Revelation 1:9-20

⁹I, John, am a believer like you. I am a friend who suffers like you. As members of Jesus’ royal family, we can put up with anything that happens to us. I was on the island of Patmos because I taught God’s word and what Jesus said. ¹⁰The Holy Spirit gave me a vision on the Lord’s Day. I heard a loud voice behind me that sounded like a trumpet. ¹¹The voice said, “Write on a scroll what you see. Send it to the seven churches in Asia Minor. They are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” ¹²I turned around to see who was speaking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. ¹³In the middle of them was someone who looked “like a son of man.” (Daniel 7:13) He was dressed in a long robe with a gold strip of cloth around his chest. ¹⁴The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a blazing fire. ¹⁵His feet were like bronze metal glowing in a furnace. His voice sounded like rushing waters. ¹⁶He held seven stars in his right hand. Coming out of his mouth was a sharp sword with two edges. His face was like the sun shining in all its brightness. ¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. Then he put his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸I am the Living One. I was dead. But now look! I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys to Death and Hell. ¹⁹“So write down what you have seen. Write about what is happening now and what will happen later. ²⁰Here is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand. They are the angels of the seven churches. And the seven golden lampstands you saw stand for the seven churches.