I fell down at his feet to worship him: see 1.17; 4.10.
You must not do that!: “Don’t worship me!” In more colloquial English this would be said “You can’t do that!”
I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren: instead of a noun phrase, a sentence with a finite verb may be better: “Like you and your fellow believers, I also serve God (or, am a servant of God)” or “I serve God just as you and your fellow believers do.”
Who hold the testimony of Jesus: the phrase is the same as in 1.2; 12.17, and probably means the same, as expressed by Good News Translation: “who are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus.” This takes the genitive phrase the testimony of Jesus to be a subjective genitive, “the testimony given by Jesus,” not an objective genitive, “the testimony given about Jesus.”
Worship God: this can be said more emphatically, “God is the one you must worship.” For worship see 4.10 and elsewhere.
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy: commentaries and translations are divided over whether or not these words are spoken by the angel or are the writer’s own comment. New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible, Translator’s New Testament, An American Translation, and New American Bible, Revised attribute it to the angel; Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Moffatt, Phillips, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje take it to be the writer’s comment. The Greek text, of course, gives no hint on the subject. There is no decisive factor to determine which is correct; the decision rests with the translator.
The genitive phrase the testimony of Jesus must mean here what it does in the earlier part of the verse; it would be inconceivable that here it means something different. In favor of the objective genitive, “the testimony given about Jesus,” are Phillips, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, Revised. Revised English Bible provides a dynamic equivalent translation: “For those who bear witness to Jesus have the spirit of prophecy.” In favor of the subjective genitive, “the testimony given by Jesus,” are Good News Translation, Moffatt, An American Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible en français courant, Translator’s New Testament. Bible en français courant provides a good rendering: “For the truth revealed by Jesus is what inspires the prophets.” A translator must decide on one or the other; simply to reproduce formally the genitive phrase the testimony of Jesus is not translation. A translator should take into account the way in which this phrase is rendered in 1.2, 9; 6.9; 12.17; 20.4.
As for the spirit of prophecy, it seems best to take it to mean “inspiration,” that is, the power that inspires the prophets, that enables them to proclaim the Christian message. In this context that power is “the truth revealed by Jesus,” as Good News Translation has it. Some take spirit here to mean God’s Spirit and translate “For it is the Spirit that enables God’s people to proclaim the truth revealed by Jesus.” This is possible but does not seem as likely as the other. Another translation model for this final sentence is “This truth that Jesus revealed is what enables people to (or, gives them the power to) proclaim God’s message.”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• Then I prostrated myself before his feet (or, in front of him) to give him honor, but he said to me, “Don’t do that! I serve God just as you and your fellow believers do. They are the ones who follow the truth that Jesus revealed. So God is the one you should worship.”
For the truth that Jesus revealed is what enables (or, empowers) people to proclaim God’s message.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .