启示录 11
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
两个见证人
11 有一根好象量尺的芦苇赐给了我，又有话说：“你起来，把 神的圣所和祭坛，以及在里面敬拜的人，都量一量、数一数。 2 但圣所外面的院子，不要量它，因为它已经给了外族人，他们要践踏圣城四十二个月。 3 我要赐能力给我那两个穿著麻衣的见证人，他们要传道一千二百六十天。” 4 他们就是站在全地之主面前的两棵橄榄树和两个灯台。 5 如果有人想要伤害他们，就有火从他们口中出来，吞灭他们的仇敌。凡是想要伤害他们的，都必这样被杀。 6 他们有权柄在他们传道的日子叫天闭塞不下雨，又有权柄掌管众水，使水变成血，并且有权柄可以随时随意用各样灾难击打全地。 7 他们作完了见证的时候，那从无底坑上来的兽要跟他们作战，胜过他们，把他们杀死。 8 他们的尸首要倒在大城的街道上。这城按着寓意叫所多玛，又叫埃及，就是他们的主被钉十字架的地方。 9 从各民族、各支派、各方言和各邦国中，都有人观看他们的尸首三天半，又不许人把尸首安放在坟墓里。 10 住在地上的人为了他们的缘故，就欢喜快乐，彼此送礼，因为这两位先知曾经使他们受痛苦。 11 过了三天半，有生命的气息从 神那里来，进入他们里面，他们就站立起来，看见他们的人都非常惧怕。 12 他们听见从天上来的大声音，对他们说：“上这里来！”他们就驾着云上了天，他们的仇敌也看见了。 13 就在那时，大地震发生了，那座城倒塌了十分之一，因着地震而死的有七千人，其余的人都很害怕，就把荣耀归给天上的 神。
14 第二样灾祸过去了。看哪，第三样灾祸快要到了！
吹第七枝号
15 第七位天使吹号，天上就有大声音说：
“世上的国成了我们的主
和他所立的基督的国，
他要作王，直到永永远远！”
16 那在 神面前，坐在自己座位上的二十四位长老，都面伏在地上敬拜 神， 17 说：
“主啊！全能的 神，昔在今在的，
我们感谢你！
因为你执掌了大权，
作王了！
18 列国忿怒了！
你的震怒也临到了！
时候已经到了！
死人要受审判！
你的众仆人、先知、圣徒，
和所有老幼贵贱、敬畏你名的人，
都要得赏赐！
你也要毁灭那些败坏全地的人！”
19 于是，在天上 神的圣所开了，他的约柜就在他的圣所中显现出来。随即有闪电、响声、雷轰、地震、大冰雹。
Revelation 11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 11
The Two Witnesses. 1 [a](A)Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and I was told, “Come and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who are worshiping in it. 2 But exclude the outer court[b] of the temple; do not measure it, for it has been handed over to the Gentiles, who will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 I will commission my two witnesses[c] to prophesy for those twelve hundred and sixty days, wearing sackcloth.” 4 (B)These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands[d] that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 [e]If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone wanting to harm them is sure to be slain. 6 They have the power to close up the sky so that no rain can fall during the time of their prophesying. They also have power to turn water into blood and to afflict the earth with any plague as often as they wish.(C)
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss[f] will wage war against them and conquer them and kill them.(D) 8 Their corpses will lie in the main street of the great city,[g] which has the symbolic names “Sodom” and “Egypt,” where indeed their Lord was crucified. 9 [h]Those from every people, tribe, tongue, and nation will gaze on their corpses for three and a half days, and they will not allow their corpses to be buried. 10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and be glad and exchange gifts because these two prophets tormented the inhabitants of the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them. When they stood on their feet, great fear fell on those who saw them.(E) 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, “Come up here.” So they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies looked on.(F) 13 At that moment there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell in ruins. Seven thousand people[i] were killed during the earthquake; the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed, but the third is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet.[j] 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. There were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world now belongs to our Lord and to his Anointed, and he will reign forever and ever.” 16 The twenty-four elders who sat on their thrones before God prostrated themselves and worshiped God 17 and said:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God almighty,
who are and who were.
For you have assumed your great power
and have established your reign.
18 The nations raged,
but your wrath has come,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and to recompense your servants, the prophets,
and the holy ones and those who fear your name,
the small and the great alike,
and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”(G)
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm.
Footnotes
- 11:1 The temple and altar symbolize the new Israel; see note on Rev 7:4–9. The worshipers represent Christians. The measuring of the temple (cf. Ez 40:3–42:20; 47:1–12; Zec 2:5–6) suggests that God will preserve the faithful remnant (cf. Is 4:2–3) who remain true to Christ (Rev 14:1–5).
- 11:2 The outer court: the Court of the Gentiles. Trample…forty-two months: the duration of the vicious persecution of the Jews by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Dn 7:25; 12:7); this persecution of three and a half years (half of seven, counted as 1260 days in Rev 11:3; 12:6) became the prototype of periods of trial for God’s people; cf. Lk 4:25; Jas 5:17. The reference here is to the persecution by the Romans; cf. Introduction.
- 11:3 The two witnesses, wearing sackcloth symbolizing lamentation and repentance, cannot readily be identified. Do they represent Moses and Elijah, or the Law and the Prophets, or Peter and Paul? Most probably they refer to the universal church, especially the Christian martyrs, fulfilling the office of witness (two because of Dt 19:15; cf. Mk 6:7; Jn 8:17).
- 11:4 The two olive trees and the two lampstands: the martyrs who stand in the presence of the Lord; the imagery is taken from Zec 4:8–14, where the olive trees refer to Zerubbabel and Joshua.
- 11:5–6 These details are derived from stories of Moses, who turned water into blood (Ex 7:17–20), and of Elijah, who called down fire from heaven (1 Kgs 18:36–40; 2 Kgs 1:10) and closed up the sky for three years (1 Kgs 17:1; cf. 18:1).
- 11:7 The beast…from the abyss: the Roman emperor Nero, who symbolizes the forces of evil, or the antichrist (Rev 13:1, 8; 17:8); cf. Dn 7:2–8, 11–12, 19–22 and Introduction.
- 11:8 The great city: this expression is used constantly in Revelation for Babylon, i.e., Rome; cf. Rev 14:8; 16:19; 17:18; 18:2, 10, 21. “Sodom” and “Egypt”: symbols of immorality (cf. Is 1:10) and oppression of God’s people (cf. Ex 1:11–14). Where indeed their Lord was crucified: not the geographical but the symbolic Jerusalem that rejects God and his witnesses, i.e., Rome, called Babylon in Rev 16–18; see note on Rev 17:9 and Introduction.
- 11:9–12 Over the martyrdom (Rev 11:7) of the two witnesses, now called prophets, the ungodly rejoice for three and a half days, a symbolic period of time; see note on Rev 11:2. Afterwards they go in triumph to heaven, as did Elijah (2 Kgs 2:11).
- 11:13 Seven thousand people: a symbolic sum to represent all social classes (seven) and large numbers (thousands); cf. Introduction.
- 11:15–19 The seventh trumpet proclaims the coming of God’s reign after the victory over diabolical powers; see note on Rev 10:7.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.