Revelation
Chapter 1
Overview
Revelation opens as a message from Jesus to seven communities of his followers in Asia, a Roman province in what is now western Turkey. John is on the island of Patmos, sharing the hardship faced by his readers. “Revelation” means an unveiling: the visible world is not the whole story. The chapter moves from a greeting and a promise of hope into John’s overwhelming vision of the risen Jesus. Its strange images are meant to reveal authority, judgment, and life—not merely to decorate the page. John is then told to write what he sees and send it to the seven communities.
1This is the revelation from Jesus Christ. God gave it to him so that he could show his servants what must happen soon. Jesus made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.
2John reported everything he saw: God’s message and the testimony given by Jesus Christ.
3How fortunate is the person who reads the words of this prophecy aloud, and how fortunate are those who hear them and obey what is written here, because the appointed time is near.
4From John, to the seven communities of Jesus’ followers in the Roman province of Asia: May you receive grace and peace from the one who is, who was, and who is coming; from the seven spirits before his throne;
5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness whose testimony is true, the first to rise from the dead into new life, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us and freed us from our sins through his blood—his death—
6and he formed us into a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father. May honor and ruling power belong to Jesus forever and ever. So be it.
7Look! He is coming with the clouds. Everyone will see him, including those who pierced him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. Yes, so be it.
8“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.”
9I, John, am your brother. United with Jesus, I share with you the suffering, the kingdom, and the patient endurance. I was on the island called Patmos because of God’s message and my testimony about Jesus.
10On the day set apart for the Lord, I came under the Spirit’s power. I heard a loud voice behind me, sounding like a trumpet.
11The voice said, “Write what you see on a scroll and send it to the seven communities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12I turned to see who was speaking to me. When I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands.
13Among the lampstands was someone like a son of man—a human figure. He wore a robe reaching down to his feet and a gold sash around his chest.
14His head and hair were white like white wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like blazing fire.
15His feet looked like polished bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice sounded like the roar of many rushing waters.
16He held seven stars in his right hand. A sharp, double-edged sword came from his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at full strength.
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
18the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys, the authority over death and the realm of the dead.
19So write what you have seen, what is happening now, and what will happen after this.
20Here is the hidden meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven communities, and the seven lampstands are the seven communities.”