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An Interlude

After this I saw four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth, holding back the [a]four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.(A) Then I saw another angel coming up from the rising of the sun, holding the seal of the living God; and with a loud voice he called out to the four angels to whom it was granted [to have authority and power] to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees until we [b]seal (mark) the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”(B)

The 144,000

And I heard how many were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand; [twelve thousand] sealed from [c]every tribe of the sons of Israel:


Twelve thousand were sealed from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar,

twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, and twelve thousand from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed (marked, redeemed, protected).

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 7:1 The Jews and other ancient peoples were very observant of the four winds, that is, the winds that came from each point of the compass. It was said in the Talmud that if the winds ceased to blow, the world could not continue to exist.
  2. Revelation 7:3 The seal indicates both ownership and protection by God.
  3. Revelation 7:4 The tribe of Dan is omitted from the following passage without explanation. The tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s older son, replaces Dan, so the count remains at twelve.

An Interlude

After this I saw (A)four angels standing at the (B)four corners of the earth, holding back (C)the four winds of the earth (D)so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending (E)from the rising of the sun, holding the (F)seal of (G)the living God; and he called out with a loud voice to the (H)four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “(I)Do not harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have (J)sealed the bond-servants of our God on their (K)foreheads.”

The 144,000

And I heard the (L)number of those who were sealed: (M)144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, and from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

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