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 Christ, which God gave to him to make known to his servants, concerning what must shortly take place, and which he sent and revealed by 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 testified to the Message of God and to the testimony to Jesus Christ, omitting nothing of what he had seen.
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 who reads, and blessed are they who listen to, the words of this prophecy, and lay to heart what is here written; 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).
From John, to the seven Churches which are in Roman Asia. Blessing and peace be yours from him who is, and who was, and who shall be, and from the seven Spirits that 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 Christ, ‘the faithful Witness, the First-born from the dead, and the Ruler of all the Kings of the earth.’ To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his own 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 he made us ‘a Kingdom of Priests in the service of God,’ his Father! — to Him be ascribed glory and dominion for 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.)
‘He is coming among the clouds!’ Every eye shall see him, even those who pierced him; ‘and all the nations of the earth shall wail for fear of him.’ So shall it be. 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 the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord, the God who is, and who was, and who shall be, the Almighty.
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, who am your Brother, and who share with you in the suffering and kingship and endurance of Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos, for the sake of the Message of God and the testimony to Jesus.
10 [God’s] Spirit took control of me on one of the days [that we believers met to worship] the Lord.
I fell into a trance on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like the blast of a trumpet.
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].”
It said — ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven Churches, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicaea.’
12 [In this vision] I turned in order that I might see who had spoken to me [SYN]. When I turned,
I turned to see what voice it was that spoke to me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lamps,
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 lamps one ‘like a man, in a robe reaching to his feet,’ and with a golden girdle across his breast.
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.
‘The hair of his head was as white as wool, as white as snow; his eyes were like flaming 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 brass’ as when molten in a furnace; ‘his voice was like the sound of many streams,’
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].
in his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like ‘the sun in the fulness of its power.’
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. He laid his hand on me and said — ‘Do not be afraid. 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 of what you have seen and of what is happening now and of what is about to take place —
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 mystic meaning of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamps. The seven stars are the Angels of the seven Churches, and the seven lamps are the seven Churches.
