Revelation 1
1
John Tells About This Book
1This is the revelation# A making known of truth that has been hidden. of Jesus Christ. God gave this revelation to Jesus, to show his servants what must soon happen. And Jesus sent his angel to show it to his servant John. 2John has told everything that he has seen. It is the truth that Jesus Christ told him; it is the message from God. 3The one who reads the words of God’s message is happy. And the people who hear this message and do what is written in it are happy. The time is near when all of this will happen.
Jesus’ Message to the Churches
4From John,
To the seven churches in Asia:
Grace and peace to you from the One who is and was and is coming, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ. Jesus is the faithful witness. He is first among those raised from death. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth.
He is the One who loves us. And he is the One who made us free from our sins with the blood of his death. 6He made us to be a kingdom of priests who serve God his Father. To Jesus Christ be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
7Look, Jesus is coming with the clouds! Everyone will see him, even those who stabbed him. And all peoples of the earth will cry loudly because of him. Yes, this will happen! Amen.
8The Lord God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.# The first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. This means “the beginning and the end.” I am the One who is and was and is coming. I am the All-Powerful.”
9I am John, and I am your brother in Christ. We are together in Jesus, and we share in these things: in suffering, in the kingdom, and in patience. I was on the island of Patmos# A small island in the Aegean Sea, near the coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). because I had preached God’s message and the truth about Jesus. 10On the Lord’s day the Spirit took control of me. I heard a loud voice behind me that sounded like a trumpet. 11The voice said, “Write what you see and send that book to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12I turned to see who was talking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. 13I saw someone among the lampstands who was “like a Son of Man.”# “Son of Man” is a name Jesus called himself. It showed he was God’s Son, but he was also a man. See dictionary. He was dressed in a long robe. He had a gold band around his chest. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like flames of fire. 15His feet were like bronze that glows hot in a furnace. His voice was like the noise of flooding water. 16He held seven stars in his right hand. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth. He looked like the sun shining at its brightest time.
17When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He put his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18I am the One who lives. I was dead, but look: I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and where the dead are. 19So write the things you see, what is now and what will happen later. 20Here is the hidden meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands that you saw: The seven lampstands are the seven churches. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.
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Revelation 1: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Revelation 1
1
Prologue
1This is a revelation from#1:1a Or of. Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon#1:1b Or suddenly, or quickly. take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, 2who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.
John’s Greeting to the Seven Churches
4This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia.#1:4a Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey.
Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit#1:4b Greek the seven spirits. before his throne; 5and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world.
All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. 6He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
7Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven.
And everyone will see him—
even those who pierced him.
And all the nations of the world
will mourn for him.
Yes! Amen!
8“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,”#1:8 Greek I am the Alpha and the Omega, referring to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”
Vision of the Son of Man
9I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus. 10It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit.#1:10 Or in spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. 11It said, “Write in a book#1:11 Or on a scroll. everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man.#1:13 Or like a son of man. See Dan 7:13. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.#1:18 Greek and Hades.
19 “Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen. # 1:19 Or what you have seen and what they mean—the things that have already begun to happen. 20This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels#1:20 Or the messengers. of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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