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

Lo, he is coming on the clouds, to be seen by every eye, even by those who impaled him, and all the tribes of earth will wail because of him: even so, Amen.

I John, your brother and your companion in the distress and realm and patient endurance which Jesus brings, found myself in the island called Patmos, for adhering to God's word and the testimony of Jesus.

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,

So even with you; you likewise have some adherents of the tenets of the Nicolaitans.

and her children I will exterminate. So shall all the churches know that I am the searcher of the inmost heart; I will requite each of you according to what you have done.

'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;

also I will grant him to see the Morning-star.'

Then to the angel of the church at Laodicea write thus: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation.

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.

I reprove and discipline those whom I love; so be in warm earnest and repent.

also in front of the throne there is like a sea of glass, resembling crystal. And on each side of the throne, all round it, four living Creatures full of eyes inside and outside;

the first living Creature resembling a lion, the second living Creature resembling an ox, the third living Creature with a face like a man's, the fourth living Creature like a flying eagle.

Then I saw lying on the right hand of him who was seated on the throne, a scroll with writing on the back, as well as inside, sealed with seven seals.

And I saw a strong angel exclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is fit to open the scroll, to break the seals of it?"

So I began to weep bitterly because no one had been found fit to open the scroll or look into it;

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."

So I looked, and there was a white horse, its rider holding a bow; he was given a crown, and away he rode conquering and to conquer.

And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living Creature calling, "Come." So I looked and there was a black horse; its rider held a pair of scales in his hand,

So I looked, and there was a livid horse; its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. They were given power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill men with sword and famine and plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.

And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain for adhering to God's word and to the testimony which they bore;

After that I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds from blowing on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.

And I saw another angel rise up from the east, with the seal of the living God; he shouted aloud to the four angels who were allowed to injure the earth and sea,

"Do no harm to earth or sea or trees, until we seal the servants of our God upon their foreheads."

and crying, "Even so! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God for ever and ever: Amen!"

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.

Then I saw seven trumpets being given to the seven angels who stand before God.

and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of all the saints rose up from the angel's hand before God.

The second angel blew, and what looked like a huge mountain on fire was hurled into the sea; a third of the sea turned blood,

a third of the creatures in the sea ??the living creatures ??perished, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The fourth angel blew; and a stroke fell on a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so as to darken one third of them, withdrawing light from a third of the day and likewise of the night.

The fifth angel blew, and I saw a Star which had dropped from heaven to earth; he was given the key of the pit of the abyss,

their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' fangs;

So the four angels were unloosed, who had been kept ready for that hour and day and month and year, to kill the third of men.

But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands and give up worshipping daemons and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which cannot either see or hear or stir;

Then I saw another strong angel descend from heaven; he was clad in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, his face like the sun, his feet like columns of fire,

and a small scroll open in his hand. He set his right foot on the sea, his left upon the earth,

Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and the earth raised his right hand to heaven

and swore by Him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, "There shall be no more delay;

in the days of the seventh angel's voice, when he now blows his blast, then shall the secret purpose of God be fulfilled, as he assured his servants the prophets."

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."

whoever tries to harm them, fire will issue from their mouth and consume their enemies; whoever should try to harm them, so must he be killed."

They have power to shut up the sky, so that no rain falls during the days when they are prophesying; and they have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and also to smite the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they choose.

But after three days and a half the breath of life from God entered them; they stood on their feet (terror fell on those who saw them)

and heard a loud voice from heaven telling them, "Come up here." So up to heaven they went in a cloud, before the eyes of their enemies.

So the huge dragon was thrown down ??that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, the seducer of the whole world ??thrown down to the earth, and his angels thrown down along with him.

Rejoice for this, O heavens and ye that dwell in them! But woe to earth and sea! The devil has descended to you in fierce anger, knowing that his time is short."

So, enraged at the woman, the dragon went off to wage war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep God's commandments and hold the testimony of Jesus.

Then I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a Beast rising out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, ten diadems on his horns, and blasphemous titles on his heads.

The Beast I saw resembled a leopard, his feet were like a bear's, and his mouth like a lion's. To him the dragon gave his own power and his own throne and great authority.

so he opened his mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his dwelling (that is, the dwellers in heaven).

Then I saw another Beast rising from the land; he had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.

and to this statue of the Beast he was allowed to impart the breath of life, so that the statue of the Beast should actually speak. He has everyone put to death who will not worship the statue of the Beast,

so that no one can buy or sell unless he bears the mark, that is, the name of the Beast or the cipher of his name.

