The Sealed of Israel

After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, (A)holding the four winds of the earth, (B)that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, (C)“Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God (D)on their foreheads.” (E)And I heard the number of those who were sealed. (F)One hundred and forty-four thousand (G)of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were [a]sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

A Multitude from the Great Tribulation

After these things I looked, and behold, (H)a great multitude which no one could number, (I)of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, (J)clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, (K)“Salvation belongs to our God (L)who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 (M)All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and (N)worshiped God, 12 (O)saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in (P)white robes, and where did they come from?”

14 And I said to him, [b]“Sir, you know.”

So he said to me, (Q)“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and (R)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 (S)dwell among them. 16 (T)They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; (U)the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne (V)will shepherd them and lead them to [c]living fountains of waters. (W)And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 7:5 NU, M omit sealed in vv. 5b–8b.
  2. Revelation 7:14 NU, M My lord
  3. Revelation 7:17 NU, M fountains of the waters of life

An Interlude

After this I saw (A)four angels standing at the (B)four corners of the earth, holding back (C)the four winds of the earth (D)so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending (E)from the rising of the sun, holding the (F)seal of (G)the living God; and he called out with a loud voice to the (H)four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “(I)Do not harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have (J)sealed the bond-servants of our God on their (K)foreheads.”

The 144,000

And I heard the (L)number of those who were sealed: (M)144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were 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 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, and from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

A Multitude from the Tribulation

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from (N)every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing (O)before the throne and (P)before the Lamb, clothed in (Q)white robes, and (R)palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they *cried out with a loud voice, saying,

(S)Salvation belongs to our God (T)who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

11 And all the angels were standing (U)around the throne and around (V)the elders and the (W)four living creatures; and they (X)fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,

(Y)Amen, (Z)blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever. (AA)Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders (AB)responded, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the (AC)white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14 I [a]said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the (AD)great tribulation, and they have (AE)washed their robes and made them (AF)white in the (AG)blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason they are (AH)before the throne of God, and they (AI)serve Him day and night in His [b](AJ)temple; and (AK)He who sits on the throne will spread His (AL)tabernacle over them. 16 (AM)They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun [c]beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; 17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their (AN)shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the [d](AO)water of life; and (AP)God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 7:14 Lit have said
  2. Revelation 7:15 Or sanctuary
  3. Revelation 7:16 Lit fall
  4. Revelation 7:17 Lit waters

An Interlude

After this I saw four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth, holding back the [a]four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.(A) Then I saw another angel coming up from the rising of the sun, holding the seal of the living God; and with a loud voice he called out to the four angels to whom it was granted [to have authority and power] to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees until we [b]seal (mark) the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”(B)

The 144,000

And I heard how many were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand; [twelve thousand] sealed from [c]every tribe of the sons of Israel:


Twelve thousand were sealed from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand 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, 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, and twelve thousand from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed (marked, redeemed, protected).

A Multitude from the Tribulation

After these things I looked, and this is what I saw: a vast multitude which no one could count, [gathered] from every nation and from all the tribes and peoples and languages [of the earth], standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Christ), dressed in white robes, with [d]palm branches in their hands; 10 and in a loud voice they cried out, saying,

“Salvation [belongs] to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [our salvation is the Trinity’s to give, and to God the Trinity we owe our deliverance].” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the [twenty-four] elders and the four living creatures; and they fell to their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,

“Amen! Blessing and glory and majesty and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, “These who are dressed in the long white robes—who are they, and from where did they come?” 14 I said to him, “My lord, you know [the answer].” And he said to me, “These are the people who come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb [because of His atoning sacrifice].(C) 15 For this reason, they are [standing] before the throne of God; and they serve Him [in worship] day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will [e]spread His tabernacle over them and shelter and protect them [with His presence].(D) 16 They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun [f]beat down on them, nor any [scorching] heat;(E) 17 for the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of the waters of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes [giving them eternal comfort].”(F)

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 7:1 The Jews and other ancient peoples were very observant of the four winds, that is, the winds that came from each point of the compass. It was said in the Talmud that if the winds ceased to blow, the world could not continue to exist.
  2. Revelation 7:3 The seal indicates both ownership and protection by God.
  3. Revelation 7:4 The tribe of Dan is omitted from the following passage without explanation. The tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s older son, replaces Dan, so the count remains at twelve.
  4. Revelation 7:9 I.e. symbols of victory and joy used on festive occasions.
  5. Revelation 7:15 Lit pitch His tent.
  6. Revelation 7:16 Lit fall.

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

144,000 Sealed

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners(A) of the earth, holding back the four winds(B) of the earth to prevent(C) any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal(D) of the living God.(E) He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:(F) “Do not harm(G) the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads(H) of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number(I) of those who were sealed: 144,000(J) from all the tribes of Israel.

From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,

from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

from the tribe of Asher 12,000,

from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,

from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,

from the tribe of Levi 12,000,

from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,

from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

The Great Multitude in White Robes

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,(K) standing before the throne(L) and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes(M) and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,(N)
who sits on the throne,(O)
and to the Lamb.”

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders(P) and the four living creatures.(Q) They fell down on their faces(R) before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”(S)

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes(T)—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes(U) and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.(V) 15 Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God(W)
    and serve him(X) day and night in his temple;(Y)
and he who sits on the throne(Z)
    will shelter them with his presence.(AA)
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.(AB)
The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]
    nor any scorching heat.(AC)
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;(AD)
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b](AE)
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c](AF)

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 7:16 Isaiah 49:10
  2. Revelation 7:17 Isaiah 49:10
  3. Revelation 7:17 Isaiah 25:8