John to the seven churches in Asia, blessing and peace to you from him who is and was and is coming, and from the seven spirits before his throne,

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

I turned to see whose voice it was that was speaking to me, and when I turned I saw seven gold lampstands,

In his right hand he held seven stars; from his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword, and his face shone like the sun at noonday.

The secret meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands is this: The seven stars are the guardian angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: " 'He who holds the seven stars in his right hand and goes about among the seven gold lampstands speaks thus:

"To the angel of the church in Sardis write: " 'He who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars speaks thus: I know what you are doing; you are supposed to be alive, but you are dead.

Out from the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. In front of the throne seven blazing lamps were burning; they are the seven spirits of God.

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

Then I saw standing in the center of the throne and of the four animals and of the elders a Lamb which seemed to have been slaughtered. He had seven horns and seven eyes; these are the seven spirits of God, which are sent on errands to all parts of the earth.

In my vision, when the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals, I heard the first of the four animals say with a voice like thunder, "Come!"

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

Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

and he uttered a great shout like the roar of a lion; and when he shouted, the seven thunders raised their voices.

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

At that moment there was a great earthquake, and one tenth of the city was destroyed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were filled with awe, and acknowledged the glory of the God of heaven.

Another portent appeared in the sky??here was a great fire-red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven diadems on his heads.

Then I stood on the sand of the seashore, and I saw an animal come up out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, and with ten diadems on its horns, and blasphemous titles on its heads.

Then I saw another great, marvelous portent in heaven. There were seven angels with seven plagues which are to be the last, for they complete the expression of God's wrath.

and the seven angels with the seven plagues came out of the temple. They were clothed in clean, glistening linen and had gold belts around their breasts.

Then one of the four animals gave the seven angels seven gold bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever,

and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory and power of God, and no one could go into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were over.

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

Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and spoke to me. "Come," he said, "I will show you the doom of the great idolatress who is seated on many waters,

So he carried me away in a trance to a desert, and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet animal all covered with blasphemous titles; it had seven heads and ten horns.

but the angel said to me, "Why are you amazed? I will explain to you what the woman and the animal with seven heads and ten horns that carries her symbolize.

Here is a problem for a profound mind! The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman is seated.

They are also seven kings; five have fallen, one is reigning, the other has not yet come, and when he does his stay must be brief.

So must it be with the animal that was, and is no more. It is also an eighth king, although it is one of the seven, and it is to go to destruction.

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke to me. "Come," he said, "I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."