6 He made us his kingdom and priests who serve God his Father. To Jesus be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
7 Look, Jesus is coming with the clouds! Everyone will see him, even those who pierced him. All peoples of the earth will cry loudly because of him. Yes, this will happen! Amen.
8 The Lord God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the one who is, who always was, and who is coming. I am the All-Powerful.”
9 I am John, your fellow believer. We are together in Jesus, and we share these things: suffering, the kingdom, and patient endurance. I was on the island of Patmos because I was faithful to God’s message and to the truth of Jesus.
10 On the Lord’s Day, the Spirit took control of me. I heard a loud voice behind me that sounded like a trumpet.
11 It said, “Write down in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 I turned to see who was talking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.