1 Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἣν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς δεῖξαι τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ, ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει, καὶ ἐσήμανεν ἀποστείλας διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ τῷ δούλῳ αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννῃ, 2 ὃς ἐμαρτύρησεν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅσα εἶδεν. 3 μακάριος ὁ ἀναγινώσκων καὶ οἱ ἀκούοντες τοὺς λόγους τῆς προφητείας καὶ τηροῦντες τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ γεγραμμένα, ὁ γὰρ καιρὸς ἐγγύς. 4 Ἰωάννης ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαις ταῖς ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ· χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ⸀ἀπὸ ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων ἃ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ, 5 καὶ ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστός, ὁ πρωτότοκος τῶν νεκρῶν καὶ ὁ ἄρχων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς. Τῷ ἀγαπῶντι ἡμᾶς καὶ ⸀λύσαντι ἡμᾶς ⸀ἐκ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ— 6 καὶ ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς βασιλείαν, ἱερεῖς τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ— αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας ⸂τῶν αἰώνων · ἀμήν. 7 Ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται μετὰ τῶν νεφελῶν, καὶ ὄψεται αὐτὸν πᾶς ὀφθαλμὸς καὶ οἵτινες αὐτὸν ἐξεκέντησαν, καὶ κόψονται ἐπʼ αὐτὸν πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς. ναί, ἀμήν. 8 Ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ, λέγει κύριος, ὁ θεός, ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ὁ παντοκράτωρ. 9 Ἐγὼ Ἰωάννης, ὁ ἀδελφὸς ὑμῶν καὶ ⸀συγκοινωνὸς ἐν τῇ θλίψει καὶ βασιλείᾳ καὶ ὑπομονῇ ⸀ἐν Ἰησοῦ ἐγενόμην ἐν τῇ νήσῳ τῇ καλουμένῃ Πάτμῳ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ ⸀καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ⸀Ἰησοῦ. 10 ἐγενόμην ἐν πνεύματι ἐν τῇ κυριακῇ ἡμέρᾳ, καὶ ἤκουσα ⸂ὀπίσω μου φωνὴν μεγάλην ὡς σάλπιγγος 11 λεγούσης· Ὃ βλέπεις γράψον εἰς βιβλίον καὶ πέμψον ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαις, εἰς Ἔφεσον καὶ εἰς Σμύρναν καὶ εἰς Πέργαμον καὶ εἰς Θυάτειρα καὶ εἰς Σάρδεις καὶ εἰς Φιλαδέλφειαν καὶ εἰς Λαοδίκειαν. 12 ⸀Καὶ ἐπέστρεψα βλέπειν τὴν φωνὴν ἥτις ἐλάλει μετʼ ἐμοῦ· καὶ ἐπιστρέψας εἶδον ἑπτὰ λυχνίας χρυσᾶς, 13 καὶ ἐν μέσῳ ⸀τῶν λυχνιῶν ὅμοιον ⸀υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου, ἐνδεδυμένον ποδήρη καὶ περιεζωσμένον πρὸς τοῖς μαστοῖς ζώνην χρυσᾶν· 14 ἡ δὲ κεφαλὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ αἱ τρίχες λευκαὶ ὡς ἔριον λευκόν, ὡς χιών, καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ὡς φλὸξ πυρός, 15 καὶ οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ ὅμοιοι χαλκολιβάνῳ, ὡς ἐν καμίνῳ ⸀πεπυρωμένης καὶ ἡ φωνὴ αὐτοῦ ὡς φωνὴ ὑδάτων πολλῶν, 16 καὶ ἔχων ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ ⸂χειρὶ αὐτοῦ ἀστέρας ἑπτά, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ῥομφαία δίστομος ὀξεῖα ἐκπορευομένη, καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος φαίνει ἐν τῇ δυνάμει αὐτοῦ. 17 Καὶ ὅτε εἶδον αὐτόν, ἔπεσα πρὸς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ὡς νεκρός· καὶ ἔθηκεν τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ ἐπʼ ἐμὲ λέγων· Μὴ φοβοῦ· ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος, 18 καὶ ὁ ζῶν— καὶ ἐγενόμην νεκρὸς καὶ ἰδοὺ ζῶν εἰμι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν ⸀αἰώνων καὶ ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τοῦ ᾅδου. 19 γράψον οὖν ἃ εἶδες καὶ ἃ εἰσὶν καὶ ἃ μέλλει ⸀γίνεσθαι μετὰ ταῦτα. 20 τὸ μυστήριον τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀστέρων ⸀οὓς εἶδες ἐπὶ τῆς δεξιᾶς μου, καὶ τὰς ἑπτὰ λυχνίας τὰς χρυσᾶς· οἱ ἑπτὰ ἀστέρες ἄγγελοι τῶν ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησιῶν εἰσίν, καὶ αἱ λυχνίαι αἱ ἑπτὰ ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαι εἰσίν.
Revelation · SBL Greek New Testament
Revelation 1 SBL Greek New Testament
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)