Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits, more evil than itself, and they reenter [the body] and [begin to] live there, so that the latter state of that person becomes worse than the former [state]. It will be the same way with the people of this evil generation."

Jesus replied, "How many loaves of bread do you have?" They said, "[We have] seven [loaves] and a few small fish."

and He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks to God for them. He divided the food and gave it to the disciples who, [in turn], distributed it to the crowds.

They all ate until they were full; then gathered up seven baskets full of broken pieces which were left over.

Or that four thousand people [were fed] with seven loaves of bread and how many baskets [of pieces] were picked up [afterward]?

Then Peter came and said to Jesus, "Lord, how often must I forgive my brother when he sins against me? As many as seven times?"

Jesus replied, "I tell you, not [just] up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven [i.e., a large indefinite number of times].

Now among our people there were [these] seven brothers; the first one married and [later] died without having any children, leaving his widow to [marry] his brother.

Now whose wife will she be in the resurrected state, since all seven of them were married to her?"

And He asked them, "How many loaves of bread do you have?" And they answered, "We have seven loaves."

Then He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks to God [for them], He divided the food and gave it to His disciples to set in front of them. They [in turn] set it in front of the crowd.

And they [all] ate until they were full, then gathered up seven baskets of broken pieces which were left over.

He again asked, "And when the seven loaves were divided among the four thousand persons, how many large basketfuls of broken pieces did you gather up?" And they said to Him, "Seven large basketfuls."

[Now] there were [these] seven brothers; the first one got married, but when he died he left no children behind.

All seven left no children [behind when they died]. Finally, the woman also passed away.

[Now] whose wife will she be in the resurrected state, for all seven [brothers] were married to her?"

Now the Passover Festival and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were held two days later. [Note: This was the annual Jewish Festival week commemorating Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage under Moses' leadership. The unleavened bread was specially baked bread containing no yeast, which was eaten for seven days as part of the celebration]. And the leading priests and experts in the law of Moses were looking for a way to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.

Now when Jesus arose from the dead early on the first day of the week [i.e., Sunday morning], He appeared first to Mary from Magdala, from whom He had driven out seven evil spirits.

After these things happened, Jesus showed Himself in a different form to two disciples [Note: One was named Cleopas. See Luke 24:13-18], as they were walking out into the countryside [i.e., to the village of Emmaus, about seven miles northwest of Jerusalem. See Luke 24:13].

And there was a woman prophet named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, from the tribe of Asher [i.e., she was a descendant of one of Jacob's son]. (She was very old, having lived with her husband for [only] seven years after being married,

and certain women who had been healed from [domination by] evil spirits and diseases. [These women were] Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven evil spirits had been driven out,

Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits, more evil than itself, and they reenter [the body] and [begin] to live there, so that the latter state of that person becomes worse than the former state."

And if he sins against you seven times a day and [then] comes to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you should forgive him."

[Now] there were these seven brothers; the first one got married, but when he died he did not leave any children behind.

Then the third one married the [surviving] widow [of the first two brothers]. And in the same way, all seven [brothers] married her, but left no children [behind when they died].

[Now] whose wife will she be in the resurrected state, for all seven [brothers] were married to her?"

Then, on that same day, two disciples [See Mark 16:12] were [walking along], going to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles [northwest] of Jerusalem.

Then he asked them what the [exact] time was when his son began to get better. They said to him, "[It was] yesterday at seven o'clock in the morning that the fever left him." [Note: This would have been

Brothers, select from among you seven men with good reputations, who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to take care of this matter.

And Stephen [i.e., one of the seven men chosen to minister to widows, verse 5], who was full of [God's] favor and power, performed great wonders and [miraculous] signs in front of the [Jewish] people.

And then He destroyed seven nations in the country of Canaan and gave the Israelites the land as an inheritance for about four hundred and fifty years.

[Now] the seven sons of a Jewish leading priest named Sceva were doing this.

The following men accompanied Paul as far as [the province of] Asia [where Troas was located]: Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus, of Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, of Thessalonica; Gaius, of Derbe; Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from [the province of] Asia, [seven in all].

And we [ourselves] sailed away from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread [Note: This was the Jewish feast commemorating deliverance from Egyptian bondage], and five days later [we] joined them at Troas [i.e., the seven men mentioned in verses

When we located the disciples [there] we stayed [with them] for seven days. They advised Paul, through [inspired revelations from] the Holy Spirit, not [even] to set foot in Jerusalem.

The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip, the evangelist, who had been one of the seven ["deacons" chosen by the Jerusalem church to minister to widows, See Acts 6]. We stayed with him [while there].

When the seven days [required by the vow] were almost completed, the Jews from Asia saw Paul in the Temple. They incited the whole crowd and took hold of him,

where we found [some Christian] brothers. They urged us to stay with them for seven days. So, [that is how] we finally got to Rome.

