Revelation 3:1-20:3

The Voice

Letter to Sardis

Letter to Philadelphia

Letter to Laodicea

4 After I wrote down these messages, I saw a door standing open in heaven and heard again the first voice that sounded like a trumpet.

² Immediately I was caught up in the Spirit, and I saw a throne that stood in heaven and One seated on the throne. ³ The One enthroned gleamed like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow encircled the throne with an emerald glow. ⁴ Encircling that great throne were twenty-four smaller thrones with twenty-four elders clothed in white robes with wreaths fashioned of gold on their heads. ⁵ Out of the great throne came flashes of lightning, sounds of voices, and peals of thunder. In front of the great throne, seven torches were ablaze, which are the seven Spirits of God. ⁶ Also in front of the throne was a glassy sea of shimmering crystal.

In the midst of the throne and encircling the throne were four living creatures, covered all over with eyes, front to back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second creature was like an ox, the third creature had a face like the face of a human, and the fourth creature was like an eagle in full flight. ⁸ These four living creatures, each of which had six wings and was covered with eyes—eyes on the outside and on the inside—did not cease chanting. All day and night they were singing.

⁹ And when the living creatures declared glory and honor and thanksgiving to the One seated on the throne, the One who lives throughout all the ages, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fell prostrate before the One seated on the throne, worshiped the One who lives throughout all the ages, cast their golden wreaths before the throne, and chanted to Him.

5 And then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated upon the throne, a scroll written both on the inside and on the outside. It had been sealed with seven seals. ² Then a mighty heavenly messenger proclaimed with a loud voice,

³ No creature of creation in all heaven, on all the earth, or even under the earth could open the scroll or look into its mysteries. ⁴ Then I began to mourn and weep bitterly because no creature of creation was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look into its mysteries. ⁵ Then one of the elders consoled me.

⁶ I looked, and between the throne and the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders stood a Lamb who appeared to have been slaughtered. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes (the eyes are the seven Spirits of God sent out over all the earth).

⁷ The Lamb came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated upon the throne. ⁸ And when He took it, the four living creatures and twenty-four elders fell prostrate before the Lamb. They worshiped Him, and each one held a harp and golden bowls filled with incense (the prayers of God’s holy people). ⁹ Then they sang a new song.

¹¹ When I looked again, I heard the voices of heavenly messengers (numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands). They surrounded the throne, the living creatures, and the elders.

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and beneath the earth and in the sea and all things in them echoing the messengers.

¹⁴ And the four living creatures kept on repeating:

And the elders fell down and worshiped [Him who lives forever].^[d]

6 Then I saw the Lamb break the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out with a thundering voice.

² Then I looked, and what a sight! There was a white horse carrying a rider with a bow. He wore a wreath and came riding like a conqueror, intent on complete victory.

³ The Lamb broke the second seal, and the second living creature called out.

⁴ Then another horse, fiery red, sped forth. Its rider was granted the power to steal peace from the earth and received a large sword so that people would slaughter each other.

⁵ The Lamb broke the third seal, and the third living creature called out.

Then I looked; and behold, there was a black horse! Its rider held in his hand a balance scale. ⁶ And I heard a voice emanating from the middle of the four living creatures.

⁷ And when the Lamb broke the fourth seal, the fourth living creature called out.

⁸ I looked; and behold, there was a pale green horse! Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades accompanied him. Together they were granted authority over one-fourth of the earth to kill with weapons, with famine, with disease, and with wild animals that roamed the earth.

⁹ When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the heavenly altar the souls of those murdered for holding fast to the word of God and their testimony. ¹⁰ They cried out in a great, singular voice.

¹¹ Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest for a little while longer—soon their number would be complete. In a little while, more of their fellow servants, brothers, and sisters would be murdered as they had been.

