⁸ The Lord God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega [^Cthe first and last letters of the Greek alphabet; 21:6; 22:13]. I am the One who is and [the One who] was and [the One who] is coming [see 1:4]. I am the ·Almighty [All-powerful].”

⁹ I, John, ·am your brother. All of us share [^Lyour brother and partner] ·with Jesus [or in Jesus; ^Creferring to salvation as joining oneself to Christ] in ·suffering [persecution], in the kingdom, and in ·patience to continue [perseverance]. I was on the island of Patmos [^Ca small island in the Aegean Sea near Asia Minor, present-day Turkey], because ·I had preached [^Lof] the word of God and the ·message [witness; testimony] about Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord’s day [^Cprobably a reference to the first day of the week, Sunday, when Christians met for worship] I was in the ·Spirit [or spirit; ^Ca state of deep spiritual communion with God], and I heard a loud voice behind me that sounded like a trumpet [^Ctrumpet blasts often precede a divine appearance or speech; Ex. 19:16, 19].