I fell into a trance on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like the blast of a trumpet.

I turned to see what voice it was that spoke to me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lamps,

And, when I saw him, I fell at his feet like one dead. He laid his hand on me and said-- 'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,

the mystic meaning of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamps. The seven stars are the Angels of the seven Churches, and the seven lamps are the seven Churches.

You possess endurance, and have borne much for my Name, and have never grown weary.

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The Devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tempted, and may undergo persecution for ten days. Be faithful even to death, and I will give you the Crown of Life.

I know where you dwell, where the Throne of Satan stands. And yet you hold to my Name, and you did not disown my Faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death among you where Satan dwells.

Yet I have this against you--You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who declares that she is a Prophetess, and misleads my servants by her teaching, till they commit licentious acts and eat idol-offerings.

To him who conquers and is careful to live my life to the end--to him I will give authority over the nations,

and 'he shall rule them with an iron rod, as when earthen vessels are broken in pieces' (as I myself have received from my Father)

Be on the watch, and strengthen what still survives, though once it was all but dead; for I have not found your life perfect in the eyes of my God.

Yet there are some few among you at Sardis who did not soil their robes; they shall walk with me, robed in white, for they are worthy.

He who conquers shall be clothed in these white robes, and I will not 'strike his name out of the Book of Life'; but I will own him before my Father, and before his angels.

I know your life (see, I have set a door open before you which no one is able to shut), I know that, though you have but little strength, you kept my teaching in mind, and did not disown my Name.

Because you kept in mind the story of my endurance, I will keep you in the hour of trial that is about to come upon the whole world, the hour that will test all who are living upon earth.

I will come quickly. Hold to what you have received, that no one may take your crown.

He who conquers--I will make him a pillar in the Temple of my God; and never more shall he leave it; and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the City of my God, the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of Heaven from my God, and I will write on him my new name.

But now, because you are lukewarm, neither hot not cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold which has been refined by fire, that you may grow rich; and white robes, that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness be hidden; and ointment to anoint your eyes, that you may see.

I am standing at the door and knocking! If any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in, and will feast with him, and he shall feast with me.

To him who conquers--to him I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, as I, when I conquered, took my seat beside my Father on his throne.

After this, in my vision, I saw an open door in the heavens, and the first voice that I heard was like the blast of a trumpet speaking to me. It said-- 'Come up here and I will show you what must take place.'

But one of the Councillors said to me--'Do not weep. The Lion conquered--the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Scion of David--and can therefore open the book with its seven seals.'

Then, in my vision, I heard the voices of many angels round the throne, and of the Creatures, and of the Councillors. In number they were 'ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands,'

And in my vision I saw 'a white horse.' Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

When the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third Creature crying--'Come.' And in my vision I saw 'a black horse.' Its rider held scales in his hand.

And in my vision I saw a grey horse. His rider's name was Death, and the Lord of the Place of Death rode behind him; and power was given them over the fourth part of the earth, so that they might 'destroy with sword and famine and death, and by means of the wild beasts of the earth.'

After this, in my vision, I saw a vast throng which no man could number, of men from every nation and of all tribes, and peoples, and languages. They stood in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, robed in white, holding palm branches in their hands.

Then one of the Councillors turned to me and said 'Who are these who are robed in white? and whence did they come?'

'My Lord,' I answered, 'it is you who know.' 'These,' he said, 'are they who come through the Great Persecution; they washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.

And, in my vision, I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven and crying in a loud voice--'Woe, woe, woe for all who live on the earth, at the other trumpet-blasts of the three angels who have yet to blow.'

And this is what the horses and their riders appeared to be like in my vision:--They had breastplates of fire, blood-red and sulphurous, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, while out of their mouths issue fire, and smoke, and sulphur.

Then came the voice which I had heard from Heaven. It spoke to me again, and said--'Go and take the book that is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.'

So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. And he said 'Take it, and eat it. It will be bitter to your stomach, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.'

