Revelation 1

{This book is about} things that God revealed to Jesus the Messiah. These things are just about to happen. God revealed them to Jesus so that he could tell the people who believe in him about them. Jesus shared these things by sending his angel {to show them} to {me,} John, a man who serves him faithfully.

I, John, am reporting {to you} everything that I saw concerning this message from God that Jesus the Messiah revealed to me.

How happy is the person who reads this book of prophecy {for others to hear}, and how happy are all who hear it and obey what this prophecy says, because these events will happen soon. \*

I, John, am writing this letter to you seven groups of believers in the province of Asia. May God continue to be kind to you and make you peaceful. God exists, he has always existed, and he will come {and judge everyone} in the future. May the seven spirits who are in front of the throne of God also continue to be kind to you and make you peaceful.

May Jesus the Messiah also continue to be kind to you and make you peaceful. He has reliably told us the message from God. He is the first one whom God caused to become alive again after he had died. He is the one who rules the kings of the world. Because he loves us, he shed his blood for us when he died on the cross, and as a result, God has forgiven our sins.

Jesus is the one who has caused us to become people over whose lives God rules. He has also made us priests who serve God, who is the Father of Jesus. May people glorify Jesus and acknowledge him as their ruler throughout eternity. May it be so! \*

Pay attention! Jesus is going to come back from heaven through the sky. Everyone will see him, including those who killed him by nailing him to a cross. When they see him coming, every people group in the world will grieve {in sorrow for their sins}. May it be just like that!

The Lord God says: “I am the one who began all things. I am the one who will cause all things to come to an end. I am the one who exists, who has always existed, and who will come {and judge everyone} in the future. I am the one who rules over everything and everyone.” \*

I, John, believe in Jesus as you do. Like you, I am patiently enduring the troubles that everyone experiences whose life Jesus rules. {The Roman government had put} me {in exile} on the island of Patmos because I was telling people God’s message about who Jesus is.

It was a Sunday, the day {on which believers gather to worship because God made Jesus alive again on that day}. The Holy Spirit inspired me so that I could see and hear things in a vision. I heard someone speaking behind me. His voice was as loud as the blast of a horn.

{The person speaking} said {to me}, “Write what you see on a scroll. Send what you have written to seven groups of believers. {Send it to the believers} in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” \*

{When I heard this voice,} I turned my head to see who was speaking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lamp holders.

In the midst of the lamp holders I saw someone who looked like a human being. He wore a robe that reached down to his feet. He also wore a band of golden fabric across his chest. \*

The hair on his head was gleaming like white wool or like white snow. His eyes were {bright} like a fiery flame.

His feet shone like bronze that the heat of a furnace had refined. {When he spoke,} his resonant voice was like the noise of a great river of rushing water.

{The one who looked like a human} was holding seven stars in his right hand. A sword with two sharp edges was extending from his mouth. His face shone as brightly as the sun shines during the middle of the day. \*

When I saw him, I bowed down in front of him. I was so overcome that I could not move. But he put his right hand on me and said to me, “Do not be afraid! I am the one who began all things, and I am the one who will cause all things to end.

I have been alive forever. When I came to earth, I died, but indeed I am now alive again for all eternity. I have the power to make anyone who has died become alive again. \*

Therefore, write down this vision that you are seeing of me. I will reveal the truth to you about what is happening now and about what will happen in the future. I want you to write down those things as well.

I will explain the symbolic meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lamp holders. The seven stars represent the angels of the seven groups of believers. The seven lamp holders represent the seven groups of believers. \*