The Two Witnesses

11 Then there was given to me a ^[a](A)measuring rod like a staff; ^[b]and ^(B)someone said, “Get up and measure the ^[c]temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. ^2 [d]Leave out the ^(C)courtyard which is outside the ^[e]temple and do not measure it, because ^(D)it has been given to the nations; and they will ^(E)trample ^(F)the holy city for ^(G)forty-two months. ³ And I will grant authority to my two ^(H)witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^(I)1,260 days, clothed in ^(J)sackcloth.” ⁴ These are the ^(K)two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone wants to harm them, ^(L)fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and so if anyone wants to harm them, ^(M)he must be killed in this way. ⁶ These have the power to ^(N)shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during ^(O)the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to ^(P)turn them into blood, and ^(Q)to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

⁷ When they have finished their testimony, ^(R)the beast that comes up out of the ^(S)abyss will ^(T)make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. ⁸ And their dead bodies will lie on the street of the ^(U)great city which ^[f]spiritually is called ^(V)Sodom and ^(W)Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ Those from ^(X)the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead ^[g]bodies for three and a half days, and ^[h](Y)will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. ¹⁰ And ^(Z)those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will ^(AA)send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented ^(AB)those who live on the earth.

¹¹ And after the three and a half days, ^(AC)the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. ¹² And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “^(AD)Come up here.” And they ^(AE)went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ And ^[i]at that time there was a great ^(AF)earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; ^[j]seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ^(AG)gave glory to the ^(AH)God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second ^(AI)woe has passed; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

The Seventh Trumpet: Christ’s Reign Foreseen

¹⁵ Then the ^(AJ)seventh angel sounded; and there were ^(AK)loud voices in heaven, saying,

“^(AL)The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of ^(AM)His ^[k]Christ; and ^(AN)He will reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders, who ^(AO)sit on their thrones before God, ^(AP)fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying,

“We give You thanks, ^(AQ)Lord God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to ^(AR)reign. ¹⁸ And ^(AS)the nations were enraged, and ^(AT)Your wrath came, and ^(AU)the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to ^[l]reward Your ^(AV)bond-servants the prophets and the ^[m]saints and those who fear Your name, ^(AW)the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹ And ^(AX)the ^[n]temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and ^(AY)the ark of His covenant appeared in His ^[o]temple, and there were flashes of ^(AZ)lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a ^(BA)great ^[p]hailstorm.

The Woman, Israel

12 A great ^(BB)sign appeared ^(BC)in heaven: ^(BD)a woman ^(BE)clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; ² and she was pregnant and she *^(BF)cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.

The Red Dragon, Satan

³ Then ^(BG)another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red ^(BH)dragon having ^(BI)seven heads and ^(BJ)ten horns, and on his heads were ^(BK)seven crowns. ⁴ And his tail *swept away a ^(BL)third of the stars of heaven and ^(BM)hurled them to the earth. And the ^(BN)dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth ^(BO)he might devour her Child.

The Male Child, Christ

⁵ And ^(BP)she gave birth to a Son, a male, who is going to ^[q](BQ)rule all the ^[r]nations with a rod of iron; and her Child was ^(BR)caught up to God and to His throne. ⁶ Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there ^[s]she would be nourished for ^(BS)1,260 days.

The Angel, Michael

⁷ And there was war in heaven, ^(BT)Michael and his angels waging war with the ^(BU)dragon. The dragon and ^(BV)his angels waged war, ⁸ and they did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. ⁹ And the great ^(BW)dragon was thrown down, the ^(BX)serpent of old who is called the devil and ^(BY)Satan, who ^(BZ)deceives the whole ^[t]world; he was ^(CA)thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ Then I heard ^(CB)a loud voice in heaven, saying,

“Now the ^(CC)salvation, and the power, and the ^(CD)kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the ^(CE)accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night. ¹¹ And they ^(CF)overcame him because of ^(CG)the blood of the Lamb and because of ^(CH)the word of their testimony, and they ^(CI)did not love their life even ^[u]when faced with death. ¹² For this reason, ^(CJ)rejoice, you heavens and ^(CK)you who dwell in them. ^(CL)Woe to the earth and the sea, because ^(CM)the devil has come down to you with great wrath, knowing that he has only ^(CN)a short time.”

¹³ And when the ^(CO)dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted ^(CP)the woman who gave birth to the male Child. ¹⁴ But the ^(CQ)two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly ^(CR)into the wilderness to her place, where she *was nourished for ^(CS)a time, times, and half a time, away from the presence of the serpent. ¹⁵ And the ^(CT)serpent hurled water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. ^16 [v]But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon had hurled out of his mouth. ¹⁷ So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to ^(CU)make war with the rest of her ^[w](CV)children, who ^(CW)keep the commandments of God and ^(CX)hold to the testimony of Jesus.