven stars are the angels of dthe seven churches, and the seven elampstands are the seven churches.