¹² Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lampstands; ¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands I saw someone ^[a]like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe reaching to His feet, and with a golden sash wrapped around His chest.^{(A) 14} His head and His hair were white like white wool, [glistening white] like snow; and His [all-seeing] eyes were [flashing] like a flame of fire [piercing into my being].^{(B) 15} His feet were like burnished [white-hot] bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was [powerful] like the sound of many waters.^{(C) 16} In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword [of judgment]; and His face [reflecting His majesty and the ^[b]Shekinah glory] was like the sun shining in [all] its power [at midday].^(D)

¹⁷ When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. And He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last [absolute Deity, the Son of God],^{(E) 18} and the Ever-living One [living in and beyond all time and space]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of [absolute control and victory over] death and of Hades (the realm of the dead).