The Sealed of Israel

After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, (A)holding the four winds of the earth, (B)that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, (C)“Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God (D)on their foreheads.” (E)And I heard the number of those who were sealed. (F)One hundred and forty-four thousand (G)of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were [a]sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

A Multitude from the Great Tribulation

After these things I looked, and behold, (H)a great multitude which no one could number, (I)of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, (J)clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, (K)“Salvation belongs to our God (L)who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 (M)All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and (N)worshiped God, 12 (O)saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in (P)white robes, and where did they come from?”

14 And I said to him, [b]“Sir, you know.”

So he said to me, (Q)“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and (R)washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will (S)dwell among them. 16 (T)They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; (U)the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne (V)will shepherd them and lead them to [c]living fountains of waters. (W)And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets

When(X) He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (Y)And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, (Z)and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with (AA)the prayers of all the saints upon (AB)the golden altar which was before the throne. And (AC)the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And (AD)there were noises, thunderings, (AE)lightnings, (AF)and an earthquake.

So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck

The first angel sounded: (AG)And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown (AH)to the [d]earth. And a third (AI)of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck

Then the second angel sounded: (AJ)And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, (AK)and a third of the sea (AL)became blood. (AM)And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck

10 Then the third angel sounded: (AN)And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, (AO)and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 (AP)The name of the star is Wormwood. (AQ)A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck

12 (AR)Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day [e]did not shine, and likewise the night.

13 And I looked, (AS)and I heard an [f]angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, (AT)“Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit

Then the fifth angel sounded: (AU)And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to (AV)the [g]bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the (AW)sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, (AX)as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded (AY)not to harm (AZ)the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have (BA)the seal of God on their foreheads. And [h]they were not given authority to kill them, (BB)but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days (BC)men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

(BD)The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. (BE)On their heads were crowns of something like gold, (BF)and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and (BG)their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was (BH)like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them (BI)the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is [i]Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name [j]Apollyon.

12 (BJ)One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates

13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the (BK)golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound (BL)at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a (BM)third of mankind. 16 Now (BN)the number of the army (BO)of the horsemen was two hundred million; (BP)I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; (BQ)and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For [k]their power is in their mouth and in their tails; (BR)for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.

20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, (BS)did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship (BT)demons, (BU)and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders (BV)or their [l]sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 7:5 NU, M omit sealed in vv. 5b–8b.
  2. Revelation 7:14 NU, M My lord
  3. Revelation 7:17 NU, M fountains of the waters of life
  4. Revelation 8:7 NU, M add and a third of the earth was burned up
  5. Revelation 8:12 had no light
  6. Revelation 8:13 NU, M eagle
  7. Revelation 9:1 Lit. shaft of the abyss
  8. Revelation 9:5 The locusts
  9. Revelation 9:11 Lit. Destruction
  10. Revelation 9:11 Lit. Destroyer
  11. Revelation 9:19 NU, M the power of the horses
  12. Revelation 9:21 NU, M drugs

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