But how did God answer him? [I Kings 19:18 says], "I [i.e., God] have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed their knee [in worship] to Baal [Note: "Baal" was a term used for one of the idols worshiped in Elijah's day by Canaanites and others in Palestine].

I recommend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church at Cenchrea. [Note: This was a seaport town about seven miles east of Corinth].

By [the people having] faith, the walls of Jericho fell in response to their marching around them for seven days.

and if He did not spare the ancient world of Noah's day, when He brought a flood on those ungodly people (though Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven other people, were saved from it);

[This book is from] John [and is being sent] to the seven churches that are in Asia [Note: This refers to the province of Asia Minor, a part of present-day Turkey]. May there be unearned favor and peace to you from God, the One who is [in the present], who was [in the past] and who will come [in the future], and from the seven spirits that are in front of God's throne [Note: Because the number "seven" was regarded as the number of perfection by the Jews, it is thought that this refers to the Holy Spirit].

saying, "Write down in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicia" [Note: These seven congregations were all located in western Asia Minor].

And I turned to see [whose] voice was speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands,

And He had seven stars in His right hand [See verse 20], and a sharp, double-edged sword came out of His mouth. And His face [shone] as the sun, shining in [all] its brilliance.

The secret of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands [is this]: The seven stars are the angels [i.e., messengers] of the seven churches. And the seven lampstands are the seven churches."

"Write [this] to the angel [i.e., the messenger] of the church at Ephesus [Note: These "messengers," (verses 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14) are thought by some to be evangelists]: These things are the words of the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:

"And write [this] to the angel of the church at Sardis: These are the words of Him who has the seven Spirits of God [i.e., Jesus, who has the Holy Spirit] and the seven stars [i.e., the seven angels of the seven churches. See 1:20]: I know about your deeds, that you have a reputation for being [spiritually] alive, but you are [really] dead.

And lightning flashes and [loud] sounds of rolling thunder came out of God's throne. And there were seven lighted torches burning in front of the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God [i.e., the Holy Spirit. See 1:4].

Then I saw in the right hand of God, who sat on His throne, a book with writing on the inside and on the back, and sealed with seven seals.

Then one of the [twenty-four] elders said to me, "Do not cry; look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of King David, has gained the victory, so He can break the seven seals on the book and open it."

Then I saw a Lamb, looking like it had been killed. He was standing in the center of the throne, surrounded by the four living beings and the [twenty-four] elders. He has seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God [i.e., the Holy Spirit. See 1:4], sent throughout the entire earth.

And I watched while the Lamb broke open one of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living beings saying in a thunderous voice [to the one on the white horse ?], "Come [out]."

And I saw the seven angels who were standing in front of God, and they were given seven trumpets.

And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

and he called out in a loud voice, like a roaring lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders responded to the voice [of the angel]. [Note: These "seven thunders" have not been previously mentioned].

And when the seven thunders spoke [words], I started to write down [what the voices said], but I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders have [just] said, and do not write them down."

At that very hour a severe earthquake occurred and one tenth of the city [See verse 8] was destroyed; and seven thousand persons were killed by the earthquake; and everyone else was terrified and gave honor to the God of heaven.

And another [supernatural] sign was seen in heaven; it was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on each of his seven heads was a crown.

And I saw a beast coming up out of the ocean. It had ten horns and seven heads, and [it had] ten crowns on his horns and on each head there was a blasphemous name [i.e., a name that slandered God].

Then I saw another great and marvelous [supernatural] sign in heaven. There were seven angels that had the seven last judgments which would complete the wrath of God.

And out of the Temple there came the seven angels that had the seven plagues [i.e., judgments]. They were dressed in clean, bright linen [clothing] and they had golden sashes wrapped around their chests.

And one of the four living beings gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.

And the Temple was filled with smoke from the splendor and power of God, and no one could enter the Temple until the seven plagues [brought on] by the seven angels were completed.

Then I heard a loud voice from the Temple saying to the seven angels, "You [angels], go and pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath upon the earth."

Then one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls, came and spoke to me, saying, "Come [here]; I will show you the punishment [to fall] on the great prostitute who is situated on many bodies of waters.

Then, under the power of the Holy Spirit, the angel transported me to a desert, and [there] I saw a woman sitting on a red beast. It was covered with names that cursed God and it had seven heads and ten horns.

Then the angel [See verse 1] said to me, "Why are you so amazed? I will explain to you the secret [meaning] of the woman and the beast with seven heads and ten horns that she is riding on.

"This calls for an understanding mind. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are [also] seven kings;

And the beast that once existed, but now does not, is actually the eighth one [i.e., head/hill/king. See verse 9], and yet he belongs to the seven; and he will go to his destruction.

Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues [i.e., judgments, See 15:1], came and spoke to me, saying, "Come here, [and] I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."