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 round 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 round 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.
1以下是上帝賜給耶穌基督的啟示，讓祂把將來要發生的事指示祂的眾奴僕。因此，祂差遣天使告訴祂的奴僕約翰。 2約翰便為自己所看見的一切——上帝的道和耶穌基督做見證。 3那位宣讀這預言的人和那些聽見並遵守其中內容的人有福了，因為日期近了。
問候七教會
4-5我約翰寫信給你們亞細亞的七間教會。願昔在、今在、以後永在的上帝，祂寶座前的七靈1·4-5 「七靈」指的就是聖靈，數字七代表完全，不是說有七個靈。和耶穌基督賜給你們恩典和平安。耶穌基督是忠心的見證人，是首先從死裡復活的，是世上君王的首領。祂愛我們，用自己的血救我們脫離罪惡， 6使我們成為祭司的國度1·6 「成為祭司的國度」或譯「成為國度，做祭司」。來事奉祂的父上帝。願祂得到一切榮耀和權柄，一直到永永遠遠。阿們！
7看啊！祂要駕雲降臨，世人都要看見祂，包括曾經刺祂的人。地上的萬族都必因祂而哀哭。這事必定實現。阿們！
8主上帝說：「我是阿拉法，我是俄梅加1·8 「阿拉法」和「俄梅加」分別是希臘文第一個和最後一個字母，故此句意即「我是始，我是終」。，我是昔在、今在、以後永在的全能者。」
基督的顯現
9我約翰是你們的弟兄，在耶穌裡和你們患難與共、同享國度、一起忍耐。我因傳揚上帝的道、為主耶穌做見證而到了拔摩海島上。 10主日，我被聖靈感動，聽見身後有號角般響亮的聲音說： 11「把你所看見的寫在書上，然後送給以弗所、士每拿、別迦摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉鐵非和老底嘉七間教會。」
12我轉身看究竟是誰在對我說話，我看見七個金燈臺， 13有一位好像人子耶穌的站在這些燈臺中間。祂長袍垂腳，金帶圍胸， 14頭與髮白如羊毛、潔白如雪，眼睛像火焰， 15雙腳像爐中冶煉過的銅一樣光亮，聲音如同洪濤之聲。 16祂右手拿著七顆星，口中吐出一把兩刃的利劍，面貌如烈日放光。
17我一看見祂，便仆倒在祂腳前，像死了一樣。祂把右手按在我身上，說：「不要害怕！我是首先的，我是末後的， 18我是永活者。我曾經死過，但看啊，我永永遠遠活著。我掌握死亡和陰間的鑰匙。 19所以，你要將所看見的一切——現在和將來要發生的事都記錄下來。 20你所看見在我右手中的七顆星和七個金燈臺的奧祕是，七顆星代表七間教會的天使1·20 「天使」或譯「信使」或「使者」，下同，可能指教會的守護天使，或者是教會的領袖。，七個燈臺代表七間教會。