¹² When the Lamb broke the sixth seal, a great earthquake shook the earth and the sun grew dark and became black (like mourning sackcloth) and the full moon became red like blood. ¹³ The stars of heaven fell to earth as a fig tree drops its fruit during a winter storm. ¹⁴ The sky snapped back as a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain was shaken off its foundation, and every island melted into the sea. ¹⁵ The rulers of the earth, the important and the great, the generals, the wealthy and the powerful, the slave and the free person, all hid themselves in the caves and among the mountains’ rocks. ¹⁶ They pleaded with loud suicidal requests to the rocks and mountains.

7 After this vision, I saw four heavenly messengers standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds so that the earth would not be overcome by violent, rushing winds blowing over the land or over the sea or blowing down any tree. ² Then I saw a fifth messenger, coming up with the sun as it was rising in the east, carrying the seal of the living God. He called with a great and loud voice to the four messengers who had authority to harm the earth and its seas.

^4-8 Then I heard that 144,000 would receive the seal, that is 12,000 from every tribe of Israel: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

⁹ After I heard about these who would be sealed, I looked and saw a huge crowd of people, which no one could even begin to count, representing every nation and tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and waving palm branches. ¹⁰ They cried out with one loud voice.

¹¹ All the heavenly messengers stood up, encircling the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell prostrate before the throne and worshiped God.

8 When the Lamb cracked open the seventh and final seal, a great silence filled all heaven penetrating everything for about half an hour. ² Then I saw seven heavenly messengers, the ones who stand before God, receive seven trumpets.

³ An eighth messenger came and stood before the altar carrying a golden censer. He received a large portion of incense to complement the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that sits in front of the throne. ⁴ From the hand of the eighth messenger, the smoke of the incense mixed with the prayers of God’s people and billowed up before God. ⁵ The messenger filled the censer with fiery coals from the altar and cast it upon the earth, causing a great commotion of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

⁶ The seven heavenly messengers raised the seven trumpets and prepared to sound them.

⁷ The first messenger sounded his trumpet, and a blast of hail and fire mixed with blood was cast down to the earth. As a result, one-third of the land was set ablaze, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was scorched.

⁸ The second messenger sounded his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, with bright flames of burning fire, was cast into the sea. As a result, one-third of the sea turned into blood, ⁹ one-third of the living sea creatures died, and one-third of the ships were obliterated.

^10-11 The third messenger sounded his trumpet, and a great star called Wormwood dropped out of heaven, flaming like a torch as it fell on one-third of the rivers and the springs. As a result, one-third of the waters turned bitter like the herb wormwood so that many people died from the poisonous bitter waters.

¹² The fourth messenger sounded his trumpet, and one-third of the sun, one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars were darkened. As a result, one-third of their light flickered and failed. For one-third of the day, the sun did not shine; and likewise for one-third of the night, the moon and stars did not give their light.

¹³ Then I saw an eagle flying through midheaven, and I heard it cry with a loud voice.

9 Then the fifth messenger sounded his trumpet. I saw a star that had dropped out of heaven to earth. He received the key that unlocks the shaft leading to the abyss, the pit that falls away to nothingness; and ² he opened the shaft to the abyss. Huge columns of smoke rose from the depths of the cavern—a black, ugly smoke as if from a great furnace so that the sun was darkened and the air was thickened by the blanket of smoke from the shaft. ³ From the smoke, locusts appeared and swarmed upon the earth. They were given power, like the power of scorpions on the earth. ^4-5 However, they were instructed not to damage any grasses, plants, or trees that grow from the earth. Instead, they were given power for five months to torture, but not to kill, the people without the seal of God upon their foreheads. The torment they inflicted was like the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. ⁶ During those days, people will seek any way possible to kill themselves, but death will not befriend them. They will long to die and end their miseries, but death will elude them.

⁷ The locusts looked like horses clad in armor, ready for battle. They wore golden wreaths on their heads, and their faces appeared human ⁸ with hair as long as women’s hair, but they had teeth as sharp as lions’ teeth. ⁹ They had armor that appeared to be iron plated; and when their wings flapped, they sounded like an army of horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They have tails like scorpions with stingers, and the power invested in them to inflict torture on people for five months lies in their tails. ¹¹ They were ruled by the messenger of the abyss, whose Hebrew name is Abaddon and whose Greek name is Apollyon, both meaning “the Destroyer.”

