Isaiah 43:10

43:10 You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,

“my servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may consider ¹  and believe in me,

and understand that I am he.

No god was formed before me,

and none will outlive me. ² 

Isaiah 44:6

The Absurdity of Idolatry

44:6 This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says,

their protector, ³  the Lord who commands armies:

“I am the first and I am the last,

there is no God but me.

Isaiah 48:12

48:12 Listen to me, O Jacob,

Israel, whom I summoned!

I am the one;

I am present at the very beginning

and at the very end. ⁴ 

Revelation 1:11

1:11 saying: “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches – to Ephesus, ⁵  Smyrna, ⁶  Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

Revelation 1:17

1:17 When ⁷  I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but ⁸  he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last,

Revelation 2:8

To the Church in Smyrna

2:8 “To ⁹  the angel of the church in Smyrna write the following: ¹⁰ 

“This is the solemn pronouncement of ¹¹  the one who is the first and the last, the one who was dead, but ¹²  came to life:

Revelation 22:13

22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega,

the first and the last,

the beginning and the end!) ¹³ 

¹ tn Or “know” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

² tn Heb “and after me, there will not be”; NASB “there will be none after Me.”

³ tn Heb “his kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

⁴ tn Heb “I [am] he, I [am the] first, also I [am the] last.”

⁵ map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.

⁶ tn Grk “and to Smyrna.” For stylistic reasons the conjunction καί (kai) and the preposition εἰς (eis) have not been translated before the remaining elements of the list. In lists with more than two elements contemporary English generally does not repeat the conjunction except between the next to last and last elements.

⁷ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

⁸ tn Here the Greek conjunction καί (kai) has been translated as a contrastive (“but”) due to the contrast between the two clauses.

⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated due to differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁰ tn The phrase “the following” after “write” is supplied to clarify that what follows is the content of what is to be written.

¹¹ tn Grk “These things says [the One]…” See the note on the phrase “this is the solemn pronouncement of” in 2:1.

¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present between these two phrases.

¹³ sn These lines are parenthetical, forming an aside to the narrative. The speaker here is the Lord Jesus Christ himself rather than the narrator.