The People of Israel Confess Their Sin

9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of ^(A)this month the people of Israel were assembled ^(B)with fasting ^(C)and in sackcloth, ^(D)and with earth on their heads. ^2 (E)And the Israelites^[a] separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. ^3 (F)And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God. ⁴ On the stairs of the Levites stood ^(G)Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. ⁵ Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. ^(H)Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

^{6 [b] (I)}“You are the Lord, you alone. ^(J)You have made heaven, ^(K)the heaven of heavens, ^(L)with all their host, ^(M)the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; ^(N)and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. ⁷ You are the Lord, the God ^(O)who chose Abram and brought him out of ^(P)Ur of the Chaldeans ^(Q)and gave him the name Abraham. ^8 (R)You found his heart faithful before you, ^(S)and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring ^(T)the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. ^(U)And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

^9 (V)“And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard ^(W)their cry at the Red Sea, ^10 (X)and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that ^(Y)they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And ^(Z)you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. ^11 (AA)And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, ^(AB)as a stone into mighty waters. ¹² By ^(AC)a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. ^13 (AD)You came down on Mount Sinai ^(AE)and spoke with them from heaven and gave them ^(AF)right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, ^14 (AG)and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. ^15 (AH)You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and ^(AI)brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you ^(AJ)told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

¹⁶ “But they and our fathers ^(AK)acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. ¹⁷ They refused to obey ^(AL)and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.^[c] But you are a God ready to forgive, ^(AM)gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. ¹⁸ Even ^(AN)when they had made for themselves a golden^[d] calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ ^(AO)and had committed great blasphemies, ¹⁹ you ^(AP)in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. ^(AQ)The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, ^(AR)nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. ^20 (AS)You gave your good Spirit to instruct them ^(AT)and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. ^21 (AU)Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

²² “And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. ^(AV)So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon ^(AW)and the land of Og king of Bashan. ²³ You multiplied their children ^(AX)as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. ^24 (AY)So the descendants went in and possessed the land, ^(AZ)and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. ²⁵ And they captured ^(BA)fortified cities and ^(BB)a rich land, and took possession of ^(BC)houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled ^(BD)and became fat and delighted themselves in ^(BE)your great goodness.

^26 (BF)“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you ^(BG)and cast your law behind their back ^(BH)and killed your prophets, who ^(BI)had warned them in order to turn them back to you, ^(BJ)and they committed great blasphemies. ^27 (BK)Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. ^(BL)And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them ^(BM)saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. ^28 (BN)But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, ^(BO)and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. ^29 (BP)And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet ^(BQ)they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, ^(BR)which if a person does them, he shall live by them, ^(BS)and they turned a stubborn shoulder ^(BT)and stiffened their neck and would not obey. ³⁰ Many years ^(BU)you bore with them ^(BV)and warned them ^(BW)by your Spirit through your prophets. ^(BX)Yet they would not give ear. ^(BY)Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. ³¹ Nevertheless, ^(BZ)in your great mercies ^(CA)you did not make an end of them or forsake them, ^(CB)for you are a gracious and merciful God.

³² “Now, therefore, our God, ^(CC)the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, ^(CD)since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. ^33 (CE)Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully ^(CF)and we have acted wickedly. ³⁴ Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. ³⁵ Even in their own kingdom, ^(CG)and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and ^(CH)rich land that you set before them, ^(CI)they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. ³⁶ Behold, ^(CJ)we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. ^37 (CK)And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

^38 [e] “Because of all this ^(CL)we make a firm covenant in writing; on ^(CM)the sealed document are the names of^[f] our princes, our Levites, and our priests.

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.