Revelation 1

Listen to Revelation 1

Prologue

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God 1gave him 2to show to his servants[a] the things that must soon take place. 3He made it known by sending his angel to his servant[b] John,
2 4who bore witness to the word of God and to 5the testimony of Jesus Christ, even 6to all that he saw.
3 7Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, 8for the time is near.

Greeting to the Seven Churches

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from 9him 10who is and 11who was and who is to come, and from 12the seven spirits who are before his throne,
5 and from Jesus Christ 13the faithful witness, 14the firstborn of the dead, and 15the ruler of kings on earth. To 16him who loves us and 17has freed us from our sins by his blood
6 and made us 18a kingdom, 19priests to 20his God and Father, to him be 21glory and 22dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold, 23he is coming with the clouds, and 24every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail[c] on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 25"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, 26"who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Vision of the Son of Man

9 I, John, your brother and 27partner in 28the tribulation and 29the kingdom and 30the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos 31on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
10 32I was in the Spirit 33on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice 34like a trumpet
11 saying, 35"Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, 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 the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw 36seven golden lampstands,
13 and in the midst of the lampstands 37one like 38a son of man, 39clothed with a long robe and 40with a golden sash around his chest.
14 41The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. 42His eyes were like a flame of fire,
15 43his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and 44his voice was like the roar of many waters.
16 45In his right hand he held seven stars, 46from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and 47his face was like the sun shining 48in full strength.
17 49When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But 50he laid his right hand on me, 51saying, "Fear not, 52I am the first and the last,
18 and the living one. 53I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and 54I have the keys of Death and Hades.
19 55Write therefore 56the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.
20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and 57the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and 58the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Images for Revelation 1

Cross References 58

  • 1. John 17:7, 8; [John 8:26; John 14:10]
  • 2. Revelation 22:6
  • 3. Revelation 22:16
  • 4. John 19:35
  • 5. Revelation 6:9; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 19:10; See 1 Corinthians 1:6
  • 6. ver. 11, 19
  • 7. Revelation 22:7; [Luke 11:28; John 8:51; 1 John 2:3]
  • 8. Revelation 22:10; [1 John 2:18]; See Romans 13:11
  • 9. ver. 8; Revelation 4:8; Hebrews 13:8
  • 10. Exodus 3:14(Gk.)
  • 11. John 1:1
  • 12. Revelation 3:1; Revelation 4:5; Revelation 5:6
  • 13. Revelation 3:14; John 18:37; 1 Timothy 6:13; [Revelation 2:13; Psalms 89:37; Isaiah 55:4]
  • 14. Colossians 1:18; [Psalms 89:27; Acts 26:23; 1 Corinthians 15:20]
  • 15. Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16; [Psalms 89:27]
  • 16. John 13:34; John 15:9
  • 17. 1 Peter 1:18, 19
  • 18. Revelation 5:10; Revelation 20:6; 1 Peter 2:9
  • 19. Revelation 5:10; Revelation 20:6; 1 Peter 2:9
  • 20. See Romans 15:6
  • 21. See Romans 11:36
  • 22. 1 Peter 4:11
  • 23. Daniel 7:13; See Matthew 16:27
  • 24. Zechariah 12:10; John 19:37
  • 25. Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:13; [Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 44:6]
  • 26. ver. 4
  • 27. [Philippians 4:14]
  • 28. John 16:33
  • 29. 2 Timothy 2:12
  • 30. Revelation 3:10
  • 31. See ver. 2
  • 32. Revelation 4:2; [Revelation 17:3; Revelation 21:10; 1 Kings 18:12; Ezekiel 3:12; Matthew 22:43; 2 Corinthians 12:2]
  • 33. Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2
  • 34. Revelation 4:1
  • 35. ver. 2, 19
  • 36. ver. 20; Revelation 2:1; Exodus 25:37; 2 Chronicles 4:20; Zechariah 4:2; [Revelation 11:4]
  • 37. Daniel 7:13
  • 38. Revelation 14:14; Daniel 10:16
  • 39. Daniel 10:5
  • 40. Revelation 15:6
  • 41. Daniel 7:9
  • 42. Revelation 2:18; Revelation 19:12; [Daniel 10:6]
  • 43. Ezekiel 1:7; Daniel 10:6
  • 44. Revelation 14:2; Revelation 19:6; Ezekiel 43:2
  • 45. ver. 20; Revelation 2:1; Revelation 3:1
  • 46. Revelation 19:15; [Revelation 2:12, 16; Isaiah 49:2; Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12]
  • 47. Matthew 17:2
  • 48. Judges 5:31
  • 49. Daniel 8:17, 18; Daniel 10:9, 10, 15; [Luke 24:37; John 21:12]
  • 50. Daniel 8:17, 18; Daniel 10:9, 10, 15; [Luke 24:37; John 21:12]
  • 51. Matthew 17:7
  • 52. Revelation 2:8; Revelation 22:13; Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 48:12
  • 53. Romans 6:9; Romans 14:9
  • 54. [Revelation 9:1; Revelation 20:1]
  • 55. ver. 2, 11
  • 56. ver. 12-16
  • 57. See ver. 12
  • 58. [Matthew 5:14, 15]

Footnotes 3

Revelation 1 Commentaries

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.