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The 144,000 of Israel Sealed

Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind would not blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. He cried out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” Then I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand out of every tribe of the children of Israel:

Twelve thousand from the tribe of Judah were sealed,

twelve throusand from the tribe of Reuben were sealed,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad were sealed,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher were sealed,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali were sealed,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh were sealed,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon were sealed,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi were sealed,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar were sealed,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun were sealed,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph were sealed,

and twelve thousand from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

The Multitude From Every Nation

Then I looked. And there was a great multitude which no one could count, from all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out with a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”

11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, 12 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 asked me, “Who are these clothed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.”

He said to me, “These are those who came out of great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,

they are before the throne of God,
    and serve Him day and night in His temple.
And He who sits on the throne
    will dwell among them.
16 ‘They shall neither hunger any more,
    nor shall they thirst any more;
the sun shall not strike them,’[a]
    nor any scorching heat;
17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne
    will shepherd them
and ‘He will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]

The Sealing of the 144,000

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east[a], holding the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels who were given permission[b] to damage the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the slaves of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the ones who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Simeon,[c] twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

The Great Crowd before the Throne

After these things I looked, and behold, a great crowd that no one was able to number, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes and with palm branches in their hands. 10 And they were crying out with a loud voice, saying,

“Salvation to our God
who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”

11 And all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,

“Amen! Praise and glory,
and wisdom and thanksgiving,
and honor and power and strength
be to our God forever and ever[d]. Amen!”

13 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are dressed in the white robes—who are they, and from where have they come?” 14 And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me,

“These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation,
    and have washed their robes
    and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Because of this, they are before the throne of God,
    and they serve[e] him day and night in his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter[f] them.
16 They will not be hungry any longer or be thirsty any longer,
    nor will the sun ever beat down on them, nor any heat,[g]
17 because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them
    and will lead them to springs of living waters,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”[h]

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 7:2 Literally “from the rising of the sun”
  2. Revelation 7:2 Literally “to whom was granted to them”
  3. Revelation 7:7 Or “Symeon,” an alternate spelling of the Greek form of the name
  4. Revelation 7:12 Literally “for the ages of the ages”
  5. Revelation 7:15 Or “worship”
  6. Revelation 7:15 Literally “will take up residence over”
  7. Revelation 7:16 An allusion to Isa 49:10
  8. Revelation 7:17 An allusion to Isa 25:8