Priests and Levites

12 These are ^(A)the priests and the Levites who came up with ^(B)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and ^(C)Jeshua: ^(D)Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, ² Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, ³ Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, ⁴ Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, ⁵ Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, ⁶ Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, ⁷ Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua.

⁸ And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who with his brothers was ^(E)in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. ⁹ And Bakbukiah and Unni and their brothers stood opposite them ^(F)in the service. ¹⁰ And Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada, ¹¹ Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua.

^12 (G)And in the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers' houses: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; ¹³ of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; ¹⁴ of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; ¹⁵ of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; ¹⁶ of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; ¹⁷ of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; ¹⁸ of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; ¹⁹ of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; ²⁰ of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; ²¹ of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

²² In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were recorded as heads of fathers' houses; so too were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. ²³ As for the sons of Levi, their heads of fathers' houses ^(H)were written in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. ²⁴ And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and ^(I)Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers who stood opposite them, ^(J)to praise and to give thanks, ^(K)according to the commandment of David ^(L)the man of God, ^(M)watch by watch. ²⁵ Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers standing guard at ^(N)the storehouses of the gates. ²⁶ These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the days of ^(O)Nehemiah the governor and of ^(P)Ezra, the priest and scribe.

Dedication of the Wall

²⁷ And at ^(Q)the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, ^(R)with cymbals, harps, and lyres. ²⁸ And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; ²⁹ also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. ³⁰ And the priests and the Levites ^(S)purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.

³¹ Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. ^(T)One went to the south on the wall to ^(U)the Dung Gate. ³² And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, ³³ and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴ Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, ³⁵ and certain of the priests' sons ^(V)with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; ³⁶ and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, ^(W)with the musical instruments of David ^(X)the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. ³⁷ At ^(Y)the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by ^(Z)the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to ^(AA)the Water Gate on the east.

^38 (AB)The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above ^(AC)the Tower of the Ovens, to ^(AD)the Broad Wall, ³⁹ and above ^(AE)the Gate of Ephraim, and by ^(AF)the Gate of Yeshanah,^[a] and by ^(AG)the Fish Gate and ^(AH)the Tower of Hananel and ^(AI)the Tower of the Hundred, to ^(AJ)the Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at ^(AK)the Gate of the Guard. ⁴⁰ So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me; ⁴¹ and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, ^(AL)with trumpets; ⁴² and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. ⁴³ And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.

Service at the Temple

^44 (AM)On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. ⁴⁵ And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, ^(AN)according to the command of David and his son Solomon. ⁴⁶ For long ago in the days of David and ^(AO)Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs^[b] of praise and thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷ And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the ^(AP)daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; ^(AQ)and they set apart that which was for the Levites; ^(AR)and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with ^(A)a rainbow over his head, and ^(B)his face was like the sun, and ^(C)his legs like pillars of fire. ^2 (D)He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, ³ and called out with a loud voice, ^(E)like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. ⁴ And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, ^(F)“Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” ⁵ And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^(G)raised his right hand to heaven ⁶ and swore by ^(H)him who lives forever and ever, ^(I)who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, ⁷ but that ^(J)in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, ^(K)just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

⁸ Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹ So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, ^(L)“Take and ^(M)eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” ¹⁰ And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. ¹¹ And I was told, ^(N)“You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given ^(O)a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, ² but do not measure ^(P)the court outside the temple; leave that out, for ^(Q)it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for ^(R)forty-two months. ³ And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^(S)1,260 days, ^(T)clothed in sackcloth.”

⁴ These are ^(U)the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone would harm them, ^(V)fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, ^(W)this is how he is doomed to be killed. ⁶ They have the power ^(X)to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and ^(Y)to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. ⁷ And when they have finished their testimony, ^(Z)the beast that rises from ^(AA)the bottomless pit^{[a] (AB)}will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, ⁸ and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically^[b] is called ^(AC)Sodom and ^(AD)Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. ⁹ For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and ^(AE)refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, ¹⁰ and ^(AF)those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and ^(AG)exchange presents, because these two prophets ^(AH)had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ But after the three and a half days ^(AI)a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹² Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ^(AJ)“Come up here!” And ^(AK)they went up to heaven ^(AL)in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ And at that hour there was ^(AM)a great earthquake, and ^(AN)a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ^(AO)gave glory to ^(AP)the God of heaven.

^14 (AQ)The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵ Then ^(AR)the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and ^(AS)there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ^(AT)“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of ^(AU)his Christ, and ^(AV)he shall reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders ^(AW)who sit on their thrones before God ^(AX)fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying,

¹⁹ Then ^(BE)God's temple in heaven was opened, and ^(BF)the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,^[c] peals of thunder, an earthquake, and ^(BG)heavy hail.

The Woman and the Dragon

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman ^(BH)clothed with ^(BI)the sun, with ^(BJ)the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and ^(BK)was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great ^(BL)red dragon, ^(BM)with seven heads and ^(BN)ten horns, and on his heads ^(BO)seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down ^(BP)a third of the stars of heaven and ^(BQ)cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child ^(BR)he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, ^(BS)one who is to rule^[d] all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was ^(BT)caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for ^(BU)1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

⁷ Now war arose in heaven, ^(BV)Michael and ^(BW)his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And ^(BX)the great dragon was thrown down, ^(BY)that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, ^(BZ)the deceiver of the whole world—^(CA)he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now ^(CB)the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers^[e] has been thrown down, ^(CC)who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And ^(CD)they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^(CE)they loved not their lives ^(CF)even unto death. ¹² Therefore, ^(CG)rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^(CH)woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ^(CI)he knows that his time is short!”

¹³ And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued ^(CJ)the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two ^(CK)wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent ^(CL)into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^(CM)for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵ The serpent poured water ^(CN)like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. ¹⁶ But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off ^(CO)to make war on the rest of ^(CP)her offspring, ^(CQ)on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to ^(CR)the testimony of Jesus. And he stood^[f] on the sand of the sea.