Bible Gateway passage: Revelation 1:4-18 - English Standard Version (2024)

Greeting to the Seven Churches

⁴John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from ^(A)him ^(B)who is and ^(C)who was and who is to come, and from ^(D)the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ ^(E)the faithful witness, ^(F)the firstborn of the dead, and ^(G)the ruler of kings on earth.

To ^(H)him who loves us and ^(I)has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶and made us ^(J)a kingdom, ^(K)priests to ^(L)his God and Father, to him be ^(M)glory and ^(N)dominion forever and ever. Amen. ⁷Behold, ^(O)he is coming with the clouds, and ^(P)every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail^[a] on account of him. Even so. Amen.

^8(Q)“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, ^(R)“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Vision of the Son of Man

⁹I, John, your brother and ^(S)partner in ^(T)the tribulation and ^(U)the kingdom and ^(V)the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos ^(W)on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ^10(X)I was in the Spirit ^(Y)on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice ^(Z)like a trumpet ¹¹saying, ^(AA)“Write what you see 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.”

¹²Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw ^(AB)seven golden lampstands, ¹³and in the midst of the lampstands ^(AC)one like ^(AD)a son of man, ^(AE)clothed with a long robe and ^(AF)with a golden sash around his chest. ^14(AG)The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. ^(AH)His eyes were like a flame of fire, ^15(AI)his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and ^(AJ)his voice was like the roar of many waters. ^16(AK)In his right hand he held seven stars, ^(AL)from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and ^(AM)his face was like the sun shining ^(AN)in full strength.

^17(AO)When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But ^(AP)he laid his right hand on me, ^(AQ)saying, “Fear not, ^(AR)I am the first and the last, ¹⁸and the living one. ^(AS)I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and ^(AT)I have the keys of Death and Hades.

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