Revelation 7
Lexham English Bible
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 that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east[a], holding the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels who were given permission[b] to damage the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the slaves of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the ones who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand 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,[c] 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.
The Great Crowd before the Throne
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great crowd that no one was able to number, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes and with palm branches in their hands. 10 And they were crying out with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation to our God
who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”
11 And all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell down on their faces 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 forever and ever[d]. Amen!”
13 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are dressed in the white robes—who are they, and from where have they come?” 14 And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me,
“These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation,
and have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Because of this, they are before the throne of God,
and they serve[e] him day and night in his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter[f] them.
16 They will not be hungry any longer or be thirsty any longer,
nor will the sun ever beat down on them, nor any heat,[g]
17 because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them
and will lead them to springs of living waters,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”[h]
Footnotes
- Revelation 7:2 Literally “from the rising of the sun”
- Revelation 7:2 Literally “to whom was granted to them”
- Revelation 7:7 Or “Symeon,” an alternate spelling of the Greek form of the name
- Revelation 7:12 Literally “for the ages of the ages”
- Revelation 7:15 Or “worship”
- Revelation 7:15 Literally “will take up residence over”
- Revelation 7:16 An allusion to Isa 49:10
- Revelation 7:17 An allusion to Isa 25:8
Revelation 7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 7[a]
The 144,000 Sealed. 1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,[b] holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on land or sea or against any tree.(A) 2 Then I saw another angel come up from the East,[c] holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, 3 “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”(B) 4 I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked[d] from every tribe of the Israelites:(C) 5 twelve thousand were marked from the tribe of Judah,[e] twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad, 6 twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh, 7 twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar, 8 twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, and twelve thousand were marked from the tribe of Benjamin.
Triumph of the Elect. 9 After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches[f] in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation comes from[g] our God, who is seated on the throne,
and from the Lamb.”
11 All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, 12 and exclaimed:
“Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,
honor, power, and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;[h] they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.(D)
15 “For this reason they stand before God’s throne
and worship him day and night in his temple.
The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will not hunger or thirst anymore,
nor will the sun or any heat strike them.(E)
17 For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them
and lead them to springs of life-giving water,[i]
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”(F)
Footnotes
- 7:1–17 An interlude of two visions precedes the breaking of the seventh seal, just as two more will separate the sixth and seventh trumpets (Rev 10). In the first vision (Rev 7:1–8), the elect receive the seal of the living God as protection against the coming cataclysm; cf. Rev 14:1; Ez 9:4–6; 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13; 4:30. The second vision (Rev 7:9–17) portrays the faithful Christians before God’s throne to encourage those on earth to persevere to the end, even to death.
- 7:1 The four corners of the earth: the earth is seen as a table or rectangular surface.
- 7:2 East: literally, “rising of the sun.” The east was considered the source of light and the place of paradise (Gn 2:8). Seal: whatever was marked by the impression of one’s signet ring belonged to that person and was under his protection.
- 7:4–9 One hundred and forty-four thousand: the square of twelve (the number of Israel’s tribes) multiplied by a thousand, symbolic of the new Israel (cf. Rev 14:1–5; Gal 6:16; Jas 1:1) that embraces people from every nation, race, people, and tongue (Rev 7:9).
- 7:5–8 Judah is placed first because of Christ; cf. “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Rev 5:5). Dan is omitted because of a later tradition that the antichrist would arise from it.
- 7:9 White robes…palm branches: symbols of joy and victory; see note on Rev 3:5.
- 7:10 Salvation comes from: literally, “(let) salvation (be ascribed) to.” A similar hymn of praise is found at the fall of the dragon (Rev 12:10) and of Babylon (Rev 19:1).
- 7:14 Time of great distress: fierce persecution by the Romans; cf. Introduction.
- 7:17 Life-giving water: literally, “the water of life,” God’s grace, which flows from Christ; cf. Rev 21:6; 22:1, 17; Jn 4:10, 14.
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