New Testament
Revelation
Revelation is a vision given to John in exile, written to encourage suffering Christians that Jesus reigns and wins. Behind its striking imagery is a simple, steadying promise: God will dwell with his people, and wipe every tear from their eyes.
Revelation 1
Look To The Clouds
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.”
Revelation 1:8I Am The Alpha And The Omega
““I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.””
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Revelation 1:4
John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne;
Discussed in: - Revelation 1:5-6
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood, and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Discussed in: - Revelation 1:7
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
Read the passage article - Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Read the passage article - Revelation 1:9
I John, your brother and partner with you in the oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God’s Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Discussed in: - Revelation 1:12-16
I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden lamp stands. And amongst the lamp stands was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters. He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
Discussed in: - Revelation 1:14-15
His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters.
Discussed in: - Revelation 1:17
When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last,
Discussed in: - Revelation 1:17-18
When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last, and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
Discussed in: - Revelation 1:20
The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven lamp stands are seven assemblies.
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Revelation 2
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Revelation 2:10
Don’t be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Discussed in: - Revelation 2:13
“I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn’t deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed amongst you, where Satan dwells.
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Revelation 5
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Revelation 5:8
Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Discussed in: - Revelation 5:9
They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals, for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood out of every tribe, language, people, and nation,
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Revelation 6
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Revelation 6:9-11
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had. They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course.
Discussed in: - Revelation 6:10
They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
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Revelation 12
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Revelation 12:10
I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ has come; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.
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Revelation 13
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Revelation 13:1
Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names.
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Revelation 14
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Revelation 14:3
They sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand, those who had been redeemed out of the earth.
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Revelation 20
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Revelation 20:13
The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works.
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Revelation 21
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Revelation 21:1
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.
Discussed in: - Revelation 21:3
I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Discussed in: - Revelation 21:4
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.”
Read the passage article - Revelation 21:5
He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”
Discussed in: - Revelation 21:6
He said to me, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.
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Revelation 22
Passages discussed across 316Quotes
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- Revelation 22:1-3
He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him.
Discussed in: - Revelation 22:5
There will be no night, and they need no lamp light or sun light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.
Discussed in: - Revelation 22:12
“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.
Discussed in: - Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Read the passage article - Revelation 22:14-15
Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Discussed in: - Revelation 22:18-19
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book. If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.
Discussed in: - Revelation 22:20
He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus!
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More about Revelation
Revelation is unlike anything else in the New Testament, and it helps to know what kind of book it is before you start. By tradition it was written by John, exiled to the rocky island of Patmos for his faith, who received a series of visions and wrote them down for churches that were themselves under pressure. It belongs to a style of writing, full of symbol and image, that its first readers understood far better than we instinctively do. So the strange beasts and trumpets and bowls are not meant to be decoded like a calendar of future events. They are vivid pictures meant to reveal something true: that however things look on the ground, Jesus reigns and Jesus wins.
Behind the dramatic imagery, the message to those first churches was steadying and simple. They were small, sometimes persecuted, wondering whether following Jesus was worth the cost while empires and idols seemed to hold all the power. Revelation pulls back the curtain to show them the throne at the centre of everything, the Lamb who was slain now reigning, and history moving towards a sure end in God's hands. It opens with Jesus declaring in 1:8 that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and announces in 1:7 that he is coming with the clouds, so that the suffering and the watching are not in vain.
For all its thunder, the book moves towards one of the gentlest scenes in all of Scripture. In 21:4 John sees a new heaven and a new earth, and hears that God will dwell with his people and wipe every tear from their eyes, and that there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. This is where the whole sweep of the Bible is headed, the undoing of every sorrow, God himself at home among us. And near the very close, in 22:13, Jesus says again that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, gathering all of history into himself.
If you find Revelation intimidating, you are in good company, and you do not have to crack every symbol to be fed by it. Read it for its big, clear notes: Jesus reigns, evil does not get the last word, and God is making all things new. It was written to comfort frightened believers, not to frighten comfortable ones. So if you are weary, or grieving, or wondering whether faith will prove worth it, let the end of the book do its work. Revelation 21:4 has been whispered at more deathbeds than almost any verse there is, because it promises the day when God dries the last tear with his own hand.
Questions about Revelation
- Who wrote Revelation and where?
- By tradition it was written by John, who tells us he received the visions while exiled on Patmos, a small rocky island in the Aegean Sea, on account of his faith. He wrote to seven real churches in what is now western Turkey, communities that were often small and under pressure. Whether this John is the apostle has been discussed since the early church, but the long-standing ascription is to John, written from that island exile. He frames it as a revelation given to him to pass on, a message of encouragement to suffering Christians that Jesus reigns and that God's purposes will not fail.
- How should I read Revelation without getting lost?
- Start by remembering what kind of book it is. Revelation is written in a style full of vivid symbols and images, which its first readers understood far better than we do, and it is not meant to be decoded like a literal timetable of future events. Read it for its big, clear message rather than puzzling endlessly over every beast and number: Jesus reigns, evil is defeated, and God will make all things new. Let the throne room, the Lamb and the new creation steady you. It was written to comfort believers under pressure, so its main notes are reassurance and hope, not fear.
- What does Revelation 21:4 mean?
- It is the Bible's picture of the end of all sorrow. John sees a new heaven and a new earth and hears that God will live among his people and wipe every tear from their eyes, and that death, mourning, crying and pain will be no more, because the old order of things has passed away. It is not vague optimism but a definite promise: God himself will deal with everything that breaks our hearts. This is why the verse is read so often at funerals and in grief. It does not deny present pain; it tells us where the story is finally going, and who is waiting there.
Topics in Revelation
The themes these verses speak to. Follow one to find related verses from right across the Bible.