Revelation 7
EasyEnglish Bible
God marks his people from Israel
7 After this, I saw four angels. They were standing at the four corners of the earth. They were stopping the four winds of the earth. As a result, no wind could blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel who was coming up from the east. He was carrying the seal of the God who lives for ever. He shouted loudly to the four other angels. They had received authority to destroy the land and the sea. 3 But he shouted to them, ‘Do not destroy the land or the sea or the trees yet. Wait until we put a seal on the heads of God's servants. God's seal on the front of their heads will keep them safe.’
4 Then I heard how many people received God's seal. The number of people was 144,000. They came from all the tribes of Israel's people:
5 12,000 from Judah's tribe,
12,000 from Reuben's tribe,
12,000 from Gad's tribe,
6 12,000 from Asher's tribe,
12,000 from Naphtali's tribe,
12,000 from Manasseh's tribe,
7 12,000 from Simeon's tribe,
12,000 from Levi's tribe,
12,000 from Issachar's tribe,
8 12,000 from Zebulun's tribe,
12,000 from Joseph's tribe,
12,000 from Benjamin's tribe.[a]
The large crowd who were wearing white clothes
9 After this, I looked again. I saw a very big crowd of people. There were so many people that nobody could count them. They came from every nation, from every tribe and from every language. They were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing long white clothes and they held branches of palm trees in their hands.[b]
10 They shouted loudly:
‘We worship our God who sits on the throne.
And we worship the Lamb.
They have saved us from Satan's power.’
11 All the angels were standing around the throne, and around the leaders and the four beings. The angels all bent down so that their faces touched the ground. They worshipped God who was on the throne in front of them. 12 They said:
‘This is true!
We worship our God and we give him honour.
He is completely wise.
We thank him and we praise him.
He has all power and authority for ever!
Amen!’
13 Then one of the leaders asked me, ‘Who are these people in white clothes? Where did they come from?’
14 I replied, ‘You surely know who they are, sir.’
He said to me, ‘They are the people who have had a time of very bad trouble. Now they have come out of that. They have washed their clothes in the blood of the Lamb. Now their clothes are white and clean.[c] 15 Because of that, they are now standing in front of God's throne. They serve God in his house all the time, day and night. And God will keep them safe because he is with them. 16 They will never again be hungry. They will never be thirsty. The sun will not burn them, nor will any other strong heat burn them. 17 The Lamb is there with them, near to God's throne. He will take care of them, like a shepherd with his sheep. He will take them to drink fresh water that gives people life. They will no longer be sad. God will take away all the tears from their eyes.’
Footnotes
- 7:8 The 12 names in this list were all sons of Jacob, except Manasseh, who was Joseph's son. Jacob's other name was Israel. He was the ancestor of Israel's people. The angel did not include the name of Jacob's other son, Dan, in the list.
- 7:9 The branches of a palm tree have big leaves. At the time when Jesus lived on this earth, people used palm branches at special events. They thought that the palm tree was a special tree. The people held palm branches when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. This was because they were so happy to see him. They were showing that he was a great king. They were showing that he would beat all his enemies. See John 12:13.
- 7:14 This verse is not telling us about clothes that we wear on our bodies. See Revelation 3:4,18. The ‘clothes’ mean what we are really like in our spirits. Jesus' blood poured out when he died for us. He can make our spirits as clean as white clothes if we believe in him.
啟示錄 7
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
為上帝的僕人蓋印
7 這些事情之後，我看見四位天使分別站在地的四個角落控制著四面的風，使風不再吹向地面、海洋和樹木。 2 我又看見一位天使從東方日出之地上來，手裡拿著永活上帝的印。他對那領受權柄能傷害地和海的四位天使大聲說： 3 「我們還沒在上帝的奴僕額上蓋印之前，你們不可傷害地、海和樹木。」 4 我聽見以色列各支派中蓋了印的共有十四萬四千人： 5 猶大支派有一萬二千，呂便支派有一萬二千，迦得支派有一萬二千， 6 亞設支派有一萬二千，拿弗他利支派有一萬二千，瑪拿西支派有一萬二千， 7 西緬支派有一萬二千，利未支派有一萬二千，以薩迦支派有一萬二千， 8 西布倫支派有一萬二千，約瑟支派有一萬二千，便雅憫支派有一萬二千。
劫後餘生的上帝子民
9 後來我又看見一大群人，多得不可勝數。他們來自各國家、各部落、各民族、各語言族群，身穿白袍，手拿棕樹枝，站在寶座和羔羊面前， 10 大聲呼喊說：「救恩來自我們坐在寶座上的上帝，也來自羔羊！」 11 眾天使都站在寶座、眾長老和四個活物的周圍，在寶座前俯伏敬拜上帝，說： 12 「阿們！願頌讚、榮耀、智慧、感謝、尊貴、權柄、能力都歸給我們的上帝，直到永永遠遠。阿們！」
13 長老中有一位問我：「這些身穿白袍的人是誰？他們從哪裡來？」
14 我回答說：「先生，你知道答案。」
他便說：「這些都是經過大災難的人，他們用羔羊的血將衣裳洗得純淨潔白。 15 因此，他們在寶座前，在聖殿中不分晝夜地事奉上帝。坐在寶座上的那位要庇護他們。 16 他們不會再受饑餓和乾渴的折磨，也不會再受太陽和酷熱的煎熬， 17 因為在寶座中央的羔羊要作他們的牧人，引導他們到生命之泉那裡，上帝要擦乾他們所有的眼淚。」
Revelation 7
21st Century King James Version
7 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.
2 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,
3 saying, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”
4 And I heard the number of them that were sealed: there were sealed a hundred and fortyfour thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
5 Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand;
6 of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Naphtali were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Manasseh were sealed twelve thousand;
7 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;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
9 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 in white robes and with palms in their hands.
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who 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 living beings, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, “Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, “Who are these that are arrayed in white robes, and from whence have they come?”
14 And I said unto him, “Sir, thou knowest.” And he said to me, “These are they that came out of great tribulation, and have 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 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 who 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.”
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