Revelation 11
Easy-to-Read Version
The Two Witnesses
11 Then I was given a measuring rod as long as a walking stick. I was told, “Go and measure the temple[a] of God and the altar, and count the people worshiping there. 2 But don’t measure the yard outside the temple. Leave it alone. It has been given to those who are not God’s people. They will show their power over the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses. And they will prophesy for 1260 days. They will be dressed in sackcloth.”
4 These two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone tries to hurt the witnesses, fire comes from the mouths of the witnesses and kills their enemies. Anyone who tries to hurt them will die like this. 6 These witnesses have the power to stop the sky from raining during the time they are prophesying. These witnesses have power to make the water become blood. They have power to send every kind of plague to the earth. They can do this as many times as they want.
7 When the two witnesses have finished telling their message, the beast will fight against them. This is the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit. It will defeat and kill them. 8 The bodies of the two witnesses will lie in the street of the great city. This city is named Sodom and Egypt. These names for the city have a special meaning. This is the city where the Lord was killed. 9 People from every race of people, tribe, language, and nation will look at the bodies of the two witnesses for three and a half days. The people will refuse to bury them. 10 Everyone on the earth will be happy because these two are dead. They will have parties and send each other gifts. They will do this because these two prophets brought much suffering to the people living on earth.
11 But after three and a half days, God let life enter the two witnesses again. They stood on their feet. All those who saw them were filled with fear. 12 Then the two witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven say, “Come up here!” And both of them went up into heaven in a cloud. Their enemies watched them go.
13 At that same time there was a great earthquake. A tenth of the city was destroyed. And 7000 people were killed in the earthquake. Those who did not die were very afraid. They gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second terror is now past. The third terror is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet Blast
15 The seventh angel blew his trumpet. Then there were loud voices in heaven. The voices said,
“The kingdom of the world has now become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah.
And he will rule forever and ever.”
16 Then the 24 elders bowed down on their faces and worshiped God. These are the elders who sit on their thrones before God. 17 The elders said,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God All-Powerful.
You are the one who is and who always was.
We thank you because you have used your great power
and have begun to rule.
18 The people of the world were angry,
but now is the time for your anger.
Now is the time for the dead to be judged.
It is time to reward your servants, the prophets,
and to reward your holy people,
the people, great and small, who respect you.
It is time to destroy those people who destroy the earth!”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened. The Box of the Agreement[b] could be seen in his temple. Then there were flashes of lightning, noises, thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.
Footnotes
- Revelation 11:1 temple God’s house—the place where God’s people worship and serve him. Here, John sees it pictured as the special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. Also in verse 19.
- Revelation 11:19 Box of the Agreement This is like the special box kept in the Most Holy Place of the Israelite Holy Tent and, later, the Jerusalem Temple, which contained “proof” of the agreement between God and his people. See “Box of the Agreement” in the Word List.
Revelation 11
Amplified Bible
The Two Witnesses
11 Then there was given to me a [a]measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “[b]Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar [of incense], and [count] those who worship in it.(A) 2 But leave out the court [of the Gentiles] which is outside the temple and do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles (the nations); and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months (three and one-half years).(B) 3 And I will grant authority to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days (forty-two months; three and one-half years), dressed in [c]sackcloth.”(C) 4 These [witnesses] are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth.(D) 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.(E) 6 These [two witnesses] have the power [from God] to shut up the sky, so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophesying [regarding judgment and salvation]; and they have power over the waters (seas, rivers) to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every [kind of] plague, as often as they wish.(F)
7 When they have finished their testimony and given their evidence, the beast that comes up out of the abyss (bottomless pit) will wage war with them, and overcome them and kill them.(G) 8 And their dead bodies will lie exposed in the open street of the great city (Jerusalem), which in a spiritual sense is called [by the symbolic and allegorical names of] Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.(H) 9 Those from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations [d]look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10 And those [non-believers] who live on the earth will gloat over them and rejoice; and they will send gifts [in celebration] to one another, because these two prophets tormented and troubled those who live on the earth.
11 But after three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear and panic fell on those who were watching them.(I) 12 And the two witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they ascended into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.(J) 13 And in that [very] hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell and was destroyed; seven thousand [e]people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest [who survived] were overcome with terror, and [f]they glorified the God of heaven [as they recognized His awesome power].
14 The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
The Seventh Trumpet—Christ’s Reign Foreseen
15 Then the seventh angel sounded [his trumpet]; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
“The kingdom (dominion, rule) of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”(K) 16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell face downward and worshiped God, 17 saying,
“To You we give thanks, O Lord God Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all], Who are and Who were, because You have taken Your great power and the sovereignty [which is rightly Yours] and have [now] begun to reign. 18 And the nations (Gentiles) became enraged, and Your wrath and indignation came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and [the time came] to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints (God’s people) and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and [the time came] to destroy the destroyers of the earth.”(L)
19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning, loud rumblings and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.(M)
Footnotes
- Revelation 11:1 John is describing a rod that is about six feet long.
- Revelation 11:1 The Greek corresponds to a Hebrew verb meaning “to stand” or “arise” which can be an instruction to prepare to fulfill a command, somewhat similar to the military command “attention.”
- Revelation 11:3 See note 6:12.
- Revelation 11:9 In Revelation John sometimes uses the present tense to refer vividly to the future.
- Revelation 11:13 Lit names of people.
- Revelation 11:13 These give glory out of servile fear, not worship from the heart.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
