1:9 I, John, your brother and the one who shares ¹  with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that ²  are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. ³  1:10 I was in the Spirit ⁴  on the Lord’s Day ⁵  when ⁶  I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 1:11 saying: “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches – to Ephesus, ⁷  Smyrna, ⁸  Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

1:12 I ⁹  turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, ¹⁰  and when I did so, ¹¹  I saw seven golden lampstands, 1:13 and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. ¹²  He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet and he wore a wide golden belt ¹³  around his chest. 1:14 His ¹⁴  head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, ¹⁵  and his eyes were like a fiery ¹⁶  flame. 1:15 His feet were like polished bronze ¹⁷  refined ¹⁸  in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar ¹⁹  of many waters. 1:16 He held ²⁰  seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His ²¹  face shone like the sun shining at full strength.