who now testifies to what is God's word and Jesus Christ's testimony ??to what he saw.

Happy is he who is reading, and those hearing, the words of the prophecy, and keeping the things written in it -- for the time is nigh!

And when I saw him, I went down on my face at his feet as one dead. And he put his right hand on me, saying, Have no fear; I am the first and the last and the Living one;

I died; but I am now alive until the Ages of the Ages, and I have the keys of the gates of Death and of Hades!

Write down therefore the things you have just seen, and those which are now taking place, and those which are soon to follow:

I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

and [I know that] you [who believe] are enduring patiently and are bearing up for My name’s sake, and that you have not grown weary [of being faithful to the truth].

Yet I have this against you--that you no longer love Me as you did at first.

So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will] and do the works you did at first [when you first knew Me]; otherwise, I will visit you and remove your lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place—unless you repent.

I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Have no fear of the things which you will have to undergo: see, the Evil One will send some of you into prison, so that you may be put to the test; and you will have great trouble for ten days. Be true till death, and I will give you the crown of life.

He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He that overcomes shall in no wise be injured of the second death.

"To the minister of the Church at Pergamum write as follows: "'This is what He who has the sharp, two-edged sword says. I know where you dwell.

I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira, write, "THESE things saith the son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass; I know thy works,

I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

I gave her time to repent [to change her inner self and her sinful way of thinking], but she has no desire to repent of her immorality and refuses to do so.

And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

But to you I say, to the rest that are in Thyatira, as many as have not this teaching, who know not the deep things of Satan, as they are wont to say; I cast upon you none other burden.

I say that I am imposing upon you no fresh burden; only hold fast what you have till I come.

And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

Be thou watchful, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die: for I have found no works of thine perfected before my God.

Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

"But you have a few people [there] in Sardis who have not [spiritually] polluted their clothing, and they will walk with me in [robes of] white [i.e., probably now on earth as well as in heaven], for they are worthy.

He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea say: These things says the true and certain witness, the head of God's new order:

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

So because you are not one thing or the other, I will have no more to do with you.

Because you are saying, "I am rich, and have become rich, and I have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked,

I am now standing at the door and am knocking. If any one listens to My voice and opens the door, I will go in to be with him and will feast with him, and he shall feast with Me.

and the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

So He comes, and now He has taken the book out of the right hand of Him who is seated on the throne.

Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

And a voice came to my ears, from the middle of the four beasts, saying, A measure of grain for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny: and see that you do no damage to the oil and the wine.

Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given.

They cried in a loud voice, saying, “O Lord, holy and true, how long now before You will sit in judgment and avenge our blood on those [unregenerate ones] who dwell on the earth?”

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree.

Do no damage to the earth, or the sea, or the trees, till we have put a mark on the servants of our God.

Now I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

I said to him, “My lord, you know [the answer].” And he said to me, “These are the people who come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb [because of His atoning sacrifice].

For this reason, they are [standing] before the throne of God; and they serve Him [in worship] day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them and shelter and protect them [with His presence].

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

Now when the Lamb opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Now the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

(Now the name of the star is Wormwood.) So a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from these waters because they were poisoned.

Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet; and a curse fell upon a third part of the sun, a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars, so that a third part of them were darkened and for a third of the day, and also of the night, there was no light.

And they were ordered to do no damage to the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only to such men as have not the mark of God on their brows.

And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them.

Now the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, and their faces looked like men's faces.

One wo is past, and now two woes are to follow.

And the four angels who had been ready for this hour and day and month and year were [now] released to kill one third of mankind.

Now this is what the horses and their riders looked like in my vision: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and sulfurous yellow in color. The heads of the horses looked like lions' heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths.

And the rest of the people, who were not put to death by these evils, were not turned from the works of their hands, but went on giving worship to evil spirits, and images of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood which have no power of seeing or hearing or walking:

And they had no regret for putting men to death, or for their use of secret arts, or for the evil desires of the flesh, or for taking the property of others.

And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

"There shall be no further delay; but in the days when the seventh angel blows his trumpet--when he begins to do so--then the secret purposes of God are realized, in accordance with the good news which He gave to His servants the Prophets."

Now the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

These have power to shut the heaven that no rain may fall during the days of their prophecy; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth as often as they will with every plague.

The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

Then the seventh angel sounded [his trumpet]; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,

“The kingdom (dominion, rule) of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”

The heathen were enraged, but now your anger has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your slaves the prophets and your people high and low who revere your name, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth!"

Now the dragon's tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.

but they were not strong enough and did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.

Now the great dragon was thrown down??hat old Serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Now when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.

Now the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority to rule.

Now the [second] beast was given [the power] to give breath to the statue of the [first] beast, so that it could both speak and cause all those who refused to worship the statue of the [first] beast to be killed.

And he maketh all, both small and great, rich and poor, free-men and slaves, to receive a mark on their right hand, or on their foreheads: and that no one might buy or sell,

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Now for the gift of interpretation! Let the discerning calculate the cipher of the Beast; it is the cipher of a man, and the figures are six hundred and sixty-six.

I also heard a sound coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. Now the sound I heard was like that made by harpists playing their harps,

And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Then I heard [the distinct words of] a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes, [blessed indeed],” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest and have relief from their labors, for their deeds do follow them.”

And another angel came out from the altar--he who had power over fire--and he spoke in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Use your sharp sickle, and gather the bunches from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are now quite ripe."

Who will not fear and give glory to your name, Lord? For you alone are holy. All the heathen will come and worship before you, for the justice of your sentences has now been shown."

And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Now I heard the angel of the waters saying: "You are just -- the one who is and who was, the Holy One -- because you have passed these judgments,

People were [severely] burned by the great heat; and they reviled the name of God who has power over these plagues, but they did not repent [of their sin] and glorify Him.

And, the fifth, poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became darkened, and they began to gnaw their tongues by reason of the pain, -

Now the spirits gathered the kings and their armies to the place that is called Armageddon in Hebrew.

Then the seventh angel poured his bowl into the air; and a loud voice came out of the sanctuary from the throne, saying, "Everything is now ready."

There were flashes of lightning and rumblings of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since man has been on the earth—so great was the quake.

Then every island fled away, and no mountains could be found.

Now the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality.

“The beast that you saw was [once], but [now] is not, and he is about to come up out of the abyss (the bottomless pit, the dwelling place of demons) and go to destruction (perdition). And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished when they see the beast, because he was and is not and is yet to come [to earth].

Now for the interpretation of the discerning mind! The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman is seated:

And the beast that [once] was but is not, is himself also an eighth king and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction (perdition).