Revelation 1:10-19

10I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day when I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,

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

12I turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, and when I did so, I saw seven golden lampstands,

13and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet and he wore a wide golden belt around his chest.

14His head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame.

15His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

16He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His face shone like the sun shining at full strength.

17When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last,

18and the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades!

19Therefore write what you saw, what is, and what will be after these things.