9. I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus.
10. I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet,
11. which said, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12. Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands
13. and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest.
14. The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame.
15. His feet were like polished brass refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing water.
16. In his right hand he held seven stars. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest.
17. When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last,