1 [This is] the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries]. God gave it to Him to disclose and make known to His bond servants certain things which must shortly and speedily come to pass [a]in their entirety. And He sent and communicated it through His angel (messenger) to His bond servant John,
2 Who has testified to and vouched for all that he saw [[b]in his visions], the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed (happy, [c]to be envied) is the man who reads aloud [in the assemblies] the word of this prophecy; and blessed (happy, [d]to be envied) are those who hear [it read] and who keep themselves true to the things which are written in it [heeding them and laying them to heart], for the time [for them to be fulfilled] is near.
4 John to the seven assemblies (churches) that are in Asia: May grace (God’s unmerited favor) be granted to you and spiritual peace ([e]the peace of Christ’s kingdom) from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come, and from the seven Spirits [[f]the sevenfold Holy Spirit] before His throne,(A)
5 And from Jesus Christ the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead [first to be brought back to life] and the Prince (Ruler) of the kings of the earth. To Him Who [g]ever loves us and has [h]once [for all] loosed and freed us from our sins by His own blood,(B)
6 And formed us into a kingdom (a royal race), priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion throughout the ages and forever and ever. Amen (so be it).(C)
7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall gaze upon Him and beat their breasts and mourn and lament over Him. Even so [must it be]. Amen (so be it).(D)
8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord God, He Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty (the Ruler of all).(E)
9 I, John, your brother and companion (sharer and participator) with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance [which are] in Jesus Christ, was on the isle called Patmos, [banished] on account of [my witnessing to] the Word of God and the testimony (the proof, the evidence) for Jesus Christ.
10 I was in the Spirit [rapt in His power] on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a great voice like the calling of a [i]war trumpet,
11 Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. Write promptly what you see (your vision) in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia—to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.
12 Then I turned to see [whose was] the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 And in the midst of the lampstands [One] like a Son of Man, clothed with a robe which reached to His feet and with a girdle of gold about His breast.(F)
14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, [as white] as snow, and His eyes [flashed] like a flame of fire.(G)
15 His feet glowed like burnished (bright) bronze as it is refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.(H)
16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth there came forth a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full power at midday.(I)
17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead. But He laid His right hand on me and said, Do not be afraid! I am the First and the Last,(J)
18 And the Ever-living One [I am living in the eternity of the eternities]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore; and I possess the keys of death and Hades (the realm of the dead).
19 Write therefore the things you see, what they are [and signify] and what is to take place hereafter.
20 As to the hidden meaning (the mystery) of the seven stars which you saw on My right hand and the seven lampstands of gold: the seven stars are the seven angels (messengers) of the seven assemblies (churches) and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Footnotes
- Revelation 1:1 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament.
- Revelation 1:2 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament.
- Revelation 1:3 Alexander Souter, Pocket Lexicon of the Greek New Testament.
- Revelation 1:3 Alexander Souter, Pocket Lexicon of the Greek New Testament.
- Revelation 1:4 G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament.
- Revelation 1:4 Richard of St. Victor, cited by Richard Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament.
- Revelation 1:5 Charles B. Williams, The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People: “ever” and “once” captures the idea of ongoing and completed action contained within the Greek present and aorist (past) verb tenses used here.
- Revelation 1:5 Charles B. Williams, The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People: “ever” and “once” captures the idea of ongoing and completed action contained within the Greek present and aorist (past) verb tenses used here.
- Revelation 1:10 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
Cross references
- Revelation 1:4 : Isa. 11:2.
- Revelation 1:5 : Ps. 89:27.
- Revelation 1:6 : Exod. 19:6; Isa. 61:6.
- Revelation 1:7 : Dan. 7:13; Zech. 12:10.
- Revelation 1:8 : Isa. 9:6.
- Revelation 1:13 : Dan. 7:13; 10:5.
- Revelation 1:14 : Dan. 7:9.
- Revelation 1:15 : Dan. 10:6.
- Revelation 1:16 : Exod. 34:29.
- Revelation 1:17 : Isa. 44:6.