7. Look, he is coming on the clouds! Everyone will see him, including those who pierced him. All peoples on earth will mourn over him. So shall it be!
8. “I am the first and the last,” says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come.
9. I am John, your brother, and as a follower of Jesus I am your partner in patiently enduring the suffering that comes to those who belong to his Kingdom. I was put on the island of Patmos because I had proclaimed God's word and the truth that Jesus revealed.
10. On the Lord's day the Spirit took control of me, and I heard a loud voice, that sounded like a trumpet, speaking behind me.
11. It said, “Write down what you see, and send the book to the churches in these seven cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12. I turned round to see who was talking to me, and I saw seven gold lampstands,
13. and among them there was what looked like a human being, wearing a robe that reached to his feet, and a gold belt round his chest.
14. His hair was white as wool, or as snow, and his eyes blazed like fire;
15. his feet shone like brass that has been refined and polished, and his voice sounded like a roaring waterfall.