The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which aGod gave Him to bshow to His slaves cthe things which must soon happen; and He indicated this dby sending it through His angel to His slave 1eJohn,Gr Joannes, Heb Johanan; so in RevJohn 17:8; Rev 5:7Rev 22:6Dan 2:28f; Rev 1:19Rev 17:1; 19:9f; 21:9; 22:16Rev 1:4, 9; 22:8 2 who bore witness to athe word of God and to bthe witness of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.Rev 1:9; 6:9; 12:17; 20:41 Cor 1:6; Rev 12:17 3 aBlessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it, bfor the time is near.Luke 11:28; Rev 22:7Rom 13:11; Rev 3:11; 22:7, 10, 12
4 aJohn to bthe seven churches that are in cAsia: dGrace to you and peace, from ethe One who is and who was and who 1is to come, and from fthe seven Spirits who are before His throne,Or is comingRev 1:1, 9; 22:8Rev 1:11, 20Acts 2:9Rom 1:7Rev 1:8, 17; 4:8; 16:5Is 11:2; Rev 3:1; 4:5; 5:6; 8:2 5 and from Jesus Christ, athe faithful witness, the bfirstborn of the dead, and the cruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who dloves us and released us from our sins 1by His blood—Or inRev 3:14; 19:111 Cor 15:20; Col 1:18Rev 17:14; 19:16Rom 8:37 6 and He has made us to be a akingdom, bpriests to 1cHis God and Father—dto Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.Or God and His FatherRev 5:10; 20:6Rom 15:6Rom 11:36 7 aBEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and bEVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM, EVEN THOSE WHO PIERCED HIM; and all the tribes of the earth will cMOURN OVER HIM. Yes, amen.Dan 7:13; 1 Thess 4:17Zech 12:10-14; John 19:37Luke 23:28
8 “I am athe Alpha and the Omega,” says the 1bLord God, “cwho is and who was and who 2is to come, the Almighty.”In OT, Yahweh, cf. Is 41:4Or is comingIs 41:4; Rev 21:6; 22:13Rev 4:8; 11:17Rev 1:4
9 aI, John, your bbrother and cfellow partaker in the tribulation and dkingdom and 1eperseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos fbecause of the word of God and the witness of Jesus.Or steadfastnessRev 1:1Acts 1:15Matt 20:23; Acts 14:22; 2 Cor 1:7; Phil 4:142 Tim 2:12; Rev 1:62 Thess 3:5; Rev 3:10Rev 1:2 10 I was 1ain the Spirit on bthe Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice clike a trumpet,Or in spiritMatt 22:43; Rev 4:2; 17:3; 21:10Acts 20:7Rev 4:1 11 saying, “aWrite in a scroll what you see, and send it to the bseven churches: to cEphesus and to dSmyrna and to ePergamum and to fThyatira and to gSardis and to hPhiladelphia and to iLaodicea.”Rev 1:2, 19Rev 1:4, 20Rev 2:1Rev 2:8Rev 2:12Acts 16:14; Rev 2:18, 24Rev 3:1, 4Rev 3:7Col 2:1; Rev 3:14
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw aseven golden lampstands;Ex 25:37; 37:23; Zech 4:2; Rev 1:20; 2:1 13 and ain the middle of the lampstands I saw one blike 1a son of man, cclothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and dgirded across His chest with a golden sash.Or the Son of ManRev 2:1Ezek 1:26; Dan 7:13; 10:16; Rev 14:14Dan 10:5Rev 15:6 14 And His head and His ahair were white like white wool, like snow; and bHis eyes were like a flame of fire.Dan 7:9Dan 7:9; 10:6; Rev 2:18; 19:12 15 His afeet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His bvoice was like the sound of many waters,Ezek 1:7; Dan 10:6; Rev 2:18Ezek 1:24; 43:2; Rev 14:2; 19:6 16 and having in His right hand aseven stars, and a bsharp two-edged sword which comes out of His mouth, and His cface was like dthe sun 1shining in its power.Lit shinesRev 1:20; 2:1; 3:1Is 49:2; Heb 4:12; Rev 2:12, 16; 19:15Matt 17:2; Rev 10:1Judg 5:31
17 And when I saw Him, I afell at His feet like a dead man. And He bplaced His right hand on me, saying, “cDo not fear; dI am THE FIRST AND THE LAST,Dan 8:17; 10:9, 10, 15Dan 8:18; 10:10, 12Matt 14:27; 17:7Is 41:4; 44:6; 48:12; Rev 2:8; 22:13 18 and the aliving One; and I 1bwas dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I have cthe keys of death and of Hades.Lit becameLuke 24:5; Rev 4:9fRom 6:9; Rev 2:8; 10:6; 15:7Job 38:17; Matt 11:23; 16:19; Rev 9:1; 20:1 19 Therefore awrite bthe things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place cafter these things.Rev 1:11Rev 1:12-16Rev 4:1 20 As for the amystery of the bseven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the cseven golden lampstands: the dseven stars are the angels of ethe seven churches, and the seven flampstands are the seven churches.Rom 11:25Rev 1:16; 2:1; 3:1Ex 25:37; 37:23; Zech 4:2; Rev 1:12; 2:1Rev 1:4, 11Matt 5:14f