Apocalypse Explained Volume 2

The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show unto His servants the things which must quickly come to pass, and signified, sending by His angel, unto His servant John. 2. Who bare witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatsoever things he saw. 3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear, the words of the prophecy, and keep the things which are written therein; for the time is near. 4. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you, and peace, from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come; and from the seven spirits which are in sight of His throne; 5. And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loveth us, and washeth us from our sins in His blood; 6. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father: to Him be the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages. Amen. 7. Behold, He cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall lament over Him. Even so; Amen. 8. I am the Alpha and the Omega, Beginning and End, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. 9. I, John, who also am your brother and partaker in the affliction and in the kingdom and patient expectation of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, 1-1 for the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day; and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11. Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last; and what thou seest write in a book, and send to the churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and Smyrna, and Pergamum, and Thyatira, and Sardis, and Philadelphia, and Laodicea. 12. And I turned to see the voice which spake with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, 13. And in the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the paps with a golden girdle. 14. And His head and hairs white as white wool, as snow: and His eyes as a flame of fire. 15. And His feet like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace; and His voice as the voice of many waters. 16. And having in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth a sharp two-edged sword going forth; and His face as the sun shineth in his power.