Revelation
Chapter 1: 9-20
One like a Son of Man
9I, John,
your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are
ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of
Jesus. 10On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit,
and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11which
said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus,
Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
12I
turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven
golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands
was someone "like a son of man,"dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and
with a golden sash around his chest. 14His head
and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and
his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In
his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword.
His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17When I
saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed 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, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the
keys of death and Hades.
19"Write,
therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my
right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of
the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
