Vision of Abominations in Jerusalem

8 Now it came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord ^[a]God fell upon me there. ² Then I looked, and behold, something like the appearance of ^[b]a man; from His waist and downward there was the ^(A)appearance of fire, and from His waist and upward like the appearance of a glow, like ^(B)gleaming ^[c]metal. ³ And He extended the form of a hand and took me by the hair of my head; and the ^(C)Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the ^[d]north gate of the inner courtyard, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which ^(D)provokes to jealousy, was located. ⁴ And behold, the ^(E)glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.

⁵ Then He said to me, “Son of man, ^(F)raise your eyes now toward the north.” So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this ^(G)idol of jealousy at the entrance. ⁶ And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great ^(H)abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations!”

⁷ Then He brought me to the entrance of the courtyard, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. ⁸ And He said to me, “Son of man, now ^(I)dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. ⁹ Then He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.” ¹⁰ So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of crawling things and animals and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. ¹¹ And standing in front of them were ^(J)seventy ^(K)elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his ^(L)censer in his hand; and the fragrance of the cloud of incense was rising. ¹² Then He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the rooms of his carved images? For they say, ‘^(M)The Lord does not see us; the Lord has ^(N)abandoned the land.’” ¹³ And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing!”

¹⁴ Then He brought me to the entrance of the ^(O)gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for ^[e]Tammuz. ¹⁵ And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these!”

¹⁶ Then He brought me into the inner courtyard of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their ^(P)backs to the temple of the Lord while their faces were toward the east; and ^(Q)they were ^[f]prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. ¹⁷ And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it a trivial thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have ^(R)filled the land with violence and ^(S)provoked Me to anger repeatedly? Yet behold, they are ^[g]putting the twig to their nose! ¹⁸ Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and ^(T)though they cry out in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”

The First Seal: Conqueror on a White Horse

6 Then I saw when the ^(A)Lamb broke one of the ^(B)seven seals, and I heard one of the ^(C)four living creatures saying as with a ^(D)voice of thunder, “Come^[a]!” ² I looked, and behold, a ^(E)white horse, and the one who sat on it had a bow; and ^(F)a crown was given to him, and he went out ^(G)conquering and to conquer.

The Second Seal: War

³ When He broke the second seal, I heard the ^(H)second living creature saying, “Come^[b]!” ⁴ And another, ^(I)a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to ^(J)take peace from the earth, and that people would kill one another; and a large sword was given to him.

The Third Seal: Famine

⁵ When He broke the third seal, I heard the ^(K)third living creature saying, “Come^[c]!” I looked, and behold, a ^(L)black horse, and the one who sat on it had a ^(M)pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ And I heard something like a voice in the center of the ^(N)four living creatures saying, “A ^[d]quart of wheat for a ^[e]denarius, and three ^[f]quarts of barley for a ^[g]denarius; and ^(O)do not damage the oil and the wine.”

The Fourth Seal: Death

⁷ When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the ^(P)fourth living creature saying, “Come^[h]!” ⁸ I looked, and behold, ^[i]an ^(Q)ashen horse; and the one who sat on it had the name ^(R)Death, and ^(S)Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, ^(T)to kill with sword, and famine, and ^[j]plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.

The Fifth Seal: Martyrs

⁹ When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw ^(U)underneath the ^(V)altar the ^(W)souls of those who had been killed ^(X)because of the word of God, and because of the ^(Y)testimony which they had maintained; ¹⁰ and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “^(Z)How long, O ^[k](AA)Lord, ^(AB)holy and true, ^[l]will You refrain from ^(AC)judging and avenging our blood on ^(AD)those who live on the earth?” ¹¹ And a ^(AE)white robe was given to each of them; and they were told that they were to ^(AF)rest for a little while longer, ^(AG)until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, was ^(AH)completed also.

The Sixth Seal: Terror

¹² And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great ^(AI)earthquake; and the ^(AJ)sun became as black as ^(AK)sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; ¹³ and ^(AL)the stars of the sky fell to the earth, ^(AM)as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. ^14 (AN)The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and ^(AO)every mountain and island was removed from its place. ¹⁵ Then ^(AP)the kings of the earth and the eminent people, and the commanders and the wealthy and the strong, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; ¹⁶ and they *^(AQ)said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the ^[m]sight of Him ^(AR)who sits on the throne, and from the ^(AS)wrath of the Lamb; ¹⁷ for ^(AT)the great day of Their wrath has come, and ^(AU)who is able to stand?”

An Interlude

7 After this I saw ^(AV)four angels standing at the ^(AW)four corners of the earth, holding back ^(AX)the four winds of the earth ^(AY)so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. ² And I saw another angel ascending ^(AZ)from the rising of the sun, holding the ^(BA)seal of ^(BB)the living God; and he called out with a loud voice to the ^(BC)four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, ³ saying, “^(BD)Do not harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have ^(BE)sealed the bond-servants of our God on their ^(BF)foreheads.”

The 144,000

⁴ And I heard the ^(BG)number of those who were sealed: ^(BH)144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

A Multitude from the Tribulation

⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from ^(BI)every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing ^(BJ)before the throne and ^(BK)before the Lamb, clothed in ^(BL)white robes, and ^(BM)palm branches were in their hands; ¹⁰ and they *cried out with a loud voice, saying,

¹¹ And all the angels were standing ^(BP)around the throne and around ^(BQ)the elders and the ^(BR)four living creatures; and they ^(BS)fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying,

¹³ Then one of the elders ^(BW)responded, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the ^(BX)white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” ¹⁴ I ^[n]said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the ^(BY)great tribulation, and they have ^(BZ)washed their robes and made them ^(CA)white in the ^(CB)blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ For this reason they are ^(CC)before the throne of God, and they ^(CD)serve Him day and night in His ^[o](CE)temple; and ^(CF)He who sits on the throne will spread His ^(CG)tabernacle over them. ^16 (CH)They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun ^[p]beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; ¹⁷ for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their ^(CI)shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the ^[q](CJ)water of life; and ^(CK)God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Gimel

Daleth