As for the secret symbol of the seven stars which you have seen in my right hand, and of the seven golden lamp stands ??the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

I know your doings, your hard work and your patient endurance; I know that you cannot bear wicked men, and that you have tested those who style themselves apostles (no apostles they!) and detected them to be liars;

I know that you are enduring patiently and have borne up for my sake and have not wearied.

But I have this against you: you have given up loving one another as you did at first.

Now, remember the height from which you have fallen; repent and act as you did at first. If not, I will come to you [very soon] and remove your lamp stand, unless you repent.

Still, you have this in your favour: you hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, and I hate them too.

Have no fear of what you are to suffer. The devil indeed is going to put some of you in prison, that you may be tested; you will have a distressful ten days. Be faithful, though you have to die for it, and I will give you the crown of Life.

I know where you dwell, where Satan sits enthroned, and yet you adhere to my Name, you have not renounced your faith in me even during the days when my witness, my faithful Antipas, was martyred in your midst ??where Satan dwells.

But I have one or two things against you: you have some adherents there of the tenets of Balaam, who taught Balak how to set a pitfall before the sons of Israel by making them eat food which had been sacrificed to idols and give way to sexual vice.

So even with you; you likewise have some adherents of the tenets of the Nicolaitans.

Still I have this against you: you are tolerating that Jezebel of a woman who styles herself a prophetess and seduces my servants by teaching them to give way to sexual vice and to eat food which has been sacrificed to idols.

I have given her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual vice.

and her children I will exterminate. So shall all the churches know that I am the searcher of the inmost heart; I will requite each of you according to what you have done.

But for the rest of you at Thyatira, for all who do not hold these tenets, for those who have not (in their phrase) 'fathomed the deep mysteries of Satan' ??for you this is my word: I impose no fresh burden on you;

only hold to what you have, till such time as I come.

'And the conqueror, he who till the end lays to heart what I enjoin, I will give him authority over the nations ??27 aye, he will shepherd them with an iron flail, shattering them like a potter's jars ??as I myself have received authority from my Father;

Then to the angel of the church at Sardis write thus: ??These are the words of him who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your doings, you have the name of being alive, but you are dead.

Wake up, rally what is still left to you, though it is on the very point of death; for I find nothing you have done is complete in the eyes of my God.

Still, you have a few souls at Sardis who have not soiled their raiment; they shall walk beside me in white, for they deserve to.

Lo, I have set a door open before you which no one is able to shut; for though your strength is small, you have kept my word, you have not renounced my Name.

Lo, I will make those who belong to that synagogue of Satan, who style themselves Jews (no Jews are they, but liars!) ??lo, I will have them come and do homage before your feet and learn that I did love you.

Because you have kept the word of my patient endurance, I will keep you safe through the hour of trial which is coming upon the whole world to test the dwellers on earth.

I am coming very soon: hold to what you have, in case your crown is taken from you.

'The conqueror I will allow to sit beside me on my throne, as I myself have conquered and sat down beside my Father on his throne.'

Then I noticed a Lamb standing in the midst of the throne and the four living Creatures and the Presbyters; it seemed to have been slain, but it had seven horns and seven eyes (they are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth),

Then one of the Presbyters addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clad in white robes? where have they come from?"

I said to him, "You know, my lord." So he told me, "These are the people who have come out of the great Distress, who washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

for the power of the horses lies in their mouths ??and also in their tails (their tails are like serpents, they have heads, and it is with their heads that they hurt).

After the seven thunders had spoken, I was going to write it down; but I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, do not write it."

They have power to shut up the sky, so that no rain falls during the days when they are prophesying; and they have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and also to smite the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they choose.

But, when they have finished their testimony, the Beast that ascends from the abyss will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,

But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they had to die for it, but they did not cling to life.

and he obliges all men, low and high, rich and poor, freemen and slaves alike, to have a mark put upon their right hand or their forehead,

They have not been defiled by intercourse with women ??they are celibates; they follow the Lamb wherever he goes; they have been ransomed from among men, as the first to be reaped for God and the Lamb.

Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: ??'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth! Even so, it is the voice of the Spirit ??blessed in resting from their toils; for what they have done goes with them.'"

(Lo, I am coming like a thief; blessed be he who keeps awake and holds his raiment fast, not to go naked and have the shame of exposure!)

with whom the kings of earth have committed vice, and the dwellers on earth have been drunk with the wine of her vice."

The Beast you have seen was, is not, but is to rise from the abyss ??yet to perdition he shall go ??and the dwellers on earth will wonder (all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of Life), when they see that the Beast was, is not, but is coming.

also, they are seven kings, of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not arrived yet ??and when he does arrive, he can only stay a little while.

As for the ten horns you have seen, they are ten kings who have no royal power as yet, but receive royal authority for an hour along with the Beast;

As for the ten horns you have seen, they and the Beast will hate the harlot, lay her waste, and strip her naked; they will devour her flesh and burn her with fire,

As for the woman you have seen, she is the great City which reigns over the kings of the earth."

for all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her vice, the kings of the earth have committed vice with her, and by the wealth of her wantonness earth's traders have grown rich."

Then I was told, "Write this: ??'Blessed are those who have been called to the marriage-banquet of the Lamb!'" The angel also told me, "These are genuine words of God."

he will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more ??no more wailing or crying or pain, for the first things have passed away."

"I Jesus have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches; I am the Scion and offspring of David, the bright star of the morning.