1 A revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave to Him to show to His servants what things must quickly come to pass; and He signified [it], having sent through His messenger to His servant John, 2 who testified [to] the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, as many things as he also saw. 3 Blessed is he who is reading, and those hearing the words of the prophecy, and keeping the things written in it, for the time is near! 4 John, to the seven assemblies that [are] in Asia: Grace to you, and peace, from Him who is, and who was, and who is coming, and from the Seven Spirits that are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn out of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth; to Him loving us and having released us from our sins in His blood, 6 [He] has also made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him—the glory and the power through the ages of the ages! Amen. 7 Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the land will wail because of Him. Yes! Amen! 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, beginning and end, says the LORD, who is, and who was, and who is coming—the Almighty.” 9 I, John, who [am] also your brother, and fellow-partner in the tribulation, and in the kingdom and endurance of Jesus Christ, was in the island that is called Patmos, because of the word of God, and because of the testimony of Jesus Christ; 10 I was in the Spirit on the LORD’s Day, and I heard a great voice behind me, as of a trumpet, saying, 11 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “Write what you see in a scroll, and send [it] to the seven assemblies that [are] in Asia: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” 12 And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands, [One] like a Son of Man, clothed to the foot, and having been girded around at the breasts with a golden girdle, 14 and His head and hairs [were] white, as if white wool—as snow, and His eyes as a flame of fire; 15 and His feet like to frankincense-colored brass, as having been fired in a furnace, and His voice as a sound of many waters; 16 and having seven stars in His right hand, and out of His mouth a sharp two-edged sword is proceeding, and His countenance—as the sun shining in its might. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead, and He placed His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last, 18 and He who is living, and I became dead, and behold, I am living through the ages of the ages. Amen! And I have the keys of Hades and of death. 19 Write the things that you have seen, and the things that are, and the things that are about to come after these things; 20 the secret of the seven stars that you have seen on My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are messengers of the seven assemblies, and the seven lampstands that you have seen are seven assemblies.”
Revelation · Literal Standard Version
Revelation 1 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
John
The servant of Jesus Christ who received the revelation, writing from the island of Patmos to the seven churches of Asia. The text names him only as John; the Orthodox Church,…
Cited in the guide: Revelation 1:1; Revelation 1:4; Revelation 1:9
Places
Patmos
A place of Roman banishment. The exiled apostle John recorded the visions of Revelation here, addressed to seven churches on the nearby mainland.
Cited in the guide: Revelation 1:9
Cross references (20)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Revelation 22:6; Revelation 22:16; Amos 3:7; Galatians 1:12; Daniel 2:28–29
- 2 John 19:35; 1 Corinthians 1:6; 1 John 1:1; Revelation 1:19; John 21:24
- 3 Luke 11:28; Revelation 22:10; Romans 13:11; Proverbs 8:34; 1 Peter 4:7
- 4 Isaiah 11:2; John 1:1; Hebrews 13:8; Psalm 90:2; Revelation 5:6
- 5 Psalm 89:27; Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 1:7; Revelation 17:14; Colossians 1:18
- 6 Revelation 5:10; Revelation 20:6; Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:5–9; Isaiah 61:6
- 7 Matthew 24:30; Zechariah 12:10; Daniel 7:13; John 19:37; Mark 14:62
- 8 Isaiah 44:6; Revelation 22:13; Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 48:12; Revelation 21:6
- 9 Acts 14:22; Revelation 3:10; John 16:33; Revelation 1:2; Revelation 13:10
- 10 Revelation 21:10; 2 Corinthians 12:2–4; Revelation 4:1–2; Revelation 17:3; Revelation 10:3–8
- 11 Revelation 3:1; Jeremiah 30:2; Colossians 4:15–16; Habakkuk 2:2; Revelation 2:12
- 12 Zechariah 4:2; Exodus 25:37; Revelation 1:20–2:1; Revelation 1:13; Ezekiel 43:5–6
- 13 Daniel 7:13; Daniel 10:5–6; Daniel 10:16; Exodus 28:6–8; Revelation 15:6
- 14 Daniel 10:6; Daniel 7:9; Revelation 2:18; Revelation 19:12; Matthew 28:3
- 15 Ezekiel 43:2; Daniel 10:6; Revelation 14:2; Revelation 19:6; Psalm 93:4
- 16 Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 2:12; Revelation 19:15; Revelation 2:16; Ephesians 6:17
- 17 Isaiah 44:6; Daniel 10:8–10; Revelation 22:13; Daniel 8:17–18; Isaiah 48:12
- 18 Romans 6:9; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 14:8–9; Psalm 68:20; Revelation 3:7
- 19 Revelation 4:1–11; Revelation 1:11–2:3
- 20 Revelation 2:1; Revelation 3:1; Revelation 1:16; Zechariah 4:2; Revelation 3:7
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
And the prophet, too, indicates the same, saying, "instead of fathers, children have been born unto thee." For the Lord, having been born "the First-begotten of the dead," and receiving into His bosom the ancient fathers, has regenerated them into the life of God, He having been made Himself the beginning of those that live, as Adam became the beginning …
For which reason also the Apostle John writes to the seven churches, showing in that way that he writes to the totality of the one Church; and in the Proverbs of Solomon it is said aforetime, prefiguring this, "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath strengthened her seven pillars." For the city of God was barren in all nations before …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
"The Lord rained down fire from the Lord;" and "A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy Kingdom;" and "Which is and was and is to come, the Almighty" --all which are clearly spoken of the Son, with all the other passages of the same force, none of which is an afterthought, or added later to the Son or …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
On this account also does John declare in the Apocalypse, "And His voice as the sound of many waters." For the Spirit [of God] is truly [like] many waters, since the Father is both rich and great.
The Apocalypse is a book of St. John the Evangelist; and he writes "to seven Churches." Be ye hungered; own ye these baskets.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)