1:4 From John, 1 to the seven churches that are in the province of Asia: 2 Grace and peace to you 3 from “he who is,” 4 and who was, and who is still to come, 5 and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 1:5 and from Jesus Christ – the faithful 6 witness, 7 the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free 8 from our sins at the cost of 9 his own blood 1:6 and has appointed 10 us as a kingdom, 11 as priests 12 serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! 13 Amen.
1:7 (Look! He is returning with the clouds, 14
and every eye will see him,
even 15 those who pierced him, 16
and all the tribes 17 on the earth will mourn because 18 of him.
This will certainly come to pass! 19 Amen.) 20
1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” 21 says the Lord God – the one who is, and who was, and who is still to come – the All-Powerful! 22
1:9 I, John, your brother and the one who shares 23 with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that 24 are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. 25 1:10 I was in the Spirit 26 on the Lord’s Day 27 when 28 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, 29 Smyrna, 30 Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
1:12 I 31 turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, 32 and when I did so, 33 I saw seven golden lampstands, 1:13 and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. 34 He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet and he wore a wide golden belt 35 around his chest. 1:14 His 36 head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, 37 and his eyes were like a fiery 38 flame. 1:15 His feet were like polished bronze 39 refined 40 in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar 41 of many waters.