On the Lord's day I found myself rapt in the Spirit, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet calling,

So I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me; and on turning round I saw seven golden lampstands

When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man; but he laid his hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and Last,

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

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.

Repent; if not, I will very soon come to you and make war upon them with the sword of my mouth.

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.

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;

'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;

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.

'The conqueror shall be clad in white raiment; I will never erase his name from the book of Life, but will own him openly before my Father and before his angels.'

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.

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.

'As for the conqueror, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God (nevermore shall he leave it), and I will inscribe on him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem which descends out of heaven from my God), and my own new name.'

So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth.

I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich, white raiment to clothe you and prevent the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to rub on your eyes, that you may see.

Lo, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me.

'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.'

After this I looked, and there was a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice I had heard talking with me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must come to pass after this."

but one of the Presbyters told me, "Weep not; lo, the Lion of Judah's tribe, the Scion of David, he has won the power of opening the scroll and its seven seals."

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.

And this is how the horses and their riders looked in my vision: they wore coats of mail red as fire, dark-blue as jacinth and yellow as smoke; the horses' heads were like lions' heads, and from their mouths poured fire and smoke and brimstone.

Then the voice I had heard from heaven again talked to me, saying, "Go and take the small scroll which lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and the earth."

So I went to the angel, saying, "Give me the small scroll." "Take it," said he, "and swallow it; it will taste sweet as honey, but it will be bitter to digest."

But I will allow my two witnesses to prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clad in sackcloth

Then came one of the seven angels with the seven plagues and spoke to me, saying, "Come and I will show you the doom of the great Harlot who is seated on many waters,

So he bore me away rapt in the Spirit to the desert, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet Beast covered with blasphemous titles; it had seven heads and ten horns.

But the angel said to me, "Why marvel? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman, and of the Beast with the seven heads and the ten horns who carries her.

He also told me, "The waters you saw, on which the woman is seated, are peoples and hosts, nations and tongues.

And I heard another voice from heaven crying, "Come out of her, O my people, that you share not her sins, that you partake not of her plagues:

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."

Then I fell before his feet to worship him; but he said to me, "No, not that! I am but a servant like yourself and your brothers, who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God" (for the testimony borne by Jesus is the breath of all prophecy).

The conqueror shall obtain this, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son;

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues; and he spoke to me thus, "Come, and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb."

So he carried me off, rapt in the Spirit, to a huge, high mountain, where he showed me the City, the holy Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven,

He who talked to me had a golden wand by way of a measuring-rod, to measure the City and its gates and wall;

Then he showed me the river of the water of Life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

I John saw and heard all this; and when I heard and saw it, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me it all.

& 10] And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and genuine, for the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets has sent his angel to show his servants what must very soon come to pass.

He said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near:

Blessed are those who wash their robes, that theirs may be the right to the tree of Life, the right to enter the gates of the City!

& 13] Lo, I am coming very soon, with my reward, to requite everyone for what he has done."