Then I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven with an eternal gospel for the inhabitants of the earth, for every nation and tribe and tongue and people;

he cried aloud, "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water."

he shall drink the wine of God's passion, poured out untempered in the cup of his anger, and shall be tortured with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb:

This is what shows the patience of the saints ??they who keep God's commands and the faith of Jesus.

Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: ??'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth! Even so, it is the voice of the Spirit ??blessed in resting from their toils; for what they have done goes with them.'"

So he who sat upon the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and culled the clusters from the Vine of earth, flinging the grapes into the great winepress of God's wrath;

outside the City was the winepress trodden, and blood gushed out of the winepress as high as a horse's bridle for the space of two hundred miles.

Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and marvellous: seven angels with seven plagues ??the last plagues, for they complete the wrath of God.

And I saw what was like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and, standing beside the sea of glass, those who came off conquerors from the Beast and his statue and the cipher of his name; they had harps of God

So the first went off and poured his bowl upon the land; and noisome, painful ulcers broke out on those who bore the mark of the Beast and worshipped his statue.

The second poured out his bowl upon the sea; it turned blood like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing within the sea perished.

And I heard the altar cry, "Even so, Lord God almighty: true and just are thy sentences of doom."

Then I saw issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the Beast and from the mouth of the false Prophet, three foul spirits like frogs ??14 demon-spirits performing miracles, who come out to muster the kings of the whole world for battle on the great Day of almighty God.

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.

Then I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus; and as I looked at her I marvelled greatly.

The Beast you have seen was, is not, but is to rise from the abyss ??yet to perdition he shall go ??and the dwellers on earth will wonder (all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of Life), when they see that the Beast was, is not, but is coming.

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

After that I saw another angel descend from heaven, great in might; his radiance lit up the earth,

for all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her vice, the kings of the earth have committed vice with her, and by the wealth of her wantonness earth's traders have grown rich."

As she gloried and played the wanton, so give her like measure of torture and tears. Since in her heart she vaunts, 'A queen I sit, no widow I, tears I shall never know,'

so shall her plagues fall in a single day, pestilence, tears, and famine: she shall be burnt with fire ??for strong is God the Lord her judge.

And all this splendour gone in one brief hour!' And all shipmasters and sea-faring folk, sailors and all whose business lies upon the sea, stood far off

Then a strong angel lifted a boulder like a huge millstone and flung it into the sea, crying, "So shall the great city, Babylon, be hurled down, hurtling, and never be seen any more:

& 23] Vanished the ripe fruit of thy soul's desire! Perished thy luxury and splendour! Never again to be seen.

After that I heard what was like the shout of a great host in heaven, crying, "Hallelujah! salvation and glory and power are our God's!

Then the four and twenty Presbyters and the four living Creatures fell down and worshipped God who is seated on the throne, crying, "So be it, hallelujah!"

Then I saw heaven open wide ??and there was a white horse: his rider is faithful and true, yea, just are his judgments and his warfare.

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, who shouted aloud to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, "Come, gather for the great banquet of God,

And I saw the Beast and the kings of earth and their troops mustered to wage war on him who was seated on the horse and on his troops.

Then I saw an angel descend from heaven with the key of the abyss and a huge chain in his hand;

And I saw thrones with people sitting on them, who were allowed to judge ??saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and God's word, those who would not worship the Beast or his statue, and who would not receive his mark on their forehead or hand; they came to life and reigned along with the Christ for a thousand years.

and he will emerge to seduce the nations at the four corners of the earth, even Gog and Magog, mustering them for the fray. Their number was like the sand of the sea,

Then I saw a great white throne, and One who was seated thereon; from his presence earth and sky fled, no more to be found.

And I saw the dead, high and low, standing before the throne, and books were opened ??also another book, the book of Life, was opened ??and the dead were judged by what was written in these books, by what they had done.

The sea gave up its corpses, Death and Hades gave up their dead, and all were judged by what each had done.

Then I saw the new heaven and the new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away; and the sea is no more.

And I saw the holy City, the new Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven, all ready like a bride arrayed for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, crying, "Lo, God's dwelling-place is with men, with men will he dwell; they shall be his people, and God will himself be with them:

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,

But I saw no temple in the City, for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb.

Nothing profane, none who practises abomination or falsehood shall enter, but those alone whose names are written in the Lamb's book of Life.