I took the little book out of the angel's hand 'and ate it, and, while in my mouth, it was like the sweetest honey'; but, when I had eaten it, it was bitter to my stomach.

Then I was given a measure like a rod, and a voice said to me-- 'Go and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count the worshiper there.

Then I will give permission to my Two Witnesses, and for those twelve hundred and sixty days they will continue teaching, clothed in sackcloth.'

These men have the power to close the heavens, that 'no rain may fall' during the time that they are teaching; and they have power 'to turn the streams into blood, and to smite the land with any Curse,' whenever they will.

His tail draws after it a third of the stars in the heavens, and it hurled them down on the earth. The Dragon is standing in front of the woman who is about to give birth to the child, so that he may devour it as soon as it is born.

One of its heads seemed to me to have been mortally wounded, but its deadly wound had been healed. The whole earth followed the Beast, wondering;

Then, in my vision, I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. With him were a hundred and forty-four thousand men, with his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.

Then I heard a voice from Heaven saying 'Write-- "Blessed are the dead who from this hour die in union with the Lord." "Yes," answers the Spirit, "that they may rest from their toil. Their good deeds go with them."'

Then, in my vision, I saw a white cloud, and on the cloud there was sitting one 'like a man.' On his head he had a crown of gold, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls came and spoke to me. 'Come here,' he said, 'and I will show you the sentence passed upon that Great Harlot who is seated at the meeting of many waters,

And he bore me away in a trance to a lonely place, and I saw a woman seated upon a scarlet Beast, which was covered with blasphemous names; it had seven heads and ten horns.

but the angel said to me-- 'Why were you amazed? I will tell you the mystic meaning of the vision of this woman, and of the Beast, with the seven heads and ten horns, that carries her.

And the angel said to me-- 'The waters that you saw, where the Harlot is seated, are throngs of people and men of all nations and languages.

Then I heard another voice from Heaven saying--'Come out of her, my People, that you may not participate in her sins, and that you may not suffer from the Curses inflicted upon her.

Then a voice said to me 'Write-- "Blessed are those who have been summoned to the marriage feast of the Lamb."' And the voice said-- 'These words of God are true.'

I prostrated myself at the feet of him who spoke to worship him, but he said to me- - 'Forbear; I am your fellow-servant, and the fellow-servant of your Brothers who bear their testimony to Jesus. Worship God. For to bear testimony to Jesus needs the inspiration of the Prophets.'

And he who was seated on the throne said-- 'See, I make all things new!' And he said-- 'Write this, for these words may be trusted and are true.'

And he said to me-- 'They are fulfilled. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who thirsts I will give of the spring of the Water of Life, freely.

He who conquers shall enter into possession of these things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son.

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, and were laden with the seven last Curses, came and spoke to me. 'Come here,' he said, 'and I will show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.'

He carried me away in a trance to a great high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the Holy City, descending out of Heaven from God, filled with the glory of God.

And the angel who was speaking to me had as a measure a gold rod, with which to measure the City and its gates and its wall.

And the angel showed me 'a river of the Water of Life,' as clear as crystal, issuing from the throne of God and of the Lamb,

Then the angel said to me-- 'These words may be trusted and are true. The Lord, the God that inspires the Prophets, sent his angel to show his servants what must quickly take place;

It was I, John, who heard and saw these things; and, when I heard and saw them, I prostrated myself in worship at the feet of the angel that showed them to me.

But he said to me-- 'Forbear; I am your fellow-servant, and the fellow-servant of your Brothers, the Prophets, and of all who lay to heart the words in this book. Worship God.'

Then the angel said to me-- 'Do not keep secret the words of the prophecy contained in this book; for The Time is near.

('I will come quickly. I bring my rewards with me, to give to each man what his actions deserve.

Blessed will they be who wash their robes, that they may have the right to approach the Tree of Life, and may enter the City by the gates.

'I, Jesus, sent my angel to bear testimony to you about these things before the Churches. I am the Scion and the Offspring of David, the bright Star of the Morning.'

May the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ, be with his People.