Revelation 1 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Around AD 95, near the end of the emperor Domitian's reign, roughly sixty years after the crucifixion
Location
Patmos, a small rocky island in the Aegean Sea about forty miles off the coast of what is now western Turkey, used by Rome as a place of banishment
Audience
Seven Christian congregations in the Roman province of Asia, in the western part of modern Turkey, most of them small groups meeting in homes
Situation
John, exiled on Patmos, describes hearing a voice behind him on the Lord's day and turning to see a towering figure of the risen Jesus standing among seven golden lampstands. He is told to write what he sees and send it to seven named churches.
Key Background
Roman authorities used relegation to an island as a punishment for troublemakers who were not worth executing, so John's location signals official pressure rather than a retreat. The book opens with the standard features of an ancient letter, a named sender, named recipients, and a greeting, which means the visions that follow were meant to be read aloud to assembled congregations rather than studied privately. The imagery of the figure John sees, including white hair, blazing eyes, and a voice like rushing water, is drawn directly from earlier visions in Daniel and Ezekiel, so the first readers would have recognized it as the language reserved for God himself.
This is the of Jesus, The — what God gave him to show the people who serve him, things that must happen soon. He sent it through his angel to his John,
who confirmed everything he saw — the message of God and the of Jesus, The One.
is for anyone who reads this out loud, and for those who hear it and take to heart what's written in it — because the time is close.
John, to the in the province of Asia: and to you from the one who is, who was, and who is coming — and from the before his throne —
and from Jesus, The One — the the from the and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has us from through his blood —
and has made us a — serving his God and Father — to him be the and the power for all ages! it be so!
Look! He is with the and every eye will see him — even those who pierced him. And all the peoples of the earth will their in because of him. Yes, let it be so!
"I am the and the says the Lord God — "the one who is, who was, and who is coming — the
I, John — your brother and in the suffering, the kingdom, and the that come from being united with Jesus — was on the island called because of the message of God and the testimony of Jesus.
I was caught up by the of on the and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast
saying, "Write down what you see on a and send it to the seven gathered communities — to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."
I turned around to see whose voice was speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden
and among the lampstands was someone who looked like a of dressed in a down to with a golden sash wrapped around chest.
The hair on his head was wool — as — and his eyes were
His feet were like in a and his voice was like the of
In his right hand he held and coming out of his mouth was a His face was like the sun shining at full strength.
When I saw him, I at a But he placed right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid. I am the and the
and the I was dead, and look — I am for all And I hold the to and the
So write down what you have seen—what is happening now, and what will happen after this.
Here is the of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the of the seven gathered communities, and the seven lampstands are the seven gathered communities themselves.