Revelation 7
New English Translation
The Sealing of the 144,000
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so no wind could blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then[a] I saw another angel ascending from the east,[b] who had[c] the seal[d] of the living God. He[e] shouted out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given permission[f] to damage the earth and the sea:[g] 3 “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants[h] of our God.” 4 Now[i] I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal,[j] 144,000, sealed from all[k] the tribes of the people of Israel:[l]
5 From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand,
6 from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand,
7 from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.
9 After these things I looked, and here was[m] an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe,[n] people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 10 They were shouting out in a loud voice,
“Salvation belongs to our God,[o] who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
11 And all the angels stood[p] there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground[q] 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 for ever and ever. Amen!”
13 Then[r] one of the elders asked[s] me, “These dressed in long white robes—who are they and where have they come from?” 14 So[t] I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.”[u] Then[v] he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They[w] have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! 15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve[x] him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them.[y] 16 They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat,[z] 17 because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”[aa]
Footnotes
- Revelation 7:2 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
- Revelation 7:2 tn Grk “from the rising of the sun.” BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατολή 2.a takes this as a geographical direction: “ἀπὸ ἀ. ἡλίου…from the east Rv 7:2; 16:12…simply ἀπὸ ἀ.…21:13.”
- Revelation 7:2 tn Grk “having,” but v. 3 makes it clear that the angel’s purpose is to seal others with the seal he carries.
- Revelation 7:2 tn Or “signet” (L&N 6.54).
- Revelation 7:2 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
- Revelation 7:2 tn The word “permission” is implied; Grk “to whom it was given to them to damage the earth.”
- Revelation 7:2 tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
- Revelation 7:3 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
- Revelation 7:4 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.
- Revelation 7:4 tn Grk “who were sealed.”
- Revelation 7:4 tn Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.
- Revelation 7:4 tn Grk “the sons of Israel,” normally an idiom for the Israelites as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58). However, many scholars understand the expression in this context to refer to Christians rather than ethnic Israelites.
- Revelation 7:9 tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
- Revelation 7:9 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
- Revelation 7:10 tn The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.
- Revelation 7:11 tn The verb is pluperfect, but the force is simple past. See ExSyn 586.
- Revelation 7:11 tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
- Revelation 7:13 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
- Revelation 7:13 tn Grk “spoke” or “declared to,” but in the context “asked” reads more naturally in English.
- Revelation 7:14 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.
- Revelation 7:14 tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.
- Revelation 7:14 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
- Revelation 7:14 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
- Revelation 7:15 tn Or “worship.” The word here is λατρεύω (latreuō).
- Revelation 7:15 tn Grk “will spread his tent over them,” normally an idiom for taking up residence with someone, but when combined with the preposition ἐπί (epi, “over”) the idea is one of extending protection or shelter (BDAG 929 s.v. σκηνόω).
- Revelation 7:16 tn An allusion to Isa 49:10. The phrase “burning heat” is one word in Greek (καῦμα, kauma) that refers to a burning, intensely-felt heat. See BDAG 536 s.v.
- Revelation 7:17 sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.
Revelation 7
Contemporary English Version
The 144,000 Are Marked for God
7 1-2 (A) After this I saw four angels. Each one was standing on one of the earth's four corners. The angels held back the four winds, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. These angels had also been given the power to harm the earth and the sea. Then I saw another angel come up from where the sun rises in the east, and he was ready to put the mark of the living God on people. He shouted to the four angels, 3 (B) “Don't harm the earth or the sea or any tree! Wait until I have marked the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
4 Then I heard how many people had been marked on the forehead. There were 144,000, and they came from every tribe of Israel:
5 12,000 from Judah,
12,000 from Reuben,
12,000 from Gad,
6 12,000 from Asher,
12,000 from Naphtali,
12,000 from Manasseh,
7 12,000 from Simeon,
12,000 from Levi,
12,000 from Issachar,
8 12,000 from Zebulun,
12,000 from Joseph, and
12,000 from Benjamin.
People from Every Nation
9 (C) After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, 10 as they shouted,
“Our God, who sits
upon the throne,
has the power
to save his people,
and so does the Lamb.”
11 The angels who stood around the throne knelt in front of it with their faces to the ground. The elders and the four living creatures knelt there with them. Then they all worshiped God 12 and said,
“Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom,
thanks, honor, power,
and strength belong to our God
forever and ever! Amen!”
13 One of the elders asked me, “Do you know who these people are that are dressed in white robes? Do you know where they come from?”
14 (D) “Sir,” I answered, “you must know.”
Then he told me:
“These are the ones
who have gone through
the great suffering.
They have washed their robes
in the blood of the Lamb
and have made them white.
15 And so they stand
before the throne of God
and worship him in his temple
day and night.
The one who sits on the throne
will spread his tent
over them.
16 (E) They will never hunger
or thirst again,
and they won't be troubled
by the sun
or any scorching heat.
17 (F) “The Lamb in the center
of the throne
will be their shepherd.
He will lead them to streams
of life-giving water,
and God will wipe all tears
from their eyes.”
Revelation 7
Easy-to-Read Version
The 144,000 People of Israel
7 After this happened I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. The angels were holding the four winds of the earth. They were stopping the wind from blowing on the land or the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming from the east. This angel had the seal of the living God. The angel called out in a loud voice to the four angels. These were the four angels that God had given the power to hurt the earth and the sea. The angel said to them, 3 “Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees before we mark the foreheads of those who serve our God.”
4 Then I heard how many people had God’s mark on their foreheads. There were 144,000. They were from every tribe of the people of Israel:
5 from the tribe of Judah 12,000
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000
from the tribe of Gad 12,000
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000
from the tribe of Levi 12,000
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000
The Great Crowd
9 Then I looked, and there was a large crowd of people. There were so many people that no one could count them all. They were from every nation, tribe, race of people, and language of the earth. They were standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They all wore white robes and had palm branches in their hands. 10 They shouted loudly, “Victory belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
11 The elders and the four living beings were there. All the angels were standing around them and the throne. The angels bowed down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. 12 They said, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever. Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes? Where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “You know who they are, sir.”
And the elder said, “These are the ones who have come out of the great suffering. They have washed their robes[a] with the blood of the Lamb, and they are clean and white. 15 So now these people are before the throne of God. They worship God day and night in his temple. And the one who sits on the throne will protect them. 16 They will never be hungry again. They will never be thirsty again. The sun will not hurt them. No heat will burn them. 17 The Lamb in front of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of water that give life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Footnotes
- Revelation 7:14 washed their robes Meaning that they had believed in Jesus and had been made clean from sin by his blood sacrifice. See Rev. 5:9; Heb. 9:14; 10:14-22; Acts 22:16; 1 Jn. 1:7.
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