Bible / Revelation (Apocalypse)
Revelation (Apocalypse) 1
Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to make known to his servants the things which must shortly come to pass: and signified, sending by his angel to his servant John,
2 Who hath given testimony to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, what things soever he hath seen.
3 Blessed is he that readeth and heareth the words of this prophecy: and keepeth those things which are written in it. For the time is at hand.
4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace be unto you and peace, from him that is and that was and that is to come: and from the seven spirits which are before his throne: CCC
5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth, who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, Fathers
6 And hath made us a kingdom, and priests to God and his Father. To him be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen. CCC
7 Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him: and they also that pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth shall bewail themselves because of him. Even so. Amen.
8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. CCC
9 I, John, your brother and your partner in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience in Christ Jesus, was in the island which is called Patmos, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus.
10 I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 Saying: What thou seest, write in a book and send to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamus and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.
12 And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks: Fathers
13 And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 And his head and his hairs were white as white wool and as snow. And his eyes were as a flame of fire:
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as in a burning furnace. And his voice as the sound of many waters. Fathers
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars. And from his mouth came out a sharp two-edged sword. And his face was as the sun shineth in his power.
17 And when I had seen him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying: Fear not. I am the First and the Last, CCC · Fathers
18 And alive, and was dead. And behold I am living for ever and ever and have the keys of death and of hell. CCC
19 Write therefore the things which thou hast seen: and which are: and which must be done hereafter.
20 The mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. And the seven candlesticks are the seven churches.
This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church
Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text.
Read the Fathers
“And the prophet, too, indicates the same, saying, "instead of fathers, children have been born unto thee." For the Lord, having been born "the First-begotten of the dead,”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Catechism
- CCC 784 “On entering the People of God through faith and Baptism, one receives a share in this people's unique, priestly vocation: "Christ the…”
- CCC 1546 “Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the Church "a kingdom, priests for his God and Father." The whole community…”
- CCC 2855 “The final doxology, "For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever," takes up again, by inclusion, the…”
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2854 “When we ask to be delivered from the Evil One, we pray as well to be freed from all evils, present, past,…”
Read the Fathers
“And His voice [was] as the voice of waters; and He had in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword; and His countenance was as the sun shining in his strength.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XX. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Fathers
“On this account also does John declare in the Apocalypse, "And His voice as the sound of many waters.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XIV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 612 “The cup of the New Covenant, which Jesus anticipated when he offered himself at the Last Supper, is afterwards accepted by him…”
“But when John could not endure the sight (for he says, "I fell at his feet as dead;”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XX. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Catechism
- CCC 625 “Christ's stay in the tomb constitutes the real link between his passible state before Easter and his glorious and risen state today.…”
- CCC 633 “Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in…”
- CCC 635 “Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and…”
- CCC 2854 “When we ask to be delivered from the Evil One, we pray as well to be freed from all evils, present, past,…”
A modern English Catholic translation will be added once its publisher grants permission.