¹² The first disaster has occurred; there are two more disasters to come.

¹³ Then the sixth messenger sounded his trumpet; and I heard a voice from the four corners of the golden altar that is before God, ¹⁴ commanding the sixth messenger with the trumpet.

¹⁵ Then the four messengers, who had been held in chains until the hour and the day and the month and the year when they would kill one-third of humanity, were released.

¹⁶ I heard that 200 million soldiers rode in the cavalry. ¹⁷ This is how these horses and their riders appeared in my vision: the riders wore breastplates of fiery red, smoky blue,^[h] and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses seemed to be like the heads of lions; they breathed fire and smoke and sulfur from their mouths, ¹⁸ killing one-third of humanity with the three plagues coming out of their mouths. ¹⁹ The lethal power of these horses was not only in their mouths but also in their tails because their tails, which resembled snakes, had heads that inflicted injury.

²⁰ The rest of humanity, those not killed by these plagues, did not rethink their course and turn away^[i] from the devices of their own making. Despite all these calamities, they continued worshiping demons and idols crafted in gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood. They bowed down to images which cannot see or hear or walk. ²¹ They failed to turn away^[j] from their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immoralities, and their thefts.

10 Then I saw another extremely powerful messenger descending out of heaven. He wore a cloud wrapped around him, and a rainbow was covering his head. His face shone like the sun, and his legs blazed like columns of fire. ² In his hand, he held a little scroll that had been unrolled. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on dry land; ³ then he shouted with a voice that sounded like a roaring lion. When he cried out, the seven thunders answered with their own rumbling voices. ⁴ As I was about to record the thunders’ answer, a voice from heaven stopped me.

⁵ Then the messenger, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the dry land, raised his right hand into heaven ⁶ and swore an oath to the Eternal One—who always lives, who created heaven, earth, the sea, and all that is in them.

⁸ Again, the voice I heard from heaven addressed me.

⁹ I then went to the messenger and asked him to give me the little scroll.

¹⁰ I took the little scroll from the hand of the messenger and ate it. In my mouth, it was sweet like honey, but my stomach became bitter after I swallowed it.

11 Then I received a measuring rod. It resembled a staff, and I was commanded to take measurements.

⁴ These two witnesses are the two olive trees and two lampstands standing in front of the Lord of the earth. ⁵ If anyone wishes to harm the witnesses, fire spews out of the witnesses’ mouths and consumes their foe in flames. Anyone who wishes to harm them is destined to die this way. ⁶ They have the authority to shut up the sky so that no rain may fall during the time of their prophecies. They also have authority to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with any plague whenever they desire.

⁷ On the day they finish their testimony, the beast from the abyss will declare war on them and win victory by killing them. ⁸ Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city (which, spiritually speaking, is called Sodom and Egypt) where their Lord was crucified. ⁹ For three and a half days, representatives of the peoples and ethnicities, languages and nations stare down at their lifeless bodies and refuse them a proper burial. ¹⁰ Because these two prophets tormented the earth dwellers by speaking God’s message, the people will rejoice over their dead bodies and celebrate their deaths by exchanging gifts with one another.

¹¹ At the end of the three and a half days, the spirit of life that comes from God entered their corpses, raising them, and they stood again on their feet. Those who looked on were terrified by what they saw. ¹² Then they heard a great voice from heaven.

Their enemies watched the spectacle as the witnesses ascended into heaven in a cloud.

¹³ In that same hour, a great earthquake shook the earth causing one-tenth of the city to crumble into dust, and 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. Then the rest who were left alive, quaking in fear, turned and glorified the God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second disaster has passed; watch as the third disaster comes quickly.

