Revelation 1
1 [This book tells the message] that God revealed to Jesus Christ. God revealed it to him in order that he might reveal to his servants the [things/events] that must happen soon. Jesus communicated [this message] to [me], his servant John, by sending his angel to me.
THE Revelation of Jesus the Messiah, which God gave to him, to show to his servants the things that must shortly occur: and he signified it by sending, through his angel, to his servant John;
2 [As I write it, I], John, am truthfully reporting everything that I saw [and heard], the message from God that Jesus Christ [truthfully reported to me].
who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus the Messiah, as to all that he saw.
3 [God is] pleased with those who read [this book to the congregations], and he will be pleased with those who listen carefully to it and obey what [he has commanded in this prophetic message that I] am writing. [So read this message to the congregations, listen carefully to it, and obey it], because [these things that Jesus has revealed] will happen soon.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it; for the time is near.
4 [I], John, am [writing this] to [you believers in] the seven congregations [that are located] in Asia [province]. [I pray that God the Father, God’s Spirit, and Jesus Christ] be kind to (OR, bless) you and cause you to have [inner] peace. [God the Father is] the one who exists, who has always existed, and who will always exist. The Spirit [of God, who] is in front of God’s throne, has [all kinds of power] (OR, The Spirit of God [is symbolized] by seven spirits who are in front of God’s throne).
John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and quietude, from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
5 Jesus Christ is the one who has faithfully told [people about God]. He is the first one (whom God has raised from the dead/who became alive again after being dead), in order [to show that God will raise us who trust in Jesus]. Jesus is the one who rules the kings of the earth. He is the one who loves us. He is the one who has erased the record our sins. He did that by shedding his blood [when he died on the cross].
and from Jesus the Messiah, the Witness, the Faithful, the First-born of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth; who hath loved us, and released us from our sins by his blood;
6 He is [the one who] has caused us to become people whose lives God rules, and he has made us to be priests [who serve] God his Father. [As a result of this, we acknowledge that] Jesus Christ is eternally divine and eternally powerful. (Amen!/That is true!) (aiōn g165)
and hath made us a kingdom sacerdotal to God and his Father: to whom be glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen. (aiōn g165)
7 Listen carefully! Christ will surely come in the midst of the clouds [in order that he may judge the rebellious people of earth], and everyone [SYN] will see him [come]. Even those who [are responsible for] piercing [and killing] him [MTY] [will see him come. People from] all people-groups on earth will mourn because he [will punish them]. (Amen!/May it be so.)
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and all eyes shall see him, and also they who speared him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn on account of him. Yes: Amen.
8 The Lord God declares, “I am the one who created [everything], and I am the [one who will cause everything to] end [MET].” He is the one who exists, who has always existed, and who will always exist. He is the Almighty One.
I am Alpha, also Omega, saith the Lord God; who is, and was, and is to come, the omnipotent.
9 I, John, your fellow believer, am suffering as you [are] because of our letting Jesus rule [our lives]. We are steadfastly enduring [trials] because of our relationship with him. I was punished by being sent/exiled to Patmos island because [of my proclaiming] God’s message and telling [people about] Jesus.
I John, your brother, and partaker with you in the affliction and suffering that are in Jesus the Messiah, was in the island called Patmos, because of the word of God, and because of the testimony of Jesus the Messiah.
10 [God’s] Spirit took control of me on one of the days [that we believers met to worship] the Lord.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day; and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, which said:
11 [At that time], I heard behind me someone [speaking to me as loudly and as clearly] [SIM] as a trumpet. He was saying [to me], “Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to seven congregations. Send it to [the congregations] in Ephesus [city], in Smyrna [city], in Pergamum [city], in Thyatira [city], in Sardis [city], in Philadelphia [city], and in Laodicea [city].”
That which thou seest, write in a book, and send to the seven churches, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
12 [In this vision] I turned in order that I might see who had spoken to me [SYN]. When I turned,
And I turned myself to look at the voice that talked with me; and when I had turned, I saw seven candlesticks of gold;
13 I saw seven golden lampstands. In the midst of the lampstands there was [someone] who looked like he came from heaven. He wore a robe that reached to his feet, and he wore a gold band around his chest.
and, in the midst of the candlesticks, one like the Son of man, clothed to the feet, and girded about his paps with a girdle of gold.
14 The hair on his head was white like white wool [or] like snow. His eyes were [shining brightly] [SIM], like a flame of fire.
And his head and his hair were white, like white wool, like snow; and his eyes, like a flame of fire:
15 His feet [looked] like brass that glows [as it is being] purified {as [people] purify it} in a furnace. [When he spoke], his voice [sounded] like the sound [made by] a huge waterfall (OR, a great/wide river of rushing water).
and his feet were like fine brass, flaming in a furnace: and his voice, like the sound of many waters.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars. A sword that had two sharp edges extended from his mouth. His face [shone as bright] as the sun shines [at midday] [MTY].
And he had in his right hand seven stars; and from his mouth issued a sharp twoedged sword; and his visage was like the sun shining in its strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet [and was unable to move or speak] [SIM], as though [I were] dead. But he put his right hand on me and said to me, “Don’t be afraid! I am the one who created [all things] and the [one who will cause all things to] end.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, and said, Fear not: I am the First and the Last;
19 So write the [vision] that you are seeing. Write about the [conditions] that exist now, and the [events] that are about to happen next.
Therefore, write what thou hast seen, and the things that are; and the things that are to be hereafter:
20 The meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands [that you saw is this]: The seven stars [in my hand represent the leaders, who are like] angels, [who watch over] the seven congregations, and the [seven] lampstands [represent] the seven congregations.”
the mystery of these seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven candlesticks of gold. Those seven stars are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches.
