1:9 I, John, your brother and the one who shares 1 with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that 2 are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. 3 1:10 I was in the Spirit 4 on the Lord’s Day 5 when 6 I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 1:11 saying: “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches – to Ephesus, 7 Smyrna, 8 Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
1:12 I 9 turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, 10 and when I did so, 11 I saw seven golden lampstands, 1:13 and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. 12 He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet and he wore a wide golden belt 13 around his chest. 1:14 His 14 head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, 15 and his eyes were like a fiery 16 flame. 1:15 His feet were like polished bronze 17 refined 18 in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar 19 of many waters. 1:16 He held 20 seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His 21 face shone like the sun shining at full strength. 1:17 When 22 I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but 23 he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, 1:18 and the one who lives! I 24 was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades! 25 1:19 Therefore write what you saw, what is, and what will be after these things. 26 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands is this: 27 The seven stars are the angels 28 of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.