Prologue
1The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Greetings and Doxology
4John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits1:4 That is, the sevenfold Spirit before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”1:7 Daniel 7:13
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”1:7 Zech. 12:10
So shall it be! Amen.
8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
John’s Vision of Christ
9I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
12I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,1:13 See Daniel 7:13. dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels1:20 Or messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
1ቶሎ መሆን የሚገባውን ነገር ለአገልጋዮቹ እንዲያሳይ፣ እግዚአብሔር ለእርሱ የሰጠው የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ራእይ ይህ ነው፤ ኢየሱስም መልአኩን ልኮ ለአገልጋዩ ለዮሐንስ ገለጠለት፤ 2እርሱም ስለ እግዚአብሔር ቃልና ስለ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ምስክርነት ያየውን ሁሉ መሰከረ። 3ዘመኑ ቀርቧል፤ እንግዲህ ይህን የትንቢት ቃል የሚያነብብ ብፁዕ ነው፤ የሚሰሙትና የተጻፈውንም የሚጠብቁ ብፁዓን ናቸው።
ሰላምታና ውዳሴ
4ከዮሐንስ፤
በእስያ አውራጃ ለሚገኙ ለሰባቱ አብያተ ክርስቲያናት፤
ካለው፣ ከነበረውና ከሚመጣው፣ በዙፋኑም ፊት ካሉት ከሰባቱ መናፍስት፣1፥4 ወይም ሰባት ዕጥፍ መንፈስ 5እንዲሁም ታማኝ ምስክር፣ ከሙታን በኵርና የምድር ነገሥታት ገዥ ከሆነው ከኢየሱስ ክርስቶስም ጸጋና ሰላም ለእናንተ ይሁን።
ለወደደንና ከኀጢአታችንም በደሙ ነጻ ላወጣን፣ 6አምላኩንና አባቱን እንድናገለግልም መንግሥትና ካህናት ላደረገን፣ ለእርሱ ክብርና ኀይል ከዘላለም እስከ ዘላለም ይሁን! አሜን።
7እነሆ፤ በደመና ይመጣል፤
የወጉት እንኳ ሳይቀሩ፣
ዐይን ሁሉ ያየዋል፤
የምድርም ሕዝቦች ሁሉ ከእርሱ የተነሣ ዋይ ዋይ ይላሉ።
አዎ! ይህ ሁሉ ይሆናል፤ አሜን።
8“ያለውና የነበረው፣ የሚመጣውም፣ ሁሉን ቻይ ጌታ አምላክ፣ አልፋና ዖሜጋ እኔ ነኝ” ይላል።
የሰውን ልጅ የሚመስለው
9እኔ ወንድማችሁ ዮሐንስ፣ ከእናንተ ጋር አብሬ በኢየሱስ መከራውንና መንግሥቱን፣ ትዕግሥቱንም ተካፋይ የሆንሁ፣ ስለ እግዚአብሔር ቃልና ስለ ኢየሱስ ምስክርነት ፍጥሞ በምትባል ደሴት ነበርሁ። 10በጌታ ቀን በመንፈስ ነበርሁ፤ የመለከትን ድምፅ የሚመስል ታላቅ ድምፅ ከበስተ ኋላዬ ሰማሁ፤ 11ድምፁም፣ “የምታየውን በጥቅልል መጽሐፍ ጽፈህ በኤፌሶን፣ በሰምርኔስ፣ በጴርጋሞን፣ በትያጥሮን፣ በሰርዴስ፣ በፊላድልፍያና በሎዶቅያ ወደሚገኙት ወደ ሰባቱ የእስያ አብያተ ክርስቲያናት ላክ” አለ።
12እኔም የሚናገረኝን ድምፅ ለማየት ዞር አልሁ፤ ዞር ባልሁም ጊዜ ሰባት የወርቅ መቅረዞችን አየሁ፤ 13በመቅረዞቹም መካከል “የሰው ልጅ የሚመስል” አየሁ፤ እርሱም እስከ እግሩ የሚደርስ መጐናጸፊያ የለበሰ፣ ደረቱንም በወርቅ መታጠቂያ የታጠቀ ነበር። 14ራሱና ጠጕሩም እንደ ነጭ የበግ ጠጕር፣ እንደ በረዶም ነጭ ነበሩ፤ ዐይኖቹም የእሳት ነበልባል ይመስሉ ነበር። 15እግሮቹ በእቶን እሳት የጋለ ናስ ይመስሉ ነበር፤ ድምፁም እንደ ብዙ ወራጅ ውሃ ድምፅ ነበረ። 16በቀኝ እጁ ሰባት ከዋክብት ይዞ ነበር፤ ከአፉም በሁለት በኩል የተሳለ ሰይፍ ይወጣ ነበር፤ ፊቱም በሙሉ ድምቀቱ እንደሚያበራ ፀሓይ ነበረ።
17ባየሁት ጊዜ እንደ ሞተ ሰው ሆኜ በእግሩ ሥር ወደቅሁ። እርሱም ቀኝ እጁን በላዬ ጭኖ እንዲህ አለኝ፤ “አትፍራ፤ የመጀመሪያውም የመጨረሻውም እኔ ነኝ፤ 18እኔ ሕያው ነኝ፤ ሞቼ ነበር፤ እነሆ፤ አሁን ከዘላለም እስከ ዘላለም ድረስ ሕያው ነኝ፤ የሞትና የሲኦል መክፈቻም በእጄ ነው።
19“ስለዚህ ያየኸውን፣ አሁን ያለውንና በኋላም የሚሆነውን ጻፍ። 20በቀኝ እጄ ያየሃቸው የሰባቱ ከዋክብትና የሰባቱ የወርቅ መቅረዞች ምስጢር ይህ ነው፤ ሰባቱ ከዋክብት የሰባቱ አብያተ ክርስቲያናት መላእክት1፥20 ወይም መልእክተኞች ናቸው፤ ሰባቱ መቅረዞች ደግሞ ሰባቱ አብያተ ክርስቲያናት ናቸው።
