Revelation 1:9-19

9I am John, your brother. I share your suffering, ruling, and endurance because of Jesus. I was ⌞exiled⌟ on the island of Patmos because of God’s word and the testimony about Jesus.

10I came under the Spirit’s power on the Lord’s day. I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet,

11saying, “Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

12I turned toward the voice which was talking to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lamp stands.

13There was someone like the Son of Man among the lamp stands. He was wearing a robe that reached his feet. He wore a gold belt around his waist.

14His head and his hair were white like wool—like snow. His eyes were like flames of fire.

15His feet were like glowing bronze refined in a furnace. His voice was like the sound of raging waters.

16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His face was like the sun when it shines in all its brightness.

17When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. Then he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the first and the last,

18the living one. I was dead, but now I am alive forever. I have the keys of death and hell.

19Therefore, write down what you have seen, what is, and what is going to happen after these things.