²⁷ And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world^[a]—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

The Exiles Are Called Home

⁶ The Lord says, “Come away! Flee from Babylon in the land of the north, for I have scattered you to the four winds.

³¹ And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world^[a]—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

⁴ Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth,^[a] the Lord your God will gather you from there and bring you back again.

Events prior to the Lord’s Second Coming

2 Now, dear brothers and sisters,^[a] let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him.

²² For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.

²⁰ In fact, unless the Lord shortens that time of calamity, not a single person will survive. But for the sake of his chosen ones he has shortened those days.

⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.

⁶ The seven angels who were holding the seven plagues came out of the Temple. They were clothed in spotless white linen^[a] with gold sashes across their chests. ⁷ Then one of the four living beings handed each of the seven angels a gold bowl filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.

Praise from the Great Crowd

⁹ After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.