5. May grace and peace come to you from Jesus Christ. What Jesus gives witness to can always be trusted. He was the first to rise from the dead. He rules over the kings of the earth. Give glory and power to the One who loves us! He has set us free from our sins by pouring out his blood for us.
6. He has made us members of his royal family. He has made us priests who serve his God and Father. Give him glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7. Look! He is coming with the clouds! Every eye will see him. Even those who pierced him will see him. All the nations of the earth will be sad because of him. This will really happen! Amen.
8. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," says the Lord God. "I am the One who is, and who was, and who will come. I am the Mighty One."
9. I, John, am a believer like you. I am a friend who suffers like you. As members of Jesus' royal family, we can put up with anything that happens to us. I was on the island of Patmos because I taught God's word and what Jesus said.
10. The Holy Spirit took complete control of me on the Lord's Day. I heard a loud voice behind me that sounded like a trumpet.
11. The voice said, "Write on a scroll what you see. Send it to the seven churches in Asia Minor. They are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
12. I turned around to see who was speaking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.
13. In the middle of them was someone who looked "like a son of man." (Daniel 7:13) He was dressed in a long robe with a gold strip of cloth around his chest.
14. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a blazing fire.
15. His feet were like bronze metal glowing in a furnace. His voice sounded like rushing waters.
16. He held seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth came a sharp sword that had two edges. His face was like the sun shining in all of its brightness.
17. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. Then he put his right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.