who testifies to what he saw, the message of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

See! He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even the men who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will lament over Him. Even so. Amen.

I, John, your brother and companion with you in the trouble, the kingdom, and the patient endurance which Jesus gives, found myself on the island called Patmos, for preaching God's message and testifying to Jesus.

On the Lord's day I was in the Spirit's power, and I heard a voice like a trumpet behind me say:

"Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."

I turned to see who it was that was speaking to me, and as I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,

So when I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He laid His right hand upon me and said: "Do not be afraid any more. I am the First and the Last;

So write what you have seen, what is and what is to take place hereafter.

So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent and do as you did at first, or else I will surely come and move your lampstand from its place -- if you do not repent.

Do not be so afraid of what you are to suffer. See! The devil is going to throw some of you into prison to be tested there and for ten days to suffer pressing troubles. Each one of you must prove to be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the crown of life.

So repent, or else I will quickly come and make war upon them with the sword that comes from my mouth.

See! I am going to lay her on a bed of sickness, and bring down to great and pressing sorrow those who practice immorality with her, unless they repent of their practices;

and I will surely strike her children dead. So all the churches will know that I am He who searches men's inmost hearts, and that I will repay each of you for exactly what you have done.

But to the rest of you at Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching and have not learned the 'deep things' of Satan -- as they speak of them -- to you I say, I have no extra burden to lay on you,

So remember what you have received and heard, and continue to obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will never know the hour when I come upon you.

Yet you have in Sardis a few who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me in white, for they deserve to do so.

"I know what you are doing. See! I have put before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have but little strength, and yet you have obeyed my message and you have not disowned my name.

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one may take away your crown.

"To the messenger of the church in Laodicea write: 'The Amen, the true and faithful witness, the origin of God's creation, speaks as follows:

Because you say, 'I am rich, I have already become rich, I need nothing,' and you do not know that you are the very one that is wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked;

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.

The people whom I dearly love, I always reprove and discipline. So keep on being earnest and once for all repent.

Immediately I was under the Spirit's power, and I saw a throne in heaven with One seated on it.

Also in front of the throne there was something like a sea of glass as clear as crystal. Around the throne, at the middle of each side were four living creatures dotted with eyes in front and behind,

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.

the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who is seated on the throne, and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and they throw their crowns in front of the throne, and say:

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to have ascribed to you the glory, honor, and power; for you created everything, And since you willed it so, they came into existence and were created."

Then I saw in the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne a book with writing on both sides, sealed with seven seals.

And I saw a mighty angel announcing in a loud voice, "Who deserves to open the book and break its seals?"

But one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping! See! The Lion who sprang from the tribe of Judah, who belongs to the line of David, has conquered, so that He can open the book and break its seven seals."

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 took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each with a harp, and golden bowls that were full of incense, which represent the prayers of God's people.

Then I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, underneath the earth, and on the sea, and all that they contain, say: "Blessing, honor, glory, and power be to Him who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb forever."

And when the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals, I looked and heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!"

When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"

When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature, say, "Come!" I looked, and a black horse appeared, and its rider was carrying a pair of scales in his hands,

and I heard what seemed to be a voice from the midst of the four living creatures say: "Wheat, fifty cents a quart, barley, fifty cents for three quarts! But you must not injure the oil and wine."

When He broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"

I looked, and a pale horse appeared, and its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. Power was given to them over one quarter of the earth, to kill the people with sword, famine, death, and the wild animals 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.

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

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:

"Do not injure the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we mark the slaves of our God with His seal on their foreheads."

Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

Then another angel with a censer of gold came and stood at the altar, and a great quantity of incense was given to him to mingle with the prayers of all God's people, on the altar of gold that stood before the throne.

So the smoke of the incense went up from the angel's hand to the presence of God for the prayers of His people.

Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and what seemed to be a great mountain, all ablaze with fire, hurled itself into the sea, and one-third of the sea was turned into blood,

and one-third of all the living creatures in the sea perished, and one-third of the ships were destroyed.

