The 144,000 of Israel Sealed

1 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 Angel and the Little Scroll

1 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

1 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 Thousand Years

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, ⁿholding in his hand the key to ^othe bottomless pit¹ and a great chain. 2 And he seized ^pthe dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and ^qbound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into ^othe pit, and shut it and ^rsealed it over him, so that ^she might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

4 Then I saw ^tthrones, and ^useated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw ^vthe souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those ^wwho had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. ^xThey came to life and ^yreigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 ^zBlessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such ^athe second death has no power, but they will be ^bpriests of God and of Christ, and they ^cwill reign with him for a thousand years.