7 After this I saw four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth, ^[a]firmly holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind should blow on the earth or sea or upon any tree.^(A)

² Then I saw a second angel coming up from the east (the rising of the sun) and carrying the seal of the living God. And with a loud voice he called out to the four angels who had been given authority and power to injure earth and sea,

³ Saying, Harm neither the earth nor the sea nor the trees, until we have sealed the bond servants of our God upon their foreheads.^(B)

⁴ And [then] I heard how many were sealed (marked) out of every tribe of the sons of Israel: there were 144,000.

⁵ Twelve thousand were sealed (marked) out of the tribe of Judah, 12,000 of the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 of the tribe of Gad,

⁶ Twelve thousand of the tribe of Asher, 12,000 of the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 of the tribe of Manasseh,

⁷ Twelve thousand of the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 of the tribe of Levi, 12,000 of the tribe of Issachar,

⁸ Twelve thousand of the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 of the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 of the tribe of Benjamin.

⁹ After this I looked and a vast host appeared which no one could count, [gathered out] of every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. These stood before the throne and before the Lamb; they were attired in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.

¹⁰ In loud voice they cried, saying, [Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]!

1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen and sheep masters of Tekoa, which he saw [in divine revelation] concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.^(A)

² And he said, The Lord roars out of Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem; then the pastures of the shepherds mourn and the top of [Mount] Carmel dries up.^(B)

³ Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Damascus [the capital of Syria] and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because they have threshed Gilead [east of the Jordan River] with iron sledges.^(C)

⁴ So I will send a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction] upon the house of Hazael [who killed and succeeded King Ben-hadad] which shall devour the palaces and strongholds of Ben-hadad.

⁵ I will break also the bar [of the gate] of Damascus and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven or On, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria [conquered by the Assyrians] shall go into exile to Kir, says the Lord.^(D)

⁶ Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Gaza [a city in Philistia] and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because [as slave traders] they carried away captive the whole [Jewish] population [of defenseless Judean border villages, of which none was spared, none left behind] and delivered them up to Edom [for the slave trade].^(E)

⁷ So I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza which shall devour its strongholds.

⁸ And I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon, and I will turn My hand against Ekron; and the rest of the Philistines [in Gath and the towns dependent on these four Philistine cities] shall perish, says the Lord God.^(F)

⁹ Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Tyre and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because they [as middlemen] delivered up a whole [Jewish] population to Edom and did not [seriously] remember their brotherly covenant.^(G)

¹⁰ So I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre which shall devour its strongholds.

¹¹ Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Edom [descendants of Esau] and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because he pursued his brother Jacob (Israel) with the sword, corrupting his compassions and casting off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually and his wrath he kept and heeded forever.

¹² So I will send a fire upon Teman which shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah [in Edom].

¹³ Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of the children of Ammon [descendants of Lot] and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because [the Ammonites] have ripped up women with child in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border.

¹⁴ So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah [in Ammon] and it shall devour the strongholds of it, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;

¹⁵ And their king shall go into exile, he and his princes together, says the Lord.

2 Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Moab [descendants of Lot] and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom [Esau’s descendant] into lime.

² So I will send a fire upon Moab and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth, and Moab shall die amid uproar, shouting, and the sound of the trumpet.

³ And I will cut off the ruler from its midst and will slay all its princes with him, says the Lord.

⁴ Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Judah and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because they have despised and rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept His commandments, but their lies, after which their fathers have walked, caused them to err and go astray.

⁵ So I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.

⁶ Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Israel and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because they have sold the [strictly] just and uncompromisingly righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals;

⁷ They pant after [the sight of] the poor [reduced to such misery that they will be throwing] dust of the earth on their heads [in token of their grief]; they defraud and turn aside the humble [who are too meek to defend themselves]; and a man and his father will have sexual relations with the same maiden, so that My holy name is profaned.

⁸ And they lay themselves down beside every [pagan] altar upon clothes they have taken in pledge [for indebtedness], and in the house of their God [in daring contempt of Him] they frivolously drink the wine which has been exacted from those [unjustly] fined.

⁹ Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath.

¹⁰ Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years through the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite.

¹¹ And I raised up some of your sons for prophets and some of your young men for dedicated ones [Nazirites]. Is this not true, O you children of Israel? says the Lord.^(H)

¹² But you gave the dedicated ones [the Nazirites] wine to drink and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.

¹³ Behold, I am pressed under you and I will press you down in your place as a cart presses that is full of sheaves.

¹⁴ And flight shall be lost to the swift and refuge shall fail him; the strong shall not retain and confirm his strength, neither shall the mighty deliver himself.

¹⁵ Neither shall he stand who handles the bow, and he who is swift of foot shall not deliver himself; neither shall he who rides the horse deliver his life.

¹⁶ And he who is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked on that day, says the Lord.