¹⁵ The seventh messenger sounded his trumpet, and great voices in heaven confessed:

¹⁶ Then the twenty-four elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell prostrate and worshiped God.

¹⁹ Then God’s temple in heaven was opened up, and His covenant chest could be seen within His temple. Lightning flashed all around. Noises and thunder rumbled. The earth trembled. Heavy hailstones fell from the sky.

12 As I looked, a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman came into view clothed in the radiance of the sun, standing with the moon under her feet, and she was crowned with a wreath of twelve stars on her head. ² She was painfully pregnant and was crying out in the agony of labor. ³ Then a second sign appeared in heaven, ominous, foreboding: a great red dragon, with seven crowned heads and ten horns. ⁴ The dragon’s tail brushed one-third of the stars from the sky and hurled them down to the earth. The dragon crouched in front of the laboring woman, waiting to devour her child the moment it was born.

⁵ She gave birth to a male child, who is destined to rule the nations with an iron scepter. Before the dragon could bite and devour her son, the child was whisked away and brought to God and His throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place of refuge and safety where she could find sustenance for 1,260 days.

⁷ A battle broke out in heaven. Michael, along with his heavenly messengers, clashed against the dragon. The dragon and his messengers returned the fight, ⁸ but they did not prevail and were defeated. As a result, there was no place left for them in heaven. ⁹ So the great dragon, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was cast down to the earth along with his messengers. ¹⁰ Then I heard a great voice in heaven.

¹³ When the dragon realized he had been cast down to the earth, he pursued the mother of the male infant. ¹⁴ In order to escape the serpent, she was given the two wings of the great eagle to fly deeper into the wilderness to her own special place where she would find sustenance for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵ Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a raging river that chased after the woman, trying to sweep her away in the flood. ¹⁶ But the earth came to her rescue. It opened its gaping mouth and swallowed the river that spewed from the dragon’s mouth. ¹⁷ As a result, the dragon was enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children—those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the testimony of Jesus.

¹⁸ And [the dragon]^[k] stood waiting on the sand of the seashore.

13 I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the blackness of the sea. On its horns hung ten crowns, and on its heads were inscribed blasphemous names. ² This beast was like a leopard, its feet were like the claws of a bear, and its mouth was like the jaws of a lion. The dragon bestowed it with his power and his throne and his great authority. ³ One of the beast’s heads appeared to have suffered a fatal blow, but its mortal wound had somehow been healed. Amazed at the miracle and its power, all the earth followed the beast. ⁴ People worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast because of its power.

⁵ And the beast was given a mouth that bellowed arrogant boasts and uttered great blasphemies, and it was permitted to do what it willed for 42 months. ⁶ Its mouth opened with a stream of insults against God, blaspheming His name, cursing His dwelling and those who live in heaven. ⁷ Also it received permission to declare war against the saints and conquer them. Not a single nation, people, language, or ethnicity could escape its dominion. ⁸ The inhabitants of the earth will worship it, that is, all those whose names have not been recorded before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.

⁹ Let the person who is able to hear, listen carefully.

The endurance and faithfulness of the saints will be tested here.

¹¹ As I watched, I saw a second beast, this one rising up from the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it was speaking with the voice of a dragon.

¹² This earth-beast exercises all of the authority given to it by the first beast, and it forces the earth and all its inhabitants to bow down and worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. ¹³ And the earth-beast performs fantastic miracles. Like Elijah on Mount Carmel, it even causes fire to blaze down from heaven to earth for all to see. ¹⁴ Since it is allowed to perform these miracles in the presence of the first beast, the earth-beast deceives the inhabitants of the earth, commanding them to make an image of the first beast that had survived the mortal wound inflicted by the sword. ¹⁵ And the earth-beast was granted permission to breathe into the image and to animate it so that it could even speak. It decreed that those who refuse to worship the image of the first beast must be killed, ¹⁶ and the earth-beast mandates that all humans must carry a mark on their right hands or foreheads: both great and small, both rich and poor, both free and slave.

