It said,“ Write in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

“你所看见的当写在书上，达与以弗所、士每拿、别迦摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉铁非、老底嘉那七个教会。”

说：“把你所看见的写在书上，寄给以弗所、士每拿、别迦摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉铁非、老底嘉那七个教会。”

说：“把你所看见的写在书上，寄给以弗所、士每拿、别迦摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉铁非、老底嘉那七个教会。”

“把你所看见的写在书上，然后送给以弗所、士每拿、别迦摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉铁非和老底嘉七间教会。”

说：“你所看见的，要写在书上，也要寄给以弗所、士每拿、别迦摩、推雅推拉、撒狄、非拉铁非、老底嘉七个教会。”

说：“把你所看见的写在书卷上，送到那七个教会：以弗所、士每拿、佩尔伽马、锡亚蒂拉、萨迪斯、费拉德菲亚和劳迪西亚。”

「你所看見的當寫在書上，達與以弗所、士每拿、別迦摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉鐵非、老底嘉那七個教會。」

說：「把你所看見的寫在書上，寄給以弗所、士每拿、別迦摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉鐵非、老底嘉那七個教會。」

說：「把你所看見的寫在書上，寄給以弗所、士每拿、別迦摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉鐵非、老底嘉那七個教會。」

「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。」

說：“你所看見的，要寫在書上，也要寄給以弗所、士每拿、別迦摩、推雅推拉、撒狄、非拉鐵非、老底嘉七個教會。”

說着話說：『你所看見的要寫在書上，寄給以弗所、士每拿、別迦摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉鐵非、老底嘉、那七個教會。』

說：「把你所看見的寫在書卷上，送到那七個教會：以弗所、士每拿、佩爾伽馬、錫亞蒂拉、薩迪斯、費拉德菲亞和勞迪西亞。」

爾所見者當筆之於書、寄於七會、即以弗所、士每拿、別迦摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉鐵非、老底嘉、

曰吾始末初終、爾所及見者、當筆於書、達亞西亞之以弗所、士每拿、別伽摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉鐵非、老底嘉、七會、

曰、我乃亞勒法、我乃阿梅迦、乃首先者、乃末後者、爾當以所見者、筆之於書、達亞西亞之以弗所、司每拿、別迦摩、推雅推拉、撒狄、非拉叠非、老底嘉諸教會、

「將爾所見、筆之於書、以寄依弗所、斯米爾納、伯爾加莫、第亞底拉、撒爾底、斐拉代爾非、樂底嘉七教會。」

which said:“ Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

The voice said,“ Write on a scroll what you see. Send it to the seven churches in Asia Minor. They are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

saying,“ Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

saying,“ Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

saying,“ Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

saying,“ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and,“ What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

saying,“ Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send[ it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

saying:“ Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches– to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

saying,“ What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

“ Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars:“ I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive— but you are dead.

This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne;

Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.After you have read this letter, pass it on to the church at Laodicea so they can read it, too. And you should read the letter I wrote to them.

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness

“ Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:

“ This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Write down for the record everything I have said to you, Jeremiah.

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.

“ Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:

“ Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen— the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:

Then the Lord said to me,“ Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.

“ Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two edged sword:

“ Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open:

And I heard a voice from heaven saying,“ Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!”

When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying,“ Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.”

“ I am the Alpha and the Omega— the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God.“ I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come— the Almighty One.”

And the one sitting on the throne said,“ Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me,“ Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”

“ Write down what you have seen— both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.“ Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:

And the angel said to me,“ Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added,“ These are true words that come from God.”

When I left for Macedonia, I urged you to stay there in Ephesus and stop those whose teaching is contrary to the truth.

who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said,“ Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last.

But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.

“ So write down the words of this song, and teach it to the people of Israel. Help them learn it, so it may serve as a witness for me against them.

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers.“ Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.“ No,” they replied,“ we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”“ Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked. And they replied,“ The baptism of John.”Paul said,“ John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.There were about twelve men in all.Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God.But some became stubborn, rejecting his message and publicly speaking against the Way. So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus.This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia— both Jews and Greeks— heard the word of the Lord.God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles.When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying,“ I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!”Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this.But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied,“ I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?”Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored.Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices.A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars.So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.Afterward Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem.“ And after that,” he said,“ I must go on to Rome!”He sent his two assistants, Timothy and Erastus, ahead to Macedonia while he stayed awhile longer in the province of Asia.About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the Way.It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy.He called them together, along with others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as follows:“ Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business.But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province!Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis— this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world— will be robbed of her great prestige!”At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting,“ Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”Soon the whole city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.Paul wanted to go in, too, but the believers wouldn’t let him.Some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering the amphitheater.Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there.The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward and told him to explain the situation. He motioned for silence and tried to speak.But when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it up for about two hours:“ Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”At last the mayor was able to quiet them down enough to speak.“ Citizens of Ephesus,” he said.“ Everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, whose image fell down to us from heaven.Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and not do anything rash.You have brought these men here, but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not spoken against our goddess.“ If Demetrius and the craftsmen have a case against them, the courts are in session and the officials can hear the case at once. Let them make formal charges.And if there are complaints about other matters, they can be settled in a legal assembly.I am afraid we are in danger of being charged with rioting by the Roman government, since there is no cause for all this commotion. And if Rome demands an explanation, we won’t know what to say.”Then he dismissed them, and they dispersed.

They stopped first at the port of Ephesus, where Paul left the others behind. While he was there, he went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews.They asked him to stay longer, but he declined.As he left, however, he said,“ I will come back later, God willing.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

And what value was there in fighting wild beasts— those people of Ephesus— if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection,“ Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt.