The End: A Bible Translation of John’s Revelation (with Translation Notes)

By Jesse Steele

"The End" Bible Translation of John's Revelation, with each verse starting on a new line, extra space between lines, and with links to translation notes that explain some of the considerations behind the translation. This is intended for a more intense study of the translation and is organized for printing and study. For a normal translation, see the original, simple edition of "The End".

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jesse Steele
• Release date: Nov 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311110916

Jesse Steele

Today's news, yesterday.TM I'm an American writer in Asia who wears many hats. I learned piano as a kid, studied Bible in college, and currently do podcasting, web contenting, cloud control, and brand design. I like golf, water, speed, music, kung fu, art, and stories.

Book preview

For Jesus,

My First, my Last, my Always,

My Dawn and Star, my Word,

And my Hope for Patience Forever Eternal

Table of Contents

For Jesus

Introduction

Preface

The End

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Translation Notes

About the Author

Introduction

Every translation has a different purpose. Experience shows that many English Bible translations emphasize a particular style of language and education level of English, coupled with an exposition on the meaning in Greek. This approach, historically, seems to presume that there is a limited number of ways to express a given idea at any particular certain level of English difficulty. This is at the expense of focusing the work of translation, to search out the poetic possibilities when the Greek meaning arrives in English.

English speakers of every education level use different styles of English, with a vast array of different expressions for different occasions. Why can’t an English Bible translation include such diversity within the same text?

There are many good English Bible translations, which serve different purposes, especially for the purpose of consulting many sources of knowledge when studying the Bible. Different translation methods serve different purposes. No one translation is best, but each translation may have its turn in being better, depending on the purpose, and so long as it is not misleading or faulty in its representation of the text.

This translation style uses a cliché-for-cliché via word-for-word approach, with an emphasis on word count, syllable count, and rhyme. Sometimes word order is maintained, other times it is changed, depending on the impact that the English translation has on the understanding of the reader. Where word count must be changed, syllable count is considered. Where words rhyme in Greek, words may also be chosen that rhyme together in English, or English words may be chosen to rhyme with Greek words or that have etymological similarities.

This translation method attempts a literal translation, which also preserves cliché and poetic quality. In many translation circles, these goals are thought to be difficult. Poetic value in the translation language is often neglected, even when translating poetry. For a translator who has given some time for reflection during the translation process, and who has a history of using the English language, it may not prove to be so difficult.

Cliché-for-cliché is slightly different from idea-for-idea, especially where word-for-word and cliché -for-cliché translation may happen to be coterminous. This translation method may be known as cliché-for-cliché via word-for-word. This style also combines older, yet known, forms of English where the poetic and traditional connotations may carry emphasis that may have been intended by John when he authored the text in Greek. Other English translations were occasionally consulted in the process, though rarely, while Greek was the base text and considered first, last, and, most of the time, only. This is certainly a translation and, by no means, a rephrase or paraphrase.

The main difference between this and other translations are mostly in grammatical subtlety with the attempt of achieving deeper, yet consistent, meaning through simplicity. It rarely gets interpretive and doesn’t stray far from standard definitions. Most words are translated the same at each occurrence, which can make a passage seem strange at times, though it is more refreshing to the reader than distracting. Some Greek words were translated differently each time, such as conjunctions and common verbs that served as wildcards in Greek, while the English equivalents prefer to change verbs to match their nouns and contexts.

Some terms were adopted from Greek to make seemingly new terms, such as pseudoprophet (literally ‘false prophet’ as one word in Greek) and magna call, literally a loud voice. This was used because every time there is a loud voice or magna call it is a situation with great authority being demonstrated and it almost seems like John was describing something like heaven’s legal jargon. It almost seems that Angels have access to an in-built megaphone when heralding law or decree. Magna call indicates this loud voice every time, without exception. While magna call is a new term for English, this is not an unacceptable practice for literature to introduce or even create vocabulary to the reader.

The word call deserves special mention because it can mean voice, but also sound. Call was translated this way because, at each occurrence, it is technically correct and it seemed important for the English reader to know that it was the same word in Greek. It is also consistent in magna call.

Words of Jesus and God (the Father on the Throne) appear in italics. Additional notes and alternative translations are completely absent as they seemed distracting and unnecessary, especially given that translation notes are also available. Any future study guides will not be displayed alongside Biblical text, but only as separate publications. Generally, the author shies from the idea of any non-Biblical text being displayed parallel to Spirit-breathed Scripture, translated or original.

