The Vision of the Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a stick like a measuring rod. I was told, “Stand up and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count^[a] those who worship there. ² But don’t measure the courtyard outside the Temple. Leave that out, because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the Holy City^[b] for 42 months. ³ I will give my two witnesses who wear sackcloth the authority to prophesy for 1,260 days.”

⁴ These witnesses^[c] are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing in the presence of the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone should want to hurt them, fire comes out of their mouths and burns up their enemies. If anyone wants to hurt them, he must be killed in this manner. ⁶ These witnesses^[d] have authority to close the heavens in order to keep rain from falling while they are^[e] prophesying. They also have authority to turn bodies of water into blood and to strike the earth with any plague, as often as they desire.

⁷ When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit^[f] will wage war against them, conquer them, and kill them. ⁸ Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. ⁹ For three and a half days some members of the people, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies and will not allow them to be placed in a tomb. ¹⁰ Those living on earth will gloat over them, celebrate, and send gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those living on earth.

The Resurrection of the Witnesses

¹¹ But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Those who watched them were terrified. ¹² Then the witnesses^[g] heard a loud voice from heaven calling to them, “Come up here!” So they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.