Revelation 1 A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God granted him for his servants, to show them what must come to pass very soon; he disclosed it by sending it through his angel to his servant John,

Moffatt⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God granted him for his servants, to show them what must come to pass very soon; he disclosed it by sending it through his angel to his servant John, ² who now testifies to what is God's word and Jesus Christ's testimony — to what he saw. ³ Blessed is he who reads aloud, blessed they who hear the words of this prophecy and lay to heart what is written in it; for the time is near. ⁴ John to the seven churches in Asia: grace be to you and peace from HE WHO IS AND WAS AND IS COMING, and from the seven Spirits before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead, and the prince over the kings of earth; to him who loves us and has loosed us from our sins by shedding his blood — ⁶ he has made us a realm of priests for his God and Father, — to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever: Amen. ⁷ Lo, he is coming on the clouds, to be seen by every eye, even by those who impaled him, and all the tribes of earth will wail because of him: even so, Amen. ⁸ "I am the alpha and the omega," saith the Lord God, who is and was and is coming, the almighty. ⁹ I John, your brother and your companion in the distress and realm and patient endurance which Jesus brings, found myself in the island called Patmos, for adhering to God's word and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord's day I found myself rapt in the Spirit, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet calling, ¹¹ "Write your vision in a book, and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamum and Thyatira and Sardis and Philadelphia and Laodicea." ¹² So I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me; and on turning round I saw seven golden lampstands ¹³ and in the middle of the lampstands One who resembled a human being, with a long robe, and a belt of gold round his breast; ¹⁴ his head and hair were white as wool, white as snow; his eyes flashed like fire, ¹⁵ his feet glowed like burnished bronze, his voice sounded like many waves, ¹⁶ in his right hand he held seven stars, a sharp sword with a double edge issued from his mouth, and his face shone like the sun in full strength. ¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man; but he laid his hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and Last, ¹⁸ I was dead and here I am alive for evermore, holding the keys that unlock death and Hades. ¹⁹ Write down your vision of what is and what is to be hereafter. ²⁰ As for the secret symbol of the seven stars which you have seen in my right hand, and of the seven golden lamp stands — the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.