Some English mechanics may seem strange as written, but when thought of as verbal English, especially including appropriate pauses, the meaning seems clearer than traditionally written English. These situations are usually intended to preserve the words from Greek and to avoid adding words in English. Some and instances were left out in lists and at the beginning of several sentences because Greek likes to make more frequent use of copulative conjunctions than English comfortably tolerates. There are other translation notes available in another volume to explain more of the overall rationale behind many choices in the translation.

The author of this translation studied Greek at the Moody Bible Institute under Dr. Ron Saur, alongside graduate students. He had limited, individual discussion with Dr. Ken Taylor (author of the Living Bible and founder of Tyndale House Publishers in Wheaton, Illinois) about the nature and purpose of different styles and responsibilities of translation work a few years before Dr. Taylor’s passing. He blogs, podcasts, is syndicated, has authored a number of eBooks, has experience teaching ESL and writing, and does freelance work in editing.

The author does not believe he is qualified to do translation work on account his limited knowledge of Greek so much as his experience with English. He believes that translation requires good and creative command of the destination language in addition to knowledge of the original language, rather than emphasizing knowledge of the original language specifically while having academic familiarity with English in general without an English vocation or background.

In the author’s view, the ideal English Bible translator would have a separate PhD in each Biblical language, while also having published best-selling novels that have stood the test of time. One example would be if C. S. Lewis had a PhD in Greek, another PhD in Hebrew, and another PhD in Aramaic. But, such a person does not exist and likely never will. Typically, a PhD in Greek does not use English as beautifully as C. S. Lewis did. Likewise, renowned English authors don’t often study ancient Biblical languages in such depth. So, each translator must do the best possible within his own abilities and the audience must expect of each translation according to its particular goals. The goal of this translation is to be literal-poetic, a mutual combination of two objectives that are traditionally mutually exclusive where Bible translation is concerned.

The reader may find some segments to be questionable. The author hopes that these may inspire the English-speaking Christian community to make better translations of other parts of the sacred Scriptures in the future. Translation of other writings of John, then possibly other New Testament authors, is under consideration by the author at the time this translation is first published. Revelation had priority because it is a book that has emphasis among Christians in trying to understand. This translation method may provide some fresh perspectives on a book that already has an overabundance of study guides. Sometimes, when trying to understand the Bible, a fresh look at the words might be more useful than an elaboration on their meaning. Or, at least, it might be a good place to start.

Preface

The form of the Bible translation in this version places each verse at a new line with extra space between lines. This is to make study easier, as well as if the document is printed, giving extra space for writing. This also helps separate the many comments in the translation notes.

The actual notes may contain many grammatical and possibly spelling errors. They were made while the translation was in progress as a part of due diligence, a responsibility that the translator felt was necessary in order to be responsible in his duty in the work of translation. These notes took significantly greater time than the translation itself.

It is worth mention that they aided in consistency. By keeping records of which words were translated with consideration for other verses, the process of back-checking the translation of earlier verses often revealed where a word, say in Chapter 2, needed to be changed to be consistent with, say Chapters 5, 11, and 17. This was usually not the case, though. Most words that were translated consistentyly stayed true to the initial translation and did not need to be done retrospectively, at least 20 words, however, did, though there is not a list. One of the most sweeping changes upon restrospect was the word translated supreme from ischus/ἰσχύς, after the translation was complete.

While keeping these notes helped in identifying words that needed retrospective translation, most words did not need retrospective translation and this was an unintended benefit of keeping the translation notes. The primary purpose for keeing these notes was out of a sense of diligence and to be able to explain some of the philosophy of this translation method to other interested Biblical language students, including the teachers who are themselves eternal students.

These notes are not an exegesis. They are not a sermon. They are not an example of expository preaching. These notes are not intended to be any kind of comment on the Bible itself. Moreover, these notes are not an in-depth explanation nor any authority concerning Greek. The notes do not pretend to be a tense-voice-mood lookup resource, as there are many such resources already and widely available.

Some of the interpretations (or explanations in the notes) of noun case and verb conjugation may be disputable. These notes are more of a collection of thoughts I had while translating, mostly considering why I chose the English as I did, and less about the Greek that I chose them from. Still, there is a substantial and heavy consideration for Greek.

