Rejoicing in Heaven

19 After this I heard (A)what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

“Hallelujah!
(B)Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
    for (C)his judgments are true and just;
for he has judged (D)the great prostitute
    who corrupted the earth with her immorality,
and (E)has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

Once more they cried out,

“Hallelujah!
(F)The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

And (G)the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And from the throne came a voice saying,

(H)“Praise our God,
    all you his servants,
(I)you who fear him,
    small and great.”

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Then I heard what seemed to be (J)the voice of a great multitude, like (K)the roar of many waters and (L)like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty (M)reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for (N)the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and (O)his Bride has made herself ready;
(P)it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is (Q)the righteous deeds of the saints.

And the angel said[a] to me, “Write this: (R)Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, (S)“These are the true words of God.” 10 Then (T)I fell down at his feet to worship him, (U)but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to (V)the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

11 Then I saw (W)heaven opened, and behold, (X)a white horse! The one sitting on it is called (Y)Faithful and True, and (Z)in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 (AA)His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are (AB)many diadems, and he has (AC)a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in (AD)a robe dipped in[b] blood, and the name by which he is called is (AE)The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, (AF)arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, (AG)were following him on white horses. 15 (AH)From his mouth comes a sharp sword (AI)with which to strike down the nations, and (AJ)he will rule[c] them with a rod of iron. (AK)He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh (AL)he has a name written, (AM)King of kings and Lord of lords.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to (AN)all the birds that fly directly overhead, (AO)“Come, gather for (AP)the great supper of God, 18 (AQ)to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,[d] both small and great.” 19 And I saw (AR)the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies (AS)gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it (AT)the false prophet (AU)who in its presence[e] had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who (AV)worshiped its image. These two were (AW)thrown alive into the lake of (AX)fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword (AY)that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and (AZ)all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 19:9 Greek he said
  2. Revelation 19:13 Some manuscripts sprinkled with
  3. Revelation 19:15 Greek shepherd
  4. Revelation 19:18 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
  5. Revelation 19:20 Or on its behalf

Celebration in heaven

19 After this I heard what sounded like a huge crowd in heaven. They said,

“Hallelujah! The salvation and glory and power of our God!
His judgments are true and just,
    because he judged the great prostitute,
        who ruined the earth by her whoring,
    and he exacted the penalty for the blood of his servants
        from her hand.”

Then they said a second time,

“Hallelujah! Smoke goes up from her forever and always.”

The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God, who is seated on the throne, and they said, “Amen. Hallelujah!”

Then a voice went out from the throne and said,

“Praise our God, all you his servants,
        and you who fear him, both small and great.”

And I heard something that sounded like a huge crowd, like rushing water and powerful thunder. They said,

“Hallelujah! The Lord our God, the Almighty,
        exercised his royal power!
Let us rejoice and celebrate, and give him the glory,
    for the wedding day of the Lamb has come,
        and his bride has made herself ready.
She was given fine, pure white linen to wear,
    for the fine linen is the saints’ acts of justice.”

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Favored are those who have been invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb.” He said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said, “Don’t do that! I’m a servant just like you and your brothers and sisters who hold firmly to the witness of Jesus. Worship God! The witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy!”

Christ defeats the beast

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider was called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war justly. 12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on his head were many royal crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He wore a robe dyed[a] with blood, and his name was called the Word of God. 14 Heaven’s armies, wearing fine linen that was white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword that he will use to strike down the nations. He is the one who will rule them with an iron rod. And he is the one who will trample the winepress of the Almighty God’s passionate anger. 16 He has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of kings and Lord of lords.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he called out with a loud voice and said to all the birds flying high overhead, “Come and gather for God’s great supper. 18 Come and eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of generals, the flesh of the powerful, and the flesh of horses and their riders. Come and eat the flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.” 19 Then I saw that the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies had gathered to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was seized, along with the false prophet who had done signs in the beast’s presence. (He had used the signs to deceive people into receiving the beast’s mark and into worshipping the beast’s image.) The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake that burns with sulfur. 21 The rest were killed by the sword that comes from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds ate their fill of their flesh.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 19:13 Critical editions of the Gk New Testament read dipped or covered with.