¹⁷ Those who do not carry this mark, that is, those who do not have the name of the first beast or the number representing its name inscribed on them, are not allowed to sell their wares or buy in the market.

¹⁸ Here is divine wisdom: let anyone who understands these mysteries figure out the number of the beast because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.^[m]

14 The scene changed. I looked and saw the Lamb standing on top of Mount Zion, and with Him were the 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name inscribed on their foreheads. ² And I heard a voice from heaven roaring like a waterfall and clapping like thunder. The voice I heard was like a symphony of harpists playing their instruments. ³ As I watched, they began to sing a new song before the throne, the four living creatures, and the twenty-four elders. The only ones with the ability to learn this song were the 144,000 who had been rescued from the earth, ⁴ virgins who had not given themselves to sexual relations. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been purchased from among humanity as the firstfruits, set apart for God and the Lamb. ⁵ In their mouths, no lie was found; no blemish marred them.

⁶ I saw another messenger flying through midheaven. He carried an eternal gospel, bringing good news to all the citizens of the earth—every ethnicity, nation, language, and people.

⁸ Another messenger, a second, came along.

⁹ Another messenger, a third, followed.

¹² Here is the patient endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and remain faithful to Jesus.

¹³ Then I heard a voice call out from heaven.

¹⁴ Then I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, a golden wreath atop His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. ¹⁵ Another messenger proceeded from the temple and called with a loud voice to the One who sat on the cloud.

¹⁶ Then the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth gave up its harvest.

¹⁷ Just then another messenger proceeded out of the heavenly temple. He also had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ Then another messenger (the one with authority over fire) came out from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle.

¹⁹ So the heavenly messenger swung his sickle over the earth, gathered the fruit of the vine from the earth, and threw it into the great winepress, which is the wrath of God. ²⁰ And the winepress was trampled outside of the city, and blood flowed from the winepress. The blood ran deep. It reached as high as the bridle on a horse and ran for the distance of about 185 miles.

15 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing: seven messengers with seven plagues—plagues that marked the end. With these the wrath of God reached its end.

² And then I saw something like a sea made of glass mixed with fire flashing through it. Those who had been victorious over the beast, its image, and the number of its name were standing on the sea of glass, holding the harps of God in their hands. ³ As they stand and play their harps, they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.

⁵ After I had taken all this in, I looked again; and the inner part of the tabernacle of witness opened in heaven. ⁶ Out of the temple came seven messengers, clothed in pure linen, bright and shining, their chests clad in a golden sash, carrying seven plagues. ⁷ Then one of the four living creatures stepped over to give to the seven messengers seven golden bowls brimming with the wrath of God who lives throughout the ages. ⁸ The temple was full of the smoke billowing from the magnificent glory of God and from His power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven messengers accomplished their God-ordained end.

16 Then I heard a great voice coming from the temple ordering the seven heavenly messengers.

² So the first messenger poured out his bowl onto the earth. When he did, a foul-smelling, painful sore broke out on each person who bore the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.

³ The second messenger poured out his bowl into the sea. When he did, the waters became like the blood that spills from a dead body, and every living creature in the sea died.

⁴ The third messenger poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of fresh water. When he did, they, too, became blood. ⁵ And I heard the messenger over the waters speak.

⁷ And I heard a voice from the altar agree.

⁸ The fourth messenger poured out his bowl on the sun. When he did, the sun was permitted to blister people with its fire. ⁹ The incredible heat of the sun burned their skin; but instead of rethinking their actions^[n] and glorifying God, they cursed God’s name because He had the power to carry out these plagues.

¹⁰ The fifth messenger poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. When he did, its kingdom was blanketed in darkness. People chewed on their tongues out of the depth of their agony. ¹¹ Still they refused to change their wicked ways,^[o] so they cursed the God of heaven because of their painful afflictions and ulcerous sores.