As I carefully considered English words, I made notes on ideas I thought were important at the time. I share these notes from my own desk with you gladly and hopefully to some benefit. Any interpretation of Scripture that is expounded on in these notes is only included to support some of the rationale for translating the text as it was translated.

These notes were written to be understood by lifelong Greek students who have at least some prior knowledge of Greek, have access to original Greek text, but in a way that others would not be completely left in the dark. For this, some grammatical jargon is couched with other explanatory words, though some complex jargon is included to offer more meaning to those in the audience who may understand it. If you read and feel lost, that is not the intent. It is somewhat of a technical work.

If you are not a formally trained Greek Bible student, it may be useful to read these notes with a sophisticated dictionary handy or a pen and paper to write down words to research at a later time. With some vocabulary building, reading these notes should become easy in short time for any high school-level English reader. But, if you don’t understand some words, it’s also okay to skip over them. Just be careful that you don’t apply any idea in these notes without consulting someone who knows how to formally use these words and manners of speech. If you are a beginning Bible student, I strongly recommend Living by the Book by Howard Hendricks as a good introduction. Hendricks’ book is both understandable for laymen and scholarly in its wisdom.

I have transliterated Greek words with my own method of transliteration, which I find more accurate in finding words after the fact. Two main differences exist: Omega, ω, is transliterated oe to distinguish it from Omicron, ο. And Eta, η, is transliterated ae to distinguish it from Alpha, α, and Epsilon, ε. The small Iota as it occasionally appears in Omega, ῳ, and Eta, ῃ, is preceded with a y before the same vowel, resulting in the spellings yoe and yae, respectively. As a side note, my decision to include y in this way was based, primarily, on the fact that it deserves an appearance in transliteration and, secondarily, on similar spelling and phonetic habits found in Romanized Mandarin. Generally, this method of transliteration does not create any other conflicts since Alphas and Omicrons don’t often precede Epsilons in Greek. While Greek spellings are included for accuracy, the transliteration may also be useful on reading devices that do not support Greek fonts.

I find this transliteration method to be more useful and accurate than common transliteration methods. Generally, no transliteration is perfect, and, respectfully yet frankly, I think anyone concerned about accuracy should simply take the thirty minutes necessary to learn the Greek alphabet. Learning is rarely a waste, in this case since Greek often appears in other English circumstances and it should prove easy since many letters are similar.

For newer Bible students, some abbreviations should be known. Generally speaking: vv indicates verses (plural) while v indicates verse, both referring to the same chapter under discussion. ch indicates chapter while chs may be plural for chapters and ff indicates verses following and cf indicates cross-referenced with uses with two verses together. These abbreviations may be capitalized at the beginning of sentences.

If there are any claims as to fact, in these notes, that are in error, please accept my most humble apologies in advance and contact me with the location and as brief a correction as possible. I hope that, as much as I strive to verify my factual claims, even when my Humanity proves its limits, and even as you may disagree with some of my opinions, that there may be something that every reader may benefit from to improve and encourage Bible study throughout the Body of Christ.

Typing these notes took more time than the translation itself. I feel this is both useful and necessary since most translations, though they may have study notes embedded with the text or footnotes for alternate translations, include little explanation for why the words so chosen as they were. The notes here explain more about the reasoning behind the choice of English words than the meaning of Greek. While studying Biblical languages is a necessary field, these notes meet more of the need for good exploration for students of English who may or may not have some preexisting background in Greek. I have chosen my words carefully so as to avoid Greek metalanguage so that, while those with some prior knowledge of Greek will be able to understand more, no background knowledge of Greek is necessary for these notes to make complete sense.

I also avoid saying too much about the tense, voice, mood, and case of words for three main reasons: 1. As already stated, these notes are more about the English consideration in responsible translation, 2. I am not an expert or a walking dictionary reference of the conjugation of every Greek verb in the New Testament, as my Greek professor was, and I don’t need to pretend to be such an expert, and 3. There are already many experts and excellent resources for Greek students who want more accurate and extensive knowledge on the subject. Additionally, this is not a homework assignment. Most English translations don’t come with any notes about the reasoning behind their choices whatsoever, let alone a chart for looking up Greek grammar. I have already provided more explanation for this translation than most academically accepted translations on the market. It’s best for me to work within my own area of understanding and contribute accordingly.

