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.

I know of your distress and poverty??hough you are rich!?? know how you are slandered by those who claim to be Jews when they are not so, but only a synagogue of Satan!

Do not be afraid of what you are going to suffer. See! The devil is going to put some of you into prison to be tested there, and for ten days to endure persecution. Prove faithful even unto death and I will give you the crown of life.

"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: " 'The Son of God, whose eyes blaze like fire, and whose feet are like bronze, speaks thus:

I know the things you do, your love and faithfulness and helpfulness and endurance, and I know that you are now doing more than you did at first.

"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.

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

I will make some who belong to that synagogue of Satan and claim to be Jews when they are not so, but are lying?? will make them come and bow down at your feet, and learn that I loved you.

I know what you are doing, and that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot!

As it is, since you are tepid and neither cold nor hot, I am going to spit you out of my mouth!

Because you say, "I am rich, I have become wealthy, I need nothing," and you do not know that it is you that are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked,

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.

The four animals have each of them six wings, and they are covered with eyes all over and underneath their wings. And day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and is and is coming."

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power, for you created all things; by your will they existed and were created."

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.

and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God, and they are to reign over the earth."

Then one of the elders addressed me and said, "Who are these people dressed in white robes, and where do they come from?"

I said to him, "You know, my lord." He said to me, "They are the people who come through the great persecution, who have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.

That is why they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who is seated on the throne will shelter them.

Then in my vision I heard an eagle flying in midair say in a loud voice, "Alas! Alas! Alas for the inhabitants of the earth, because of the other blasts of the three angels who are going to blow their trumpets!"

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

say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates."

They are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

They have the power to shut up the sky, so that no rain will fall during the days when they are prophesying, and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to smite the earth with any plague whenever they please.

saying, "We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty, who are and were, because you have assumed your great power and begun to reign.

They are the men who have not been defiled by relations with women; they are celibates. It is they who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed from among men as the first-fruits for God and the Lamb,

and they have never been known to utter a lie; they are irreproachable.

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 another angel came forth from the altar, who presided over the fire, and he called in a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, "Use your sharp sickle and gather the bunches of grapes from the earth's vine, for the grapes on it are ripe."

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 they were singing the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are your doings, Lord God Almighty! Upright and true are your ways, King of the Ages!

Who will not fear and give glory to your name, Lord? For you alone are holy. All the heathen will come and worship before you, for the justice of your sentences has now been shown."

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

And I heard the altar answer, "Yes, Lord God Almighty! Your sentences are true and just."

They are demon spirits that perform wonders, and they go out to the kings all over the world to muster them for battle on the great Day of God Almighty.

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.

The ten horns that you saw are also ten kings, who have not yet begun to reign, but for a single hour they receive authority as kings along with the animal.

"The waters that you saw," he said to me, "on which the idolatrous woman was seated, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.

For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by having a common purpose and giving up their authority to the animal until God's decrees are carried out.

For her sins are piled up to the sky, and God has remembered her crimes.

for his judgments are sound and upright. For he has passed judgment upon the great idolatress who corrupted the earth with her idolatry, and he has avenged the blood of his slaves upon her!"

Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are they who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' These," he said to me, "are the true words of God."

and hurled him into the abyss and he closed it and sealed it over him, to keep him from leading the heathen astray any longer, until the thousand years are over; after that he has to be released for a little while.

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison,

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.

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who indulges in abominable practices and falsehoods, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

"These words are trustworthy and true," he said to me; "For the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his slaves what must happen very soon.

See! I am coming very soon! Blessed is he who heeds the words of prophecy that are in this book."

"Do not seal up the words of prophecy that are in this book," he said to me, "for the time of their fulfilment is very near.

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so as to have the right to approach the tree of life and to enter the gates of the city.

I warn everyone who hears the message of prophecy in this book read, that if anyone adds anything to it, God will inflict upon him the plagues that are described in this book;

and if anyone removes from this book any of the prophetic messages it contains, God will remove from him his share in the tree of life and the holy city which are described in this book.