"And write unto the tidings-bringer of the congregation of Philadelphia, 'This saith he that is holy and true, which hath the key of David; which openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth.

I know about your deeds. (See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can close). [Note: This probably refers to their being assured of some unspecified opportunity]. [I know] that you have [only] a little bit of strength, but [in spite of that] you have obeyed my word and did not deny my name.

Take note! I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying—note this—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.

"And unto the messenger of the congregation which is in Laodicea write, 'This saith - amen - the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creatures of God.

After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, "Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this."

Immediately after this I found myself in a trance, and there stood a throne in heaven with a being seated on it.

And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who deserves to break the seals on it and open the book?" [Note: This "book" was probably a rolled up scroll written on both sides, with wax seals keeping it from unrolling and its contents from being exposed].

At this I wept long, because no one could be found who was worthy to open the book or look within it.

And they sang a new song [which went like this]: "You deserve to take the book and break the seals on it, for you were killed and, with your blood, you purchased people for God from every tribe and language and race and nation,

And I heard what sounded like a voice coming from among the four living beings, saying, "A quart [measure] of wheat sells for a day's pay [Note: This amount would be $60-$84 in 1994, based on one day of a farm laborer's wages. See Matt. 20:2]; three quart measures of barley sell for a day's pay; but do not damage the [olive] oil and wine [i.e., the orchards and vineyards].

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

And I saw another angel coming up from the east; he held the seal of the living God. [Note: This "seal" was a mark of identification or ownership]. And he called out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given [the power] to harm the land and the ocean,

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed. [It was] one hundred forty-four thousand [in all] from every tribe of the Israelites [Note: This could refer to Christians of Jewish descent].

After this I beheld, and lo a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and people, and tongues, stood before the seat, and before the lamb, clothed with long white garments, and palms in their hands,

This is why they are before the high seat of God; and they are his servants day and night in his house: and he who is seated on the high seat will be a tent over them.

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,

Their mission was not to kill, but to cause awful agony for five months; and this agony was like that which a scorpion inflicts when it stings a man.

The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this.

The four angels were freed who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind.

And in this manner saw I the horses in the vision, and those who were mounted upon them, having breastplates of the colour of fire, and jacinth, and sulphur; and the horses' heads were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceeded fire and smoke and brimstone.

Then there was given me a reed like a rod: with this direction, rise and measure the temple of God, with the altar, and those that worship therein.

If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way.

And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city [Note: See the following passages on this "great city," 14:8; 16:19; 17:5,18; 18:2,10,16,18,19,21] where the Lord was crucified, which is spiritually called Sodom, or Egypt.

And the seventh angel blew, and there were made great voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world are our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign for evermore."

At this the twenty-four Councillors, who were seated on their thrones before God, prostrated themselves on their faces and worshiped Him,

because of this be glad, ye heavens, and those in them who do tabernacle; woe to those inhabiting the land and the sea, because the Devil did go down unto you, having great wrath, having known that he hath little time.'

This made the Dragon furiously angry with the woman, and he went elsewhere to make war upon her other children--those who keep God's commandments and hold fast to the testimony of Jesus.

And everyone who lives on earth will worship the beast, [even those] people whose names had not been recorded in the book of life belonging to the Lamb, who was killed [in prospect] from the creation of the world. [Note: This sentence could also read "...not been recorded from the creation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed"].

Let anyone who has an ear listen: ??10 Whoever is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes: whoever kills with the sword, by the sword must he be killed. This is what shows the patience and the faith of the saints.

Whoever is destined for captivity will go into captivity; whoever kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. On this fact rests the endurance and fidelity of God's people.

And he [i.e., this second beast] performs great [miraculous] signs, including making fire come down from heaven to earth in [full] view of people.

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,

And this second beast forced everyone to be branded with a mark on their right hand and on their forehead --- insignificant and important people, rich and poor people, and free people and slaves ---

so that no one is able to buy or sell, except those that bear this brand--either the name of the Beast or the number indicated by the letters of his name.

In this case wisdom is needed: Let the person who has understanding calculate the total of the beast, since it is a human multitude, and the sum of the multitude is 600, 60 and six.

And they [i.e., the 144,000] were singing a new song in front of God's throne, and in front of the four living beings and the [twenty-four] elders. No one could learn [to sing] this song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand [See 7:4,9] who had been purchased from the earth.

These people are the ones who did not practice sexual immorality with women, for they were virgins [Note: This probably has reference to people who avoided idolatry]. These are people who followed the Lamb wherever He went. They were purchased from among mankind to be the firstfruits [devoted] to God and to the Lamb.

