6and has made us a kingdom, priests for God his Father. Amen.
7Look! He is coming in the clouds. Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. Every tribe on earth will mourn because of him. This is true. Amen.
8"I am the A and the Z," says the Lord God, the one who is, the one who was, and the one who is coming, the Almighty.
9I am John, your brother. I share your suffering, ruling, and endurance because of Jesus. I was [exiled] on the island of Patmos because of God's word and the testimony about Jesus. 10I came under the Spirit's power on the Lord's day. I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet, 11saying, "Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."
12I turned toward the voice which was talking to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lamp stands. 13There was someone like the Son of Man among the lamp stands. He was wearing a robe that reached his feet. He wore a gold belt around his waist. 14His head and his hair were white like wool-like snow. His eyes were like flames of fire. 15His feet were like glowing bronze refined in a furnace. His voice was like the sound of raging waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His face was like the sun when it shines in all its brightness.
17When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. Then he laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the first and the last, 18the living one. I was dead, but now I am alive forever. I have the keys of death and hell. 19Therefore, write down what you have seen, what is, and what is going to happen after these things. 20The hidden meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lamp stands is this: The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches.