I have little to no opinion as to whether such care should be taken for other languages. My intention was to make a good translation of this one, difficult book of the Bible in my native tongue. Perhaps, if people are so interested, some of these notes might be useful for translating the Bible into other languages. But that is not my early intention.

If someone wanted to incorporate a more thoughtful approach to the possibilities in the destination language of a translation, it is absolutely essential that the translator be skilled in that language and that it be his predominant and mother tongue. One of the secret ingredients to good translation is that the translator be translating INTO his native language, rather than from it, no matter how skilled he may be in the second language. Secondly, he must have his own experience studying many different genres and levels of language in his language, along with reflecting on his own amount of vast writing. Winston Calloutill prepared one hour for each minute of a public speech. C. S. Lewis wrote properly and accurately for all levels of English understanding, from the highest academic English to his Letters to Children. Both of these British authors are respected and authoritative for these reasons.

English is a franca lingua—a common language—of our day. So, perhaps this kind of reflection into English has greater priority, as could be the case with Spanish and Chinese, though anyone with the call of the Lord in his heart to do translation work should purse it. Extensive translation in this style of cliché for cliché via word for word approach could be easily achieved by a skilled native speaker of Spanish, especially since the Spanish-speaking world is so vast with such diversity and opportunity for it to develop in different forms.

Mandarin is another dominant language that needs good Bible translation work. However, this language poses two problems to a cliché for cliché via word for word approach. Being a non-European language, word-for-word is geometrically impossible, while it is possible when translating from Hebrew and Greek into Spanish or English. Secondly, English and Spanish have well over a thousand years of history with ideas originating from the Bible being embedded into their cliché’s, cultural concepts, and dictionaries. Chinese, by contrast, has shame and ignorance of repentance unto hope so embedded into their language, that many Western concepts cannot be expressed in Chinese without first teaching the concept itself. The Chinese language, thus, is shaped by shame-based placating, unnecessarily apologizing, and severance of due responsibility. Thus, Chinese grammar itself has proven to be a mission field in need of being redeemed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As the teachings of the Bible work their way into East Asian cultures, their grammar and vocabulary may undergo such changes that Bible translations in those languages may soon become outdated due to outdated grammar in regard to Biblical ideas. Given this, it may be better to use quantity, rather than quality, in doing Bible translation work in these languages that are somewhat wet behind the ears to the basic teachings of the Bible.

The thoughtfulness that has gone into this Bible translation may not be appropriate for every language in the world. It may easily seem helpful, however, to a franca lingua with a Biblical history, such as English or Spanish. But, by all means, don’t let the way things seem discourage you from doing any translation work that the Lord may put in your heart. Perhaps English is your second language and these notes may be used by the Lord to inspire you to understand your own mother tongue better as you study the Bible in greater depth.

I don’t expect that many people will read these notes, but I feel that those who are interested will be more valuable to their friends and family members by having access to these notes. I don’t anticipate doing any more translation work in the foreseeable future. Revelation is especially difficult and has an arguably increased need for alternate translations and corresponding considerations and explanations. With these explanations, the way may be paved for the rest of the Callout to better understand Scripture in any language, rather than the false sense of progress by merely having another translation handed to them.

Good Bible translation doesn't just need people who are knowledgeable about the original languages, in the case of Revelation, Greek. A good translator needs to be a writer, having good command of his own, native language. One of the secret rules of good translation is that the best translator translates INTO his own native language. The best ESL teachers are writers.

Winston Calloutill spent an hour mulling over and modifying his own words for each minute of a speech. He would take 30 hours, all week, to prepare for a 30 minute speech. This is what writers do. Over the last four years, as a dedicated blogger who writes constantly edits my own posts at least twice, my own choice of words is often a choice that requires one sandwich and two cups of coffee.

My understanding from the translating culture of English-speaking Christians seems to be that more consideration is taken to the meaning of Greek than to the many options for expressing the main idea in English. As a result, we have many Bibleisms in English that appear nowhere else in our language, except when Christians try to sound smarter than each other, but that's another book altogether.

Even when we have looser and more vernacular translations, the translation reflects a focus on the ease of understanding rather than a serious exploration of the vast phrases and sayings we already have in English which may convey the original idea most accurately. An understandable translation is useless if it's not accurate.

We have these two extremes in English Bible translation: Choppy Greeklish filled with irregular Bibleisms (such as abundant and unconventional use of the word 'even' in the NASB) or else dramatically rephrased sentences which may easily convey only one similar idea found the original, but often sacrifice many other meanings in doing so.

