\v 1 This is the revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.
\v 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud this prophecy, and those who listen to the words of this prophecy and who obey what is written in it, because the time is near.
\v 4 John, to the seven churches in Asia: May grace be to you and peace from the one who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
\v 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead ones, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has released us from our sins by his blood—
\v 9 I, John—your brother and the one who shares with you in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are in Jesus—was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus.
\v 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.
\v 11 It said, "Write what you see in a book, and send it to the seven churches—to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."
\v 13 In the middle of the lampstands there was one like a son of man, wearing a long robe that reached down to his feet and a golden sash around his chest.
\v 16 He had seven stars in his right hand, and a sword with two sharp edges was coming out of his mouth. His face was shining like the sun at its strongest.
\v 20 As for the hidden meaning about the seven stars 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."