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 fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was cursed with a plague, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, so that one-third of them were darkened, and there was no light for one-third of the day and for one-third of the night.

Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-air say in a loud voice, "Alas! Alas! Alas for the inhabitants of the earth because of the remaining blasts of the three angels who are going to blow their trumpets!"

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 were told not to injure the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only the people who did not have the mark of God's seal on their foreheads.

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

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

The first woe is past. See! Two other woes are yet to come.

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

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,

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,

and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and all that they contain, the earth and all that it contains, and the sea and all that it contains, that there should be no more delay,

but in the days when the seventh angel speaks, when he is about to blow his trumpet, then God's mysterious message, in accordance with the good news He gave to His slaves, the prophets, would be accomplished.

Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again, and said, "Go and take the little book that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."

So I went up to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. And he said to me, "Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey."

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.

They have the power to shut up the sky, so that no rain will fall upon the earth as long as they prophesy, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with any plague as often as they please.

After three days and a half the breath of life from God came into them again, and they stood on their feet, and consternation seized those who saw them.

And they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies looked on as spectators.

The second woe is past. See! The third woe is soon to come.

Then the doors of God's temple in heaven were thrown open, and inside the temple was seen the chest containing God's covenant, and there followed flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and heavy hail.

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.

So the huge dragon, the ancient serpent, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "The salvation, power, and kingdom of our God, and the sovereignty of His Christ, have already come, because the accuser of our brothers, who always day and night accuses them before our God, has been hurled down.

So celebrate your triumph, you heavens and you who live in them! Alas for the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you in a great rage, since he knows that his time is short!"

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.

But the two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly to her place in the desert, where she could be taken care of for a time, times, and a half-time, safe from the presence of the serpent.

So the dragon was enraged against the woman, and he went off to make war with the rest of her descendants, who continue to keep God's commands and to bear testimony to Jesus.

Then I stood on the sand of the seashore, and I saw a wild beast coming up out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on his horns, and blasphemous titles on his heads.

The wild beast which I saw was like a leopard, but his feet were like a bear's, and his mouth was like a lion's mouth. To him the dragon gave his own power and throne with great authority.

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,

Permission was given to him to make war on God's people and to conquer them; authority was given to him over every tribe, people, language, and nation.

All the inhabitants of the earth whose names, from the foundation of the world, have not been written in the slaughtered Lamb's book of life, will worship him.

Whoever leads others into captivity will go into captivity himself. Whoever kills with the sword must be killed with the sword himself. In this way will be shown the patient endurance and the fidelity of God's people.

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 performs great wonders; even makes fire come down out of heaven to earth before men's eyes.

Permission has also been given him to impart life to the statue of the wild beast so that it can speak, and to have all who do not worship the statue of the wild beast killed.

Then I saw another angel flying in mid-air, with eternal good news to tell to the inhabitants of the earth, to every nation, tribe, language, and people.

He cried in a loud voice, "Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship Him who made heaven and earth and sea and the springs of water."

himself will have to drink the wine of God's vengeance, poured unmixed into the cup of His wrath, and be tortured with fire and brimstone before the eyes of the holy angels and the Lamb.

In this way is shown the patient endurance of God's people, who always cling to God's commands and their faith in Jesus.

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: 'Blessed are the dead who from this time die as Christians.'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "let them rest from their toils, for the things they have done are going with them."

Then another angel came out of the temple and cried in a loud voice to Him who was seated on the cloud, "Put forth your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, because the earth's harvest is ripe."

So He who was seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

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."

So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes of the earth's vine, and flung them into the wine press of God's wrath,

Then I saw another symbol in heaven, great and wonderful: seven angels bringing seven plagues which are to be the last, because with them God's wrath is completely expressed.

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.

Then I heard a loud voice from the sanctuary say to the seven angels: "Go and empty the seven bowls of God's wrath upon the earth."