So, even from my Bible school days, I found myself taking an approach, that word for word translations—with some nominal exceptions especially with word order, conjunctions, and articles—were very possible if I sat and pondered many English cliché s which normally don't make it into any English translation, literal or loose alike.

Most translations are either gravitate to word for word or idea for idea. But what about prepositionsl phrase for prepositional phrase or cliché-for- cliché or strong/wordy language for strong/wordy language? Here are some examples of my considerations in the first six verses...

Another consideration in translating Revelation is that I read the book 2 to 5 times a week for almost a year, scribbling over four different copies of it with my thoughts, and I continue to read it often. So, when it comes to knowing what John is trying to say, my translation may be a little more accurate than if I had only read the book twice and depended mainly on Greek reference tools like BDAG and Kittle. Joshua 1:8 clearly expresses that the way to understand Scripture is to MEDITATE on it. Though I have a degree in Bible, and I strongly advocate proper reference tools like BDAG and Kittle, as well as knowing historical context in great depth, nothing has helped me understand Scripture as well as reading it over and over--and that's something anyone can do. I've been told that this approach, that meditating on Scripture is necessary to understand it, is a form of so-called Gnosticism, the idea that knowledge is limited to an elite few. This seems absurd! ANYONE can meditate on Scripture--that is far from Gnosticism. True Gnosticism, today, is much more closely related to the wide-spread superstition that one must attend seminary in order to understand the Bible. Moreover, if seminary were so helpful in understanding God's Word, why do so many seminary graduates continue denominational disputes, factions, and disunity, things clearly forbidden in Scripture. If we measure by the fruits, seminary seems to hinder people's ability to obey Scripture, especially where Christian unity is concerned, but that's another topic for another book. My point here is, meditation on Scripture is essential to understanding it, understanding Scripture is every bit as essential to translating it as knowledge of original Bible languages, and meditating on Scripture is something anyone can do. I know some Greek from my days at Moody. I had an amazing Greek professor. I had the opportunity to talk about Bible translating with Ken Taylor, who wrote the Living Bible for his grandchildren and oversaw the New Living Translation for preaching. But, most importantly, I meditated on this passage of Scripture before translating it.

not merely:

preposition for preposition

pronoun for pronoun

conjunction for conjunction

Moreover, there is more to measuring the accuracy of Greek translation than conjugating verbs the same, especially since English has a different number of verb tenses than Greek, and many are not coterminous.

The language of Revelation often changes from typical New Testament vernacular to strange and unusual isms and patterns of poetic authority. Imagine a sentence with ebonics in the first part and royal plural Shakespeare in the last. Such is this book from John (Jesus said to write it in a ‘book’, it’s not a typical apostolic letter). So, we can neither translate the entire book in vernacular English nor in proper. We must change the flexing complexity and style of the English translation as it morphs just the same in Greek. A paraphrase OR literal translation approach can’t work here. It must be paraphrase AND literal. Syllable count is more important than word count where poetry is concerned, such as 1:7-8. Some parts may not be understandable to English readers, just as they would not be understandable to Greek readers. The goal of this translation is not to make those complex Greek parts understandable to all English readers, but to keep the areas of confusion and clarity just the same in English as they were in Greek. If a New Testament Christian needed to explain one sentence to his children for an hour, then an American Christian ought to spend the same hour explaining that sentence of the English translation to his children for the reasons as similarly as possible. We must not think that an overly-simplified translation should be used to remove the need for good Bible teaching in the home and in other Christian fellowship.

Verse notation was as camouflaged as possible. We did not have numeric references until about 1,000 years ago when they were added by monks, these numbers are not part of the actual Bible. However, they are very useful in studying and communicating about the Bible. So, they need to be indicated both mildly and accurately. Verse 1 is never indicated wince the Chapter number is used as full-sized text in bold face, but no bigger. This makes the chapters easy to find without being distracting. Verse numbers are superscript as is common in the Bible.

