¹³ Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord^(A) from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit,^(B) “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress

¹⁴ I looked, and there before me was a white cloud,^(C) and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man^[a](D) with a crown^(E) of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ Then another angel came out of the temple^(F) and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle^(G) and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest^(H) of the earth is ripe.” ¹⁶ So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

¹⁷ Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.^{(I) 18} Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar^(J) and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle^(K) and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.^{(L) 20} They were trampled in the winepress^(M) outside the city,^(N) and blood^(O) flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.^[b]