Rev 1:3-13 | ESV | STEP | Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy , and blessed are those who hear , and who keep what is written in it , for the time is near .

Revelation of John 1:3-13

3 ^aBlessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, ^bfor the time is near.

Greeting to the Seven Churches

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from ^chim ^dwho is and ^ewho was and who is to come, and from ^fthe seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ ^gthe faithful witness, ^hthe firstborn of the dead, and ⁱthe ruler of kings on earth.

To ^jhim who loves us and ^khas freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us ^la kingdom, ^mpriests to ⁿhis God and Father, to him be ^oglory and ^pdominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, ^qhe is coming with the clouds, and ^revery eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail ^{▼▼Or mourn} on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8 ^t“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, ^u“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Vision of the Son of Man

9 I, John, your brother and ^vpartner in ^wthe tribulation and ^xthe kingdom and ^ythe patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos ^zon account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 ^aaI was in the Spirit ^abon the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice ^aclike a trumpet 11 saying, ^ad“Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw ^aeseven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands ^afone like ^aga son of man, ^ahclothed with a long robe and ^aiwith a golden sash around his chest.