Red letters were not used since the purpose of red letters is much more useful in the Gospels when there are many voices in many dialogues. Use of red letters in Revelation does little more than coloring chapters 2 and 3. In a full Bible translation, red letters should be used in Revelation if used in the Gospels and other parts of the new Testament. However, in a stand-alone translation of Revelation, it could be more distracting than useful as well as being incompatible with many current eBook readers. So, I used italics instead of red letters. This is an old technique used by publishers to indicate a powerful voice of great authority. In Revelation, Jesus speaks in a glorified state with a voice unlike anything He used in the Gospels. Italics were much more appropriate for the voice of Jesus, for all these purposes. In a full translation of the Bible, I may use both red letters and italics for the voice of Jesus when He is in a glorified state, including all of Revelation as well as the transfiguration of Matt 17:7.

I always capitalize the third person personal pronoun for the Lord God (on the Throne) and Jesus, even Jesus as the Word made flesh. This is not the situation with personal pronouns for the Lamb as the Lamb is a humbled version of the Lord, though Lamb is translated as a proper noun. If I translated the Gospels, every occurrence of He or Him referring to Jesus would also be capitalized. This is my view of English language and theology. I often take more liberty to capitalize words, much as the framers of the US Constitution also did two centuries ago. Understanding why the framers wrote Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness with capitals may help an understanding of my choice of capitalization in this translation.

I kept many paragraphs and run-on sentences for the sake of accuracy. Long sentences are beneficial when meditating on Scripture since God wrote Scripture that way, even though long sentences are frowned upon by English grammarists.

Another important consideration is syllable count. The number of syllables and the complexity of the sounds of words affects attention span and mental energy needed to grasp an idea. Keeping syllable count similar, as well as using rhythm or rhyme in the translation where it occurs in Greek helps to keep the same poetic musical impact of the concept. Though lexical translators may give this a lesser priority, any skilled orator knows the impact that syllables and sounds have on a message. Attention span and emotional connotation must also be considered in translation work to preserve as many factors for accuracy as possible.

I also preferred to translate possessives eg. the Word of God as God’s Word where Greek grammar was in a normal order or not complex in drawing attention. This pattern the Word of God is, after all, the normal Greek pattern for possessives, where as God’s Word is the English norm. So should it be in our translation.

The End

1 A Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God granted in Him to show His servants what must happen soon, foretold and delivered by His Angel to His servant, John,

² who testified about everything he saw: God’s Word, as well as Jesus Christ’s testimony.

³ Blessed are the orator of these prophetic words and those listening and who heed what is written in it, as the time is near.

⁴ From John, to the seven Callouts of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who Who IS and WAS and WILL COME, and from the Seven Spirits who are before His Throne,

⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the Witness, the Faithful one, Firstborn of the Dead, and Premier of Earthly Kings.

To Him who loves us, delivered us from our sin by His blood,

⁶ and fashioned us into a kingdom, priests to God, His Father—to Him be the glory and dominion Forever Eternal—amen!

⁷ Look! Among the clouds, He is coming.

Every eye will see Him,

Even those who pierced Him.

All tribes on earth will mourn Him.

Amen indeed.

⁸ I AM Alpha and Omega, saith the Lord God, Who IS and WAS and WILL COME; Almighty.

⁹ I, John—your brother and companion in the tribulation, Kingdom, and perseverance in Jesus—was on an isle called Patmos for the sake of God’s Word and the testimony about Jesus.

¹⁰ Being in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, I heard a call behind me, loud as a trumpet,

¹¹ saying, What you see, write in a scroll and send to the seven Callouts: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thuateira, Sardis, Philadelpheia, and Laodikeia.

¹² So, I turned to see the call which was speaking to me—and when I turned I saw seven gold lampstands

¹³ and, among the lampstands, someone like a Son of Man arrayed in a floor-length robe, with a gold sash wrapped about His chest.

¹⁴ Now, His head and His hair—white like wool and white like snow—His eyes like blazing fire,

¹⁵ His feet as if they were molten bronze when heated in a furnace, His voice roaring like multiple waters.

¹⁶ In His dexter hand He held seven stars. Coming from His mouth was a sharp, double-edged Sword. And His countenance—shining like the sun in its power.

¹⁷ Then, when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead. But He placed His right on me saying, No fear. I AM First and Last

¹⁸ and Living. I was dead, but see, I live forever and ever—I have the keys to Death and Hades.

¹⁹ So, write what you’ve seen and what happens and what eventually follows afterward.

²⁰ The mystery of seven stars, which appear in my right, and the seven gold lampstands—the seven stars, Angels of the Seven Callouts are; and the lampstands, the seven, Seven Callouts are.

2 For the Angel of the Callout