8. The Lord God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the one who is, who always was, and who is coming. I am the All-Powerful.”
9. I am John, your fellow believer. We are together in Jesus, and we share these things: suffering, the kingdom, and patient endurance. I was on the island of Patmos because I was faithful to God’s message and to the truth of Jesus.
10. On the Lord’s Day, the Spirit took control of me. I heard a loud voice behind me that sounded like a trumpet.
11. It said, “Write down in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12. I turned to see who was talking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.
13. I saw someone among the lampstands who looked like the Son of Man. He was dressed in a long robe, with a golden sash tied around his chest.
14. His head and hair were white like wool—wool that is white as snow. His eyes were like flames of fire.
15. His feet were like brass that glows hot in a furnace. His voice was like the noise of flooding water.
16. He held seven stars in his right hand. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth. He looked like the sun shining at its brightest time.
17. When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He put his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last.
18. I am the one who lives. I was dead, but look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19. So write what you see. Write the things that happen now and the things that will happen later.
20. Here is the hidden meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands that you saw: The seven lampstands are the seven churches. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.