Khải Huyền 1

The revelation of Jesus Christ

¹This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. God gave it to him so that he would show his servants the things that must happen soon. He sent his angel to his servant John and through the angel made these things known. ²John has borne witness to all he saw, to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.^{a 3}How blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy aloud, and those who hear them and keep what is written here! The time is near. ⁴From John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace to you and peace from the one who is, who was, and who is coming; from the seven spirits that are before his throne; ⁵and from Jesus Christ, the witness who is faithful, the firstborn from among the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.^b

To him who loves us and by his blood released us from our sins, ⁶and who made us a kingdom, priests in the service of his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.^c

⁷Look! He is coming with the clouds. Every eye will see him, those who pierced him among them, and all the tribes of the earth will beat their breasts in grief over him.^d Yes! Amen.

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God—the one who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.

One like a son of man among the lampstands

⁹I, John, am your brother, and in Jesus I share with you the affliction, the kingdom, and the endurance. It was because of God’s word and the testimony of Jesus that I came to be on the island called Patmos.^{e 10}On the Lord’s day I came to be in the Spirit, and from behind me I heard a loud voice that sounded like a trumpet. ¹¹It said, “Write in a scroll what you are seeing, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”^f

¹²I turned around to see whose voice it was that spoke with me, and as I turned I saw seven lampstands made of gold. ¹³In the middle of the lampstands was one like a son of man. A long robe came down to his feet, and a gold sash was tied around his chest. ¹⁴His head and hair were white as wool is white, white as snow, and his eyes were like flaming fire. ¹⁵His feet were like fine bronze, fired as in a furnace, and his voice sounded like many waters. ¹⁶Seven stars were in his right hand, a sharp sword with two edges came out of his mouth, and his face was as bright as the sun when it shines with all its strength.

¹⁷At the sight of him I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last ¹⁸and the one who lives. I was dead, and see, I am alive for all the ages to come, and the keys of death and Hades are mine. ¹⁹So put in writing what you saw, what is, and what will come about after this.^{g 20}As for the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”^h