Revelation 11
Good News Translation
The Two Witnesses
11 (A)I was then given a stick that looked like a measuring-rod, and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who are worshiping in the temple. 2 (B)But do not measure the outer courts, because they have been given to the heathen, who will trample on the Holy City for forty-two months. 3 I will send my two witnesses dressed in sackcloth, and they will proclaim God's message during those 1, 260 days.”
4 (C)The two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and destroys their enemies; and in this way whoever tries to harm them will be killed. 6 (D)They have authority to shut up the sky so that there will be no rain during the time they proclaim God's message. They have authority also over the springs of water, to turn them into blood; they have authority also to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.
7 (E)When they finish proclaiming their message, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will fight against them. He will defeat them and kill them, 8 (F)and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, where their Lord was crucified. The symbolic name of that city is Sodom, or Egypt. 9 People from all nations, tribes, languages, and races will look at their bodies for three and a half days and will not allow them to be buried. 10 The people of the earth will be happy because of the death of these two. They will celebrate and send presents to each other, because those two prophets brought much suffering upon the whole human race. 11 (G)After three and a half days a life-giving breath came from God and entered them, and they stood up; and all who saw them were terrified. 12 (H)Then the two prophets heard a loud voice say to them from heaven, “Come up here!” As their enemies watched, they went up into heaven in a cloud. 13 (I)At that very moment there was a violent earthquake; a tenth of the city was destroyed, and seven thousand people were killed. The rest of the people were terrified and praised the greatness of the God of heaven.
14 The second horror is over, but the third horror will come soon!
The Seventh Trumpet
15 (J)Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The power to rule over the world belongs now to our Lord and his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever!” 16 Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones in front of God threw themselves face downward and worshiped God, 17 saying:
“Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was!
We thank you that you have taken your great power
and have begun to rule!
18 (K)The heathen were filled with rage,
because the time for your anger has come,
the time for the dead to be judged.
The time has come to reward your servants, the prophets,
and all your people, all who have reverence for you,
great and small alike.
The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth!”
19 (L)God's temple in heaven was opened, and the Covenant Box was seen there. Then there were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
Revelation 11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 11
The Two Witnesses. 1 [a](A)Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and I was told, “Come and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who are worshiping in it. 2 But exclude the outer court[b] of the temple; do not measure it, for it has been handed over to the Gentiles, who will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 I will commission my two witnesses[c] to prophesy for those twelve hundred and sixty days, wearing sackcloth.” 4 (B)These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands[d] that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 [e]If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone wanting to harm them is sure to be slain. 6 They have the power to close up the sky so that no rain can fall during the time of their prophesying. They also have power to turn water into blood and to afflict the earth with any plague as often as they wish.(C)
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss[f] will wage war against them and conquer them and kill them.(D) 8 Their corpses will lie in the main street of the great city,[g] which has the symbolic names “Sodom” and “Egypt,” where indeed their Lord was crucified. 9 [h]Those from every people, tribe, tongue, and nation will gaze on their corpses for three and a half days, and they will not allow their corpses to be buried. 10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and be glad and exchange gifts because these two prophets tormented the inhabitants of the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them. When they stood on their feet, great fear fell on those who saw them.(E) 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, “Come up here.” So they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies looked on.(F) 13 At that moment there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell in ruins. Seven thousand people[i] were killed during the earthquake; the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed, but the third is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet.[j] 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. There were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world now belongs to our Lord and to his Anointed, and he will reign forever and ever.” 16 The twenty-four elders who sat on their thrones before God prostrated themselves and worshiped God 17 and said:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God almighty,
who are and who were.
For you have assumed your great power
and have established your reign.
18 The nations raged,
but your wrath has come,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and to recompense your servants, the prophets,
and the holy ones and those who fear your name,
the small and the great alike,
and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”(G)
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm.
Footnotes
- 11:1 The temple and altar symbolize the new Israel; see note on Rev 7:4–9. The worshipers represent Christians. The measuring of the temple (cf. Ez 40:3–42:20; 47:1–12; Zec 2:5–6) suggests that God will preserve the faithful remnant (cf. Is 4:2–3) who remain true to Christ (Rev 14:1–5).
- 11:2 The outer court: the Court of the Gentiles. Trample…forty-two months: the duration of the vicious persecution of the Jews by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Dn 7:25; 12:7); this persecution of three and a half years (half of seven, counted as 1260 days in Rev 11:3; 12:6) became the prototype of periods of trial for God’s people; cf. Lk 4:25; Jas 5:17. The reference here is to the persecution by the Romans; cf. Introduction.
