⁹ I am John, your brother and partner in the oppression, kingdom, and patience that comes because of Jesus. I was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. ¹⁰ I came to be in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord, when I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, "Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."

¹² Then I turned to see who was talking to me, and when I turned I saw seven gold lamp stands. ¹³ Among the lamp stands there was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash around his chest. ¹⁴ His head and his hair were white like wool, in fact, as white as snow. His eyes were like flames of fire, ¹⁵ his feet were like glowing bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of raging waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His face was like the sun when it shines with full force.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. But he placed his right hand on me and said, "Stop being afraid! I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ the living one. I was dead but look! I am alive forever and ever! I have the keys of Death and Hades. ¹⁹ Therefore, write down what you have seen, what is, and what is going to happen after this. ²⁰ The secret meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lamp stands is this: the seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches."