Revelation 1

Prologue

1 The revelation from 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 aloud 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.

Greetings and Doxology

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[a] before his throne,
5 and 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,”[b]and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”[c]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.”

John’s Vision of Christ

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,[d] dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
14 The hair on his head was 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 coming out of his mouth was 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 now look, 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[e] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Images for Revelation 1

Cross References 67

  • 1. John 12:49; John 17:8
  • 2. ver 19; Daniel 2:28,29; Revelation 22:6
  • 3. Revelation 22:16
  • 4. ver 4,9; Revelation 22:8
  • 5. ver 9; S Hebrews 4:12
  • 6. ver 9; 1 Corinthians 1:6; Revelation 6:9; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 19:10
  • 7. Luke 11:28; Revelation 22:7
  • 8. S Romans 13:11
  • 9. ver 11,20
  • 10. S Romans 1:7
  • 11. ver 8; Revelation 4:8; Revelation 11:17; Revelation 16:5
  • 12. Isaiah 11:2; Revelation 3:1; Revelation 4:5; Revelation 5:6
  • 13. Isaiah 55:4; John 18:37; Revelation 3:14
  • 14. Psalms 89:27; Colossians 1:18
  • 15. S 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14
  • 16. S Romans 8:37
  • 17. S Romans 3:25
  • 18. S 1 Peter 2:5; Revelation 5:10; Revelation 20:6
  • 19. Romans 15:6
  • 20. S Romans 11:36
  • 21. Daniel 7:13; S Matthew 16:27; Matthew 24:30; Matthew 26:64; S Luke 17:30; S 1 Corinthians 1:7; S 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17
  • 22. John 19:34,37
  • 23. Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 24:30
  • 24. S ver 17; Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:13
  • 25. S ver 4
  • 26. Revelation 4:8; Revelation 15:3; Revelation 19:6
  • 27. ver 1
  • 28. S Acts 14:22; 2 Corinthians 1:7; Philippians 4:14
  • 29. ver 6
  • 30. 2 Timothy 2:12
  • 31. ver 2; S Hebrews 4:12
  • 32. S ver 2
  • 33. Acts 20:7
  • 34. Revelation 4:2; Revelation 17:3; Revelation 21:10
  • 35. Exodus 20:18; Revelation 4:1
  • 36. ver 19
  • 37. ver 4,20
  • 38. S Acts 18:19
  • 39. Revelation 2:8
  • 40. Revelation 2:12
  • 41. Acts 16:14; Revelation 2:18,24
  • 42. Revelation 3:1
  • 43. Revelation 3:7
  • 44. S Colossians 2:1; Revelation 3:14
  • 45. ver 20; Exodus 25:31-40; Zechariah 4:2; Revelation 2:1
  • 46. Revelation 2:1
  • 47. Ezekiel 1:26; Daniel 7:13; Daniel 10:16; Revelation 14:14
  • 48. Isaiah 6:1
  • 49. Daniel 10:5; Revelation 15:6
  • 50. Daniel 7:9; Daniel 10:6; Revelation 2:18; Revelation 19:12
  • 51. Ezekiel 1:7; Daniel 10:6; Revelation 2:18
  • 52. Ezekiel 43:2; Revelation 14:2; Revelation 19:6
  • 53. ver 20; Revelation 2:1; Revelation 3:1
  • 54. Isaiah 1:20; Isaiah 49:2; Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 2:12,16; Revelation 19:15,21
  • 55. Judges 5:31; Matthew 17:2
  • 56. Ezekiel 1:28; Daniel 8:17,18
  • 57. Daniel 8:18
  • 58. S Matthew 14:27
  • 59. Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 48:12; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 22:13
  • 60. Romans 6:9; Revelation 2:8
  • 61. Deuteronomy 32:40; Daniel 4:34; Daniel 12:7; Revelation 4:9,10; Revelation 10:6; Revelation 15:7
  • 62. Revelation 9:1; Revelation 20:1
  • 63. ver 11; Habakkuk 2:2
  • 64. S ver 16
  • 65. S ver 12; Zechariah 4:2
  • 66. ver 4,11
  • 67. Matthew 5:14,15

Footnotes 5

Revelation 1 Commentaries

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