Revelation 1;
Revelation 2; Revelation 3; Revelation 4; Revelation 5
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1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show
his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel
to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he
saw--that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed
is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear
it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. 4 John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him
who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his
throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the
firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who
loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and
has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be
glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 7 Look, he is coming
with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and
all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be!
Amen. 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the
Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the
Almighty." 9 I, John, your brother and companion in the
suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the
island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On
the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a
trumpet, 11 which said: "Write on a scroll what you see
and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira,
Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." 12 I turned around to
see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden
lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone "like
a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a
golden sash around his chest. 14His head and hair were white like
wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His
feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of
rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and
out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun
shining in all its brilliance. 17 When I saw him, I fell at
his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do
not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living
One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys
of death and Hades.19 "Write, therefore, what you have seen,
what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of
the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden
lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and
the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These
are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks
among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your deeds, your
hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men,
that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found
them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships
for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this
against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the
height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its
place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the
practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who
overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the
paradise of God. 8 "To the angel of the church in Smyrna
write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and
came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your
poverty--yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews
and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid
of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in
prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful,
even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who
overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. 12 "To
the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has
the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live--where
Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your
faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to
death in your city--where Satan lives. 14 Nevertheless, I have
a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of
Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food
sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15 Likewise
you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent
therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with
the sword of my mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the
hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it,
known only to him who receives it. 18 "To the angel of
the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes
are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 I
know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that
you are now doing more than you did at first. 20 Nevertheless,
I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a
prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and
the eating of food sacrificed to idols.21 I have given her time to
repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will
cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with
her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I
will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who
searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your
deeds. 24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who
do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets
(I will not impose any other burden on you): 25 Only hold on
to what you have until I come. 26 To him who overcomes and
does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations-- 27 'He
will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery'
-- just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will
also give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
1 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These
are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I
know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.2 Wake
up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your
deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore,
what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake
up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to
you.4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their
clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 He
who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his
name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and
his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches. 7 "To the angel of the church in
Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds
the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can
open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an
open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you
have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make
those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are
not, but are liars--I will make them come and fall down at your feet and
acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my
command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that
is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the
earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that
no one will take your crown. 12 Him who overcomes I will make
a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on
him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem,
which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my
new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches. 14 "To the angel of the church in
Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the ruler of God's creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you
are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So,
because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of
my mouth.17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not
need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor,
blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined
in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can
cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can
see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be
earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and
knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with
him, and he with me. 21 To him who overcomes, I will give the
right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my
Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches."
1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door
standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a
trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place
after this." 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there
before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And
the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow,
resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. 4 Surrounding the
throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four
elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 From
the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before
the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. 6 Also
before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were
covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living
creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like
a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8Each of the four living
creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his
wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE Lord
GOD ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS, AND IS, AND IS TO COME." 9 Whenever
the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne
and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders
fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever
and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 11 "You
are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you
created all things, and by your will they were created and have their
being."
1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne
a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And
I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break
the seals and open the scroll?" 3 But no one in heaven or
on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I
wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or
look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not
weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He
is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." 6 Then I
saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the
throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the
earth. 7 He came and took the scroll from the right hand of
him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the
four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.
Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which
are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song:
"You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were
slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and
language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a
kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the
earth." 11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many
angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten
thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the
elders. 12 In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the
Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and
honor and glory and praise!" 13 Then I heard every
creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all
that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" 14 The
four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and
worshiped.
