The 144,000 of Israel Sealed

7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back ^uthe four winds of the earth, ^vthat no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending ^wfrom the rising of the sun, with ^xthe seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, ^y“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God ^zon their foreheads.” 4 And ^aI heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

A Great Multitude from Every Nation

9 After this I looked, and behold, ^ba great multitude that no one could number, ^cfrom every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, ^dclothed in white robes, with ^epalm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, ^f“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and ^gthe four living creatures, and they ^hfell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 ⁱsaying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, ^dclothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of ^jthe great tribulation. ^kThey have washed their robes and ^lmade them white ^min the blood of the Lamb.

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

8 When the Lamb opened ^uthe seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels ^vwho stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood ^wat the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with ^xthe prayers of all the saints on ^ythe golden altar before the throne, 4 and ^zthe smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and ^afilled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and ^bthere were peals of ^cthunder, rumblings,¹ flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The Seven Trumpets

6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed ^dhail and ^efire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a ^fthird of the earth was burned up, and a third of ^gthe trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like ^ha great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea ⁱbecame blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of ^jthe ships were destroyed.

10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and ^ka great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on ^lthe springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood.² A third of the waters ^mbecame wormwood, and many people died from the water, ⁿbecause it had been made bitter.

12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of ^othe sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, ^p“Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and ^qI saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given ^rthe key to the shaft of ^sthe bottomless pit.¹ 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft ^trose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and ^uthe sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came ^vlocusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told ^wnot to harm ^xthe grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have ^ythe seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them ^zfor five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days ^apeople will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

7 ^bIn appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: ^con their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were ^dlike human faces, 8 their hair like women’s hair, and ^etheir teeth like lions’ teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was ^flike the noise of many chariots with ^ghorses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people ^hfor five months is in their tails. 11 They have ⁱas king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is ^jAbaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.²

12 ^kThe first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from ^lthe four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release ^mthe four angels who are bound at ⁿthe great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released ^oto kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of ^pmounted troops was ^qtwice ten thousand times ten thousand; ^rI heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire³ and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were ^slike lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^tdid not repent of ^uthe works of their hands nor give up worshiping ^vdemons ^wand idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their ^xsorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with ^ya rainbow over his head, and ^zhis face was like the sun, and ^ahis legs like pillars of fire. 2 ^bHe had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, ^clike a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, ^d“Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^eraised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by ^fhim who lives forever and ever, ^gwho created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that ^hin the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, ⁱjust as he announced to his servants the prophets.

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, ^j“Take and ^keat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, ^l“You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given ^ma measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure ⁿthe court outside the temple; leave that out, for ^oit is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for ^pforty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^p1,260 days, ^qclothed in sackcloth.”

4 These are ^rthe two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, ^sfire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, ^tthis is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power ^uto shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and ^vto strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, ^wthe beast that rises from ^xthe bottomless pit^{1 y}will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically² is called ^zSodom and ^aEgypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and ^brefuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and ^cthose who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and ^dexchange presents, because these two prophets ^ehad been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days ^fa breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ^g“Come up here!” And ^hthey went up to heaven ⁱin a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was ^ja great earthquake, and ^ka tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ^lgave glory to ^mthe God of heaven.

14 ⁿThe second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

15 Then ^othe seventh angel blew his trumpet, and ^pthere were loud voices in heaven, saying, ^q“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of ^rhis Christ, and ^she shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders ^twho sit on their thrones before God ^ufell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,

19 Then ^bGod’s temple in heaven was opened, and ^cthe ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,³ peals of thunder, an earthquake, and ^dheavy hail.