01:01 .. the Revelation of Jesus Christ .. which God gave him to show to his bond-servants .. the things which must shortly take place .. .......... and he sent and communicated it by his angel to his bond-servant John 01:02 .. who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ .. even to all that he saw 01:03 .. blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy .. and heed the things which are written in it .. for the time is near
..................Message to the Seven Churches
01:04 .. John to the seven churches that are in Asia .. grace to you and peace .. from him who is and who was and who is to come .. .......... and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne 01:05 .. and from Jesus Christ .. the faithful witness .. the firstborn of the dead .. and the ruler of the kings of the earth .. .......... to him who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood 01:06 .. and he has made us to be a kingdom .. priests to his God and father .. to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever . . . amen
01:07 .. behold .. he is coming with the clouds .. and every eye will see him .. even those who pierced him .. .......... and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him .. so it is to be . . . amen 01:08 .. I am the Alpha and the Omega .. says the Lord God .. who is and who was and who is to come . . . the almighty
..................The Patmos Vision
01:09 .. I .. John .. your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus .. .......... was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus 01:10 .. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day .. and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet 01:11 .. saying . . . write in a book what you see .. 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 01:12 .. then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me .. and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands 01:13 .. and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man .. clothed in a robe reaching to the feet .. .......... and girded across his chest with a golden sash 01:14 .. his head and his hair were white like white wool .. like snow .. and his eyes were like a flame of fire 01:15 .. his feet were like burnished bronze .. when it has been made to glow in a furnace .. and his voice was like the sound of many waters 01:16 .. In his right hand he held seven stars .. and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword .. and his face was like the sun shining in its strength 01:17 .. when I saw him .. I fell at his feet like a dead man .. and he placed his right hand on me .. saying . . . do not be afraid .. I am the first and the last
01:18 .. and the living one .. and I was dead .. and behold .. I am live forevermore .. and I have the keys of death and of hades 01:19 .. therefore write the things which you have seen .. and the things which are .. and the things which will take place after these things 01:20 .. as for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand .. and the seven golden lampstands .. .......... the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches .. and the seven lampstands are the seven churches
Jesus Christ .. the Alpha and the Omega .. speaks to believers through the Apostle John concerning things past .. the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter .. blessed are they who make this book their meditation and regard those things which are written therein .. for they shall shortly come to pass . . . . this book is the only book having the Lord Jesus himself as Author v 1 .. It is a “revelation” .. which means “an unveiling” or “disclosure” not a mystery .. and the Lord Jesus has attached his benediction to it to encourage us to read .. hear and keep v 3 .. notice in v 5 that he who speaks from heaven is he who “washed us from our sins in his own blood” .. Heaven’s anthem magnifies the blood of Christ above everything else