Ezra Reads the Law

8 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before ^(A)the Water Gate. And they told ^(B)Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. ² So Ezra the priest ^(C)brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, ^(D)on the first day of the seventh month. ^3 (E)And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴ And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. ⁵ And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. ⁶ And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ^(F)“Amen, Amen,” ^(G)lifting up their hands. ^(H)And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ^7 (I)Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites,^{[a] (J)}helped the people to understand the Law, ^(K)while the people remained in their places. ⁸ They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly,^[b] and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

This Day Is Holy

⁹ And Nehemiah, who was ^(L)the governor, and Ezra ^(M)the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ^(N)“This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^(O)do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and ^(P)send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” ¹¹ So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” ¹² And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because ^(Q)they had understood the words that were declared to them.

Feast of Booths Celebrated

¹³ On the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. ¹⁴ And they found it written in the Law that the Lord had commanded by Moses ^(R)that the people of Israel should dwell in booths^[c] during the feast of the seventh month, ¹⁵ and that they should proclaim it and ^(S)publish it in all their towns and ^(T)in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring ^(U)branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” ¹⁶ So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each ^(V)on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at ^(W)the Water Gate and in the square at ^(X)the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷ And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day ^(Y)the people of Israel had not done so. And there was ^(Z)very great rejoicing. ¹⁸ And day by day, from the first day to the last day, ^(AA)he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and ^(AB)on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.

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.