1The Revelation of Jesus Christ , which God gave him to show unto his servants , even the things which must shortly come to pass : and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John ; 2who bare witness of the word of God , and of the testimony of Jesus Christ , even of all things that he saw . 3Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy , and keep the things that are written therein : for the time is at hand .
The Vision of Christ
4John to the seven churches that are in Asia : Grace to you and peace , from him who is and who was and who is to come ; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne ; 5and from Jesus Christ , who is the faithful witness , the firstborn of the dead , and the ruler of the kings of the earth . Unto him that loveth us , and loosed us from our sins by his blood; 6and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father ; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever . Amen. 7Behold , he cometh with the clouds ; and every eye shall see him , and they that pierced him ; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him . Even so , Amen. 8I am the Alpha and the Omega , saith the Lord God , who is and who was and who is to come , the Almighty .
The Seven Churches
9I John , your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus , was in the isle that is called Patmos , for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus . 10I was in the Spirit on the Lord ’s day , and I heard behind me a great voice , as of a trumpet 11saying , What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches : unto Ephesus , and unto Smyrna , and unto Pergamum , and unto Thyatira , and unto Sardis , and unto Philadelphia , and unto Laodicea .
The Call to Write
12And I turned to see the voice that spake with me . And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks ; 13and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man , clothed with a garment down to the foot , and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle . 14And his head and his hair were white as white wool , white as snow ; and his eyes were as a flame of fire ; 15and his feet like unto burnished brass , as if it had been refined in a furnace ; and his voice as the voice of many waters . 16And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword : and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength . 17And when I saw him , I fell at his feet as one dead . And he laid his right hand upon me , saying , Fear not ; I am the first and the last , 18and the Living one ; and I was dead , and behold , I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are , and the things which shall come to pass hereafter ; 20the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand , and the seven golden candlesticks . The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches : and the seven candlesticks are seven churches .