The People Who Sealed the Covenant

10 ^{[a] (A)}“On the seals are the names of^[b] Nehemiah ^(B)the governor, ^(C)the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, ^2 (D)Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, ³ Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, ^4 (E)Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, ⁵ Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, ⁶ Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, ⁷ Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, ⁸ Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. ⁹ And the Levites: ^(F)Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of ^(G)Henadad, Kadmiel; ¹⁰ and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, ¹¹ Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, ¹² Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, ¹³ Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. ¹⁴ The chiefs of the people: ^(H)Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, ¹⁵ Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, ¹⁶ Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, ¹⁷ Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, ¹⁸ Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, ¹⁹ Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, ²⁰ Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, ²¹ Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, ²² Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, ²³ Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, ²⁴ Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, ²⁵ Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, ²⁶ Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, ²⁷ Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

The Obligations of the Covenant

^28 (I)“The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, ^(J)and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, ²⁹ join with their brothers, their nobles, ^(K)and enter into a curse and an oath ^(L)to walk in God's Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes. ^30 (M)We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. ^31 (N)And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the ^(O)seventh year and the ^(P)exaction of every debt.

³² “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly ^(Q)a third part of a shekel^[c] for the service of the house of our God: ^33 (R)for the showbread, ^(S)the regular grain offering, ^(T)the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. ^34 (U)We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots ^(V)for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, ^(W)as it is written in the Law. ³⁵ We obligate ourselves ^(X)to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; ³⁶ also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, ^(Y)as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; ^37 (Z)and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, ^(AA)to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. ³⁸ And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of ^(AB)the storehouse. ³⁹ For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi ^(AC)shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. ^(AD)We will not neglect the house of our God.”

The 144,000 of Israel Sealed

7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back ^(A)the four winds of the earth, ^(B)that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. ² Then I saw another angel ascending ^(C)from the rising of the sun, with ^(D)the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, ³ saying, ^(E)“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God ^(F)on their foreheads.” ⁴ And ^(G)I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

A Great Multitude from Every Nation

⁹ After this I looked, and behold, ^(H)a great multitude that no one could number, ^(I)from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, ^(J)clothed in white robes, with ^(K)palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, ^(L)“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and ^(M)the four living creatures, and they ^(N)fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ^12 (O)saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, ^(P)clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of ^(Q)the great tribulation. ^(R)They have washed their robes and ^(S)made them white ^(T)in the blood of the Lamb.

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

8 When the Lamb opened ^(AB)the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ² Then I saw the seven angels ^(AC)who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. ³ And another angel came and stood ^(AD)at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with ^(AE)the prayers of all the saints on ^(AF)the golden altar before the throne, ⁴ and ^(AG)the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer and ^(AH)filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and ^(AI)there were peals of ^(AJ)thunder, rumblings,^[a] flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The Seven Trumpets

⁶ Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

⁷ The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed ^(AK)hail and ^(AL)fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a ^(AM)third of the earth was burned up, and a third of ^(AN)the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

⁸ The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like ^(AO)a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea ^(AP)became blood. ⁹ A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of ^(AQ)the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel blew his trumpet, and ^(AR)a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on ^(AS)the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star is Wormwood.^[b] A third of the waters ^(AT)became wormwood, and many people died from the water, ^(AU)because it had been made bitter.

¹² The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of ^(AV)the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

¹³ Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, ^(AW)“Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and ^(AX)I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given ^(AY)the key to the shaft of ^(AZ)the bottomless pit.^{[c] 2} He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft ^(BA)rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and ^(BB)the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. ³ Then from the smoke came ^(BC)locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told ^(BD)not to harm ^(BE)the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have ^(BF)the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were allowed to torment them ^(BG)for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. ⁶ And in those days ^(BH)people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

^7 (BI)In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: ^(BJ)on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were ^(BK)like human faces, ⁸ their hair like women's hair, and ^(BL)their teeth like lions' teeth; ⁹ they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was ^(BM)like the noise of many chariots with ^(BN)horses rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people ^(BO)for five months is in their tails. ¹¹ They have ^(BP)as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is ^(BQ)Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.^[d]

^12 (BR)The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

¹³ Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from ^(BS)the four horns of the golden altar before God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release ^(BT)the four angels who are bound at ^(BU)the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released ^(BV)to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ The number of ^(BW)mounted troops was ^(BX)twice ten thousand times ten thousand; ^(BY)I heard their number. ¹⁷ And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire^[e] and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were ^(BZ)like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. ¹⁸ By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

²⁰ The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^(CA)did not repent of ^(CB)the works of their hands nor give up worshiping ^(CC)demons ^(CD)and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, ²¹ nor did they repent of their murders or their ^(CE)sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.