Revelation 1

1 ¹ The revelation of Jesus Christ, which our Father 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 testified to the word of our Father and to the testimony of Jesus Christ — everything he saw.

³ Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Grace to the Seven Churches

⁴ John, 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 who are before his throne, ^a a v4 The "seven spirits" before the throne are not seven beings but the one Holy Spirit in his sevenfold fullness, completing the greeting from our Father, the Spirit, and Jesus. ⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of 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 made us a kingdom, priests to his Father — to him be glory and dominion forever 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 tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. So it is to be. Amen.

⁸ "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Father, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." ^b b v8 Here our Father speaks — not Jesus. The titles "who is and who was and who is to come" and "the Almighty" identify the One on the throne from verse 4. In Revelation 22:13 the same "Alpha and Omega" title is on Jesus's own lips — Father and Son share the title because they share the divine name.

John on Patmos

⁹ I, John, your brother and partner in the suffering and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of our Father and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, "Write in a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."

¹² Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands one like a son of man — Jesus — clothed with a robe reaching to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ^c c v13 John sees Jesus carrying both Daniel 7 figures at once — the "one like a son of man" (Daniel 7:13) and the appearance of the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9, described in the next verse). The white hair, the throne setting, the authority over the nations — what Daniel saw belonging to two figures, John sees united in Jesus. ¹⁴ The hair of his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. ¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, ^d d v17 "The first and the last" is the title our Father claims through Isaiah (Isaiah 44:6); Jesus claims it of himself here — the Son shares the Father's eternal identity. ¹⁸ the living one. I was dead, and look — I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of Death and the grave. ¹⁹ Write therefore what you have seen, what is now, and what will take place after this. ²⁰ As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.