Blessed be the man who reads them and the people who hear the messages of this prophecy read, and heed what is written in it, for the time is near.

His head and hair were as white as white wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like coals of fire;

His feet were like bronze refined to white heat in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.

But you have it to your credit that you hate what the Nicolaitans are doing, as I do too.

Yet I hold it somewhat against you that you have among you some who are clinging to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to set a trap for the children of Israel, to entice them to eat the meat that had been sacrificed to idols and to commit immoral practices.

"To the messenger of the church in Thyatira write: 'The Son of God, whose eyes are like coals of fire, and whose feet are like bronze refined to white heat, speaks as follows:

"I know what you are doing, and that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot.

As it is, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.

I advise you to buy of me gold that has been refined in the fire, so that you may become rich, and white clothes to put on, to hide your shameful nakedness, and salve to put on your eyes, to make you see.

After this I had another vision: A door was standing open in heaven, and the first voice, like a trumpet, that I had heard speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place."

The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man's, and the fourth was like an eagle flying.

Then I saw, midway between the throne and the four living creatures, standing among the elders, a Lamb that looked as though He had been slaughtered. He had seven horns and seven eyes; the latter are the seven spirits of God which are sent on duty to every portion of the earth.

When He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for being faithful to God's message and for the testimony they bore to it.

Then a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to keep quiet a little while longer, until the number of their fellow-slaves and brothers, who were killed as they had been, was complete.

The kings of the earth, the great men, the military leaders, the rich, the mighty -- everybody, whether slaves or free hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.

Then I saw another angel coming up from the east with the seal of the living God, and he cried out to the four angels who had the power to injure the earth and the sea:

They will never again be hungry or thirsty, and never again will the sun strike them, or any scorching heat,

The star is called Absinthus, that is, Wormwood. So one-third of the waters turned to wormwood, and great numbers of people died of the waters, because they had turned bitter.

Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky upon the earth. To this angel the key to the pit of the abyss was given,

they had hair that looked like women's hair; their teeth were like lions' teeth;

they had breastplates that seemed to be made of steel; the noise of their wings was like the noise of vast numbers of chariots and horses rushing into battle;

they had tails like scorpions with stings in them, so in their tails their power lay to injure men for five months.

They had over them as king the angel of the abyss; in Hebrew he is called Abaddon, in Greek, Apollyon.

say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet: "Turn loose the four angels that are bound at the river Euphrates."

For the power of the horses lay in their mouths and their tails; their tails were like snakes, and they had heads with which they injured people.

But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works their hands had done, so as to give up worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot either see or hear or move;

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was clothed in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, his legs were like pillars of fire,

and he had a little book open in his hand. He set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,

and in a loud voice he shouted like the roaring of a lion; and when he had shouted, the seven thunders rumbled.

When the seven thunders had rumbled, I was going to write it down, but I heard a voice from heaven say: "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down!"

Then the angel, whom I had seen standing on the sea and on the land, raised his right hand to heaven,

So I took the little book from the angel's hand and ate it all, and in my mouth it did taste as sweet as honey, but when I had eaten it all, it made my stomach bitter.

The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and celebrate with feasts and the sending of gifts to one another, because these two prophets had tormented the inhabitants of the earth.

Then a great symbol was seen in heaven -- a woman clothed in the sun with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

Then the woman fled into the desert, where she had a place of safety made ready by God, so that she might be cared for one thousand, two hundred and sixty days.

When the dragon saw that he had been hurled down to the earth, he started persecuting the woman who had given birth to the male child.

I saw that one of his heads seemed to have been mortally wounded, but its mortal wound had been healed. And the whole world was so amazed that they followed the wild beast,

Then I saw another wild beast coming up out of the land. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.

He exercises the full authority of the first wild beast in his presence; he makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first wild beast, whose mortal wound had been healed.

Then I looked, and there the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand people who had His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.

They were singing a new song before the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders, and no one could learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.

Then I looked, and there was a bright cloud with one seated on it like the Son of man, with a crown of gold on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.

Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.

And another angel came from the altar, who had power over the fire, and he called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Put forth your sharp sickle, and gather the bunches of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are fully ripe."

Then I saw something that looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and standing upon the sea of glass were those who had conquered the wild beast, his statue, and the number representing his name; and they had harps that God had given them.

and the seven angels bringing the seven plagues came out of the sanctuary. They were clothed in clean, brilliant linen and had belts of gold around their breasts.

Then the fourth angel emptied his bowl upon the sun, and permission was given it to scorch mankind with its fiery heat,

so that men were severely scorched, but they only cursed the name of God who had authority over these plagues, and would not repent and give Him glory.

and cursed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and sores, but they would not repent of what they had done.

Then there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder; then there was a great earthquake, an earthquake so great that none like it had ever been since man first existed on the earth.

So he carried me away in spiritual rapture to a desert, and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet wild beast, covered with blasphemous titles; he had seven heads and ten horns.

The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, decorated in gold and precious stones and pearls, and she had in her hand a cup of gold, full of abominations and the impurities of her immorality.

The ten horns that you saw and the wild beast will be the very ones to hate the prostitute, to make her desolate and naked, to eat up her flesh, and burn her up with fire.

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority and the earth was lighted up with his splendor.

The businessmen who dealt in these things, who had grown rich from their business with her, will stand a long way off for fear of her torture, weeping and mourning,

They threw dust on their heads and wept and mourned, crying out, 'Alas! Alas for the great city where all who had ships on the sea grew rich from her great wealth! For in a single hour she has been destroyed.'

His eyes were like coals of fire. On His head were many diadems, and on Him a name was written which no one knew but Himself.

Then I saw thrones and those who were seated on them, and permission was granted them to pass judgment, even those who had been beheaded for bearing testimony to Jesus and for preaching the word of God, who refused to worship the wild beast and his statue, and would not let his mark be stamped upon their foreheads and upon their hands. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years had ended. This is the first resurrection.

I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened; it was the book of life, And the dead were judged by what was written in the books in accordance with what they had done.

The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and the underworld gave up the dead that were in them, and they were all judged in accordance with what they had done.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls that were full of the seven plagues came and talked with me, and said, "Come; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."

It had a great, high wall, with twelve huge gates, and twelve angels in charge of the gates, which had inscribed upon them the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the Lamb's twelve apostles.

The angel who was talking with me had a measuring rod of gold, to measure the city, its gates and wall.

The city lies in a square, its length the same as its breadth. He measured the city with his rod, and it was one thousand, five hundred miles. Its length, breadth, and height were the same.