- 11:3 The two witnesses, wearing sackcloth symbolizing lamentation and repentance, cannot readily be identified. Do they represent Moses and Elijah, or the Law and the Prophets, or Peter and Paul? Most probably they refer to the universal church, especially the Christian martyrs, fulfilling the office of witness (two because of Dt 19:15; cf. Mk 6:7; Jn 8:17).
- 11:4 The two olive trees and the two lampstands: the martyrs who stand in the presence of the Lord; the imagery is taken from Zec 4:8–14, where the olive trees refer to Zerubbabel and Joshua.
- 11:5–6 These details are derived from stories of Moses, who turned water into blood (Ex 7:17–20), and of Elijah, who called down fire from heaven (1 Kgs 18:36–40; 2 Kgs 1:10) and closed up the sky for three years (1 Kgs 17:1; cf. 18:1).
- 11:7 The beast…from the abyss: the Roman emperor Nero, who symbolizes the forces of evil, or the antichrist (Rev 13:1, 8; 17:8); cf. Dn 7:2–8, 11–12, 19–22 and Introduction.
- 11:8 The great city: this expression is used constantly in Revelation for Babylon, i.e., Rome; cf. Rev 14:8; 16:19; 17:18; 18:2, 10, 21. “Sodom” and “Egypt”: symbols of immorality (cf. Is 1:10) and oppression of God’s people (cf. Ex 1:11–14). Where indeed their Lord was crucified: not the geographical but the symbolic Jerusalem that rejects God and his witnesses, i.e., Rome, called Babylon in Rev 16–18; see note on Rev 17:9 and Introduction.
- 11:9–12 Over the martyrdom (Rev 11:7) of the two witnesses, now called prophets, the ungodly rejoice for three and a half days, a symbolic period of time; see note on Rev 11:2. Afterwards they go in triumph to heaven, as did Elijah (2 Kgs 2:11).
- 11:13 Seven thousand people: a symbolic sum to represent all social classes (seven) and large numbers (thousands); cf. Introduction.
- 11:15–19 The seventh trumpet proclaims the coming of God’s reign after the victory over diabolical powers; see note on Rev 10:7.
启示录 11
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
兩個見證人
11 有一根好像量尺的蘆葦賜給了我，又有話說：“你起來，把 神的聖所和祭壇，以及在裡面敬拜的人，都量一量、數一數。 2 但聖所外面的院子，不要量它，因為它已經給了外族人，他們要踐踏聖城四十二個月。 3 我要賜能力給我那兩個穿著麻衣的見證人，他們要傳道一千二百六十天。” 4 他們就是站在全地之主面前的兩棵橄欖樹和兩個燈臺。 5 如果有人想要傷害他們，就有火從他們口中出來，吞滅他們的仇敵。凡是想要傷害他們的，都必這樣被殺。 6 他們有權柄在他們傳道的日子叫天閉塞不下雨，又有權柄掌管眾水，使水變成血，並且有權柄可以隨時隨意用各樣災難擊打全地。 7 他們作完了見證的時候，那從無底坑上來的獸要跟他們作戰，勝過他們，把他們殺死。 8 他們的屍首要倒在大城的街道上。這城按著寓意叫所多瑪，又叫埃及，就是他們的主被釘十字架的地方。 9 從各民族、各支派、各方言和各邦國中，都有人觀看他們的屍首三天半，又不許人把屍首安放在墳墓裡。 10 住在地上的人為了他們的緣故，就歡喜快樂，彼此送禮，因為這兩位先知曾經使他們受痛苦。 11 過了三天半，有生命的氣息從 神那裡來，進入他們裡面，他們就站立起來，看見他們的人都非常懼怕。 12 他們聽見從天上來的大聲音，對他們說：“上這裡來！”他們就駕著雲上了天，他們的仇敵也看見了。 13 就在那時，大地震發生了，那座城倒塌了十分之一，因著地震而死的有七千人，其餘的人都很害怕，就把榮耀歸給天上的 神。
14 第二樣災禍過去了。看哪，第三樣災禍快要到了！
吹第七枝號
15 第七位天使吹號，天上就有大聲音說：
“世上的國成了我們的主
和他所立的基督的國，
他要作王，直到永永遠遠！”
16 那在 神面前，坐在自己座位上的二十四位長老，都面伏在地上敬拜 神， 17 說：
“主啊！全能的 神，昔在今在的，
我們感謝你！
因為你執掌了大權，
作王了！
18 列國忿怒了！
你的震怒也臨到了！
時候已經到了！
死人要受審判！
你的眾僕人、先知、聖徒，
和所有老幼貴賤、敬畏你名的人，
都要得賞賜！
你也要毀滅那些敗壞全地的人！”
19 於是，在天上 神的聖所開了，他的約櫃就在他的聖所中顯現出來。隨即有閃電、響聲、雷轟、地震、大冰雹。
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Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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