¹² The sixth messenger poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates. When he did, the river dried up and became a road so that the kings from the east and their armies could make their way. ¹³ What I saw next troubled me deeply: three foul spirits like frogs appeared, belched from the mouth of the dragon, the mouth of the beast, and the mouth of the earth-beast. ¹⁴ These frogs are demonic spirits. As they go into the world, they perform miracles persuading the kings of the world to gather for the last battle on the great day of God, the All Powerful.

¹⁶ And the kings gathered at the place called Har-Magedon in Hebrew.

¹⁷ Finally, the seventh messenger poured out his bowl into the air. When he did, a great voice came out of the temple, from the throne.

¹⁸ At the sound of the voice, there were flashes of lightning, sounds of voices, rumblings of thunder, and tremors of an earthquake. In all of human history, there had never been an earthquake of this magnitude. ¹⁹ The great city was torn into three parts, and the cities of all the nations fell. God remembered the great city, Babylon, and made her drink the cup of His fury and wrath. ²⁰ Every island sank into the ocean, and no mountains were left to be discovered. ²¹ And great hailstones, each weighing nearly 100 pounds, fell from the sky onto the people until they cursed God because the plague of hail was so severe.

17 And then one of the seven messengers entrusted with the seven bowls came over to me.

³ Immediately I was in the Spirit, and the guide picked me up and carried me off. In the middle of a vast desert, I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored beast covered with blasphemous names. The beast had seven heads and ten horns like the beast I had seen earlier rising out of the sea. ⁴ The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet fabrics; she shimmered with gold and jewels and pearls. I looked closer and saw that her hand held a golden cup brimming with abominations, bubbling over with the impurities of her sexual exploits. ⁵ On her forehead was inscribed a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, the mother of whores and the abominations that defile the earth.” ⁶ I looked and saw that the woman was drunk because she had gorged herself on the blood of the saints and the blood of those people who refused to deny Jesus even to save their own lives. When I saw her, I was filled with wonder.

18 Next I saw another messenger descending from heaven. I knew he possessed great authority because his glory illuminated the earth.

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven urge,

²¹ Then a mighty messenger picked up a huge stone—it looked like a great millstone—and he cast it into the sea.

19 The scene changed. After this, I heard the great sound of a multitude echoing in heaven.

³ Again praise spilled from heaven.

⁴ And the twenty-four elders and four living creatures fell on their faces and worshiped God who reigns on the throne.

⁶ And I heard what seemed to be an immense crowd speaking with one voice—it was like the sound of a roaring waterfall, like the sound of clashing thunder.

¹⁰ At that, I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he refused my praise.

¹¹ I looked up and saw that heaven had opened. Suddenly, a white horse appeared. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with righteousness He exercises judgment and wages war. ¹² His eyes burn like a flaming fire, and on His head are many crowns. His name was written before the creation of the world, and no one knew it except He Himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name He was known by is The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies of heaven, outfitted in fine linen, white and pure, were following behind Him on white steeds. ¹⁵ From His mouth darts a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule over them with a scepter made of iron. He will trample the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, the All Powerful. ¹⁶ And there on His robe and on His thigh was written His name: King of kings and Lord of lords.

¹⁷ Then I looked up and saw a messenger standing in the sun; and with a loud voice, he called to all the birds that fly through midheaven.

¹⁹ I looked down, and I saw the beast I had seen earlier and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered together to wage war against the One riding the white horse and His heavenly army. ²⁰ The beast was soon captured along with the false prophet, the earth-beast I had seen earlier who performed signs to deceive those who had agreed to receive the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its detestable image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. ²¹ And all who remained met death at the blade of the sword that proceeded from the mouth of the One riding on the white horse. All the birds feasted fully on their flesh.

20 Then I saw a messenger coming from heaven. In his hand was a key to the abyss and a great chain that had been forged in heaven. ² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for 1,000 years with the great chain. ³ The messenger cast him into the abyss and locked it and sealed him in it so that he could not go about deceiving the nations until the 1,000 years had come to completion. Afterward he must be released for a short time.