9. I am John, and I am your brother in Christ. We are together in Jesus, and we share in these things: in suffering, in the kingdom, and in patience. I was on the island of Patmos because I had preached God’s message and the truth about 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. The voice said, “Write what you see and send that book 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 was “like a Son of Man.” He was dressed in a long robe. He had a gold band around his chest.
14. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like flames of fire.
15. His feet were like bronze 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, “Do not 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 where the dead are.