On this fact rests the endurance of God's people, who obey God's commands and cling to their faith in Jesus.

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who from this time forth die as Christians!" "Yes!" answers the Spirit, "Let them rest from their toil, for what they have done will go with them!"

And I saw the semblance of a glassy sea, mingled with fire; and standing by this glassy sea, with harps of God, were those who came off conquerors from the beast and from his image and from the cipher of his name.

After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of testimony was thrown open in heaven,

Then I heard the angel of the waters say, "You are just in pronouncing this sentence, you who are and were, the Holy One;

For they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this."

[Note: At this point the Lord's voice breaks into John's vision]. ("Look, I am coming like a thief. That person is happy who stays alert and is dressed [properly], so he does not appear naked and have to be shamefully exposed").

And there were lightnings and sounds and thunders, and there was a great earthquake, as has not happened from the [time] humanity has been on the earth--so great in this way [was] the earthquake.

Great hailstones, about the weight of a talent, came down out of the sky on people. People blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for this plague is exceedingly severe.

while on her forehead there was written this mystic name--'BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF ALL IDOLATROUS ABOMINATIONS UPON EARTH.'

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.

This calls for a mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is sitting. They are also seven kings.

And the wild beast which was, and is not, and this is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes forward into perdition.

they all agree in this, to give their power and strength to the beast.

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, who had great authority; and the earth was illumined by his glory.

As much as she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, 'I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!'

For this reason in one day will her troubles come, death and sorrow and need of food; and she will be completely burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who is her judge.

weeping aloud and sorrowing, and saying, 'Alas, alas, for this great city, which was brilliantly arrayed in fine linen, and purple and scarlet stuff, and beautified with gold, jewels and pearls;

for in a single hour this vast wealth has been destroyed!' All navigators and all who travel by sea, sailors and sea-faring men, stood a long way off

and cried, when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, "What city is like unto this great city?'

And they threw dust upon their heads, and cried out, weeping aloud and sorrowing. 'Alas, alas,' they said, 'for this great city, in which, through her vast wealth, the owners of all the ships on the sea have grown rich; because in one short hour she has been laid waste!'

Then a mighty angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying: "With violence like this, Babylon the great city will be hurled to ruin, and it will never be found again.

the light of a lamp
will never shine in you again;
and the voice of a groom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
All this will happen
because your merchants
were the nobility of the earth,
because all the nations were deceived
by your sorcery,

After this I heard the semblance of the mighty voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying. "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power Unto the Lord our God!

Then the angel told me, "Write this: "How blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb!'" He also told me, "These are the true words of God."

So I threw myself down at his feet to worship him, but he said, "Do not do this! I am only a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

And he hath upon his vesture and upon his thigh this name written, king of kings, and lord of lords.

and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.

The rest of the dead did not live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Happy and holy is he who has a part in this first coming: over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will be ruling with him a thousand years.

And I saw dead people, the most important and the least significant ones, standing in front of the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life [Note: This refers to a record of those to whom God has granted never ending life]. And these dead people [i.e., who have now been resurrected] were judged according to their deeds, based on what was recorded in the books.

Death and hell were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

Then he who sat upon the throne said, "See! I am making everything new! Write this," he said, "for these words are trustworthy and true.

Then He said to me, "These things have already happened. [Note: These words express the certainty of what has been predicted in this book, even though not all the events had actually taken place yet]. I am the Alpha and the Omega [See note at 1:8], the beginning and the end. I will give the person who is [spiritually] thirsty [a drink] from the spring of water of life without his having to pay for it.

He who is victorious will possess all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

But the cowardly, unfaithful, and polluted??urderers, immoral people, those who practice magic or idolatry, and all liars will find themselves in the burning lake of fire and brimstone. This is the second death."

And they [i.e., the kings of the earth, Verse 24] will bring the splendor and honor of [the saved people of] the nations into the city. [Note: This verse may involve a slightly different idea from verse 24].

in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

"Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."

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.

He said to me, "See you do not do it. I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

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

On the outside [of the city] are the dogs [Note: This probably refers to people who practiced sexual perversions. See Deut. 23:17] and the sorcerers, and the sexually immoral people, and the murderers, and the idolaters and every person who loves and practices falsehood.

"I, Jesus, sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am of the line and family of David, I am the bright morning star."

"Come," say the Spirit and the bride. Let everyone who hears this say, "Come!" Let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wants it come and take without cost living water.

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book.

If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

He who testifies to all this says, "It is true! I am coming very soon!" Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!