Revelation 11
Contemporary English Version
The Two Witnesses
11 (A) An angel gave me a measuring stick and said:
Measure around God's temple. Be sure to include the altar and everyone worshiping there. 2 (B) But don't measure the courtyard outside the temple building. Leave it out. It has been given to those people who don't know God, and they will trample all over the holy city for 42 months. 3 My two witnesses will wear sackcloth,[a] while I let them preach for 1,260 days.
4 (C) These two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand in the presence of the Lord who rules the earth. 5 Any enemy who tries to harm them will be destroyed by the fire that comes out of their mouths. 6 (D) They have the power to lock up the sky and to keep rain from falling while they are prophesying. And whenever they want to, they can turn water to blood and cause all kinds of terrible troubles on earth.
7 (E) After the two witnesses have finished preaching God's message, the beast that lives in the deep pit will come up and fight against them. It will win the battle and kill them. 8 (F) Their bodies will be left lying in the streets of the same great city where their Lord was nailed to a cross. And this city is spiritually like the city of Sodom or the country of Egypt.
9 For three and a half days the people of every nation, tribe, language, and race will stare at the bodies of these two witnesses and refuse to let them be buried. 10 Everyone on earth will celebrate and be happy. They will give gifts to each other, because of what happened to the two prophets who caused them so much trouble. 11 (G) But three and a half days later, God will breathe life into their bodies. They will stand up, and everyone who sees them will be terrified.
12 (H) The witnesses then heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, “Come up here.” And while their enemies were watching, they were taken up to heaven in a cloud. 13 (I) At that same moment there was a terrible earthquake that destroyed a tenth of the city. Seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were frightened and praised the God who rules in heaven.
14 The second horrible thing has now happened! And the third one will be here soon.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 (J) At the sound of the seventh trumpet, loud voices were heard in heaven. They said,
“Now the kingdom
of this world
belongs to our Lord
and to his Chosen One!
And he will rule
forever and ever!”
16 Then the 24 elders, who were seated on thrones in God's presence, knelt down and worshiped him. 17 They said,
“Lord God All-Powerful,
you are and you were,
and we thank you.
You used your great power
and started ruling.
18 (K) When the nations got angry,
you became angry too!
Now the time has come
for the dead
to be judged.
It is time for you to reward
your servants the prophets
and all your people
who honor your name,
no matter who they are.
It is time to destroy everyone
who has destroyed
the earth.”
19 (L) The door to God's temple in heaven was then opened, and the sacred chest[b] could be seen inside the temple. I saw lightning and heard roars of thunder. The earth trembled and huge hailstones fell to the ground.
Revelation 11
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
11 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and it was said to me: Arise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar and them that adore therein.
2 But the court, which is without the temple, cast out, and measure it not: because it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city they shall tread under foot two and forty months:
3 And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks, that stand before the Lord of the earth.
5 And if any man will hurt them, fire shall come out of their mouths, and shall devour their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, in this manner must he be slain.
6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they will.
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast, that ascendeth out of the abyss, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which is called spiritually, Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord also was crucified.
9 And they of the tribes, and peoples, and tongues, and nations, shall see their bodies for three days and a half: and they shall not suffer their bodies to be laid in sepulchres.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry: and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt upon the earth.
11 And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them: Come up hither. And they went up to heaven in a cloud: and their enemies saw them.
13 And at that hour there was made a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell: and there were slain in the earthquake names of men seven thousand: and the rest were cast into a fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past: and behold the third woe will come quickly.
15 And the seventh angel sounded the trumpet: and there were great voices in heaven, saying: The kingdom of this world is become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign for ever and ever. Amen.
16 And the four and twenty ancients, who sit on their seats in the sight of God, fell on their faces and adored God, saying:
17 We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and who wast, and who art to come: because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and thou hast reigned.
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest render reward to thy servants the prophets and the saints, and to them that fear thy name, little and great, and shouldest destroy them who have corrupted the earth.
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven: and the ark of his testament was seen in his temple, and there were lightnings, and voices, and an earthquake, and great hail.
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