A Call to Return to the Lord

1 In the eighth month, ^(A)in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^(B)Zechariah, the son of ^(C)Berechiah, son of ^(D)Iddo, saying, ^2 (E)“The Lord was very angry with your fathers. ³ Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: ^(F)Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and ^(G)I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^4 (H)Do not be like your fathers, ^(I)to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^(J)Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But ^(K)they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. ⁵ Your fathers, where are they? And ^(L)the prophets, do they live forever? ^6 (M)But my words and my statutes, which I commanded ^(N)my servants the prophets, did they not ^(O)overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ^(P)‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for ^(Q)our ways and ^(R)deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”

A Vision of a Horseman

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^(S)Zechariah, the son of ^(T)Berechiah, son of ^(U)Iddo, saying, ⁸ “I saw in the night, and behold, ^(V)a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were ^(W)red, sorrel, and white horses. ⁹ Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ ^(X)The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ ¹⁰ So ^(Y)the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ^(Z)‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to ^(AA)patrol the earth.’ ¹¹ And they answered ^(AB)the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ^(AC)‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth ^(AD)remains at rest.’ ¹² Then ^(AE)the angel of the Lord said, ^(AF)‘O Lord of hosts, ^(AG)how long will you ^(AH)have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these ^(AI)seventy years?’ ¹³ And the Lord answered ^(AJ)gracious and comforting words to ^(AK)the angel who talked with me. ¹⁴ So ^(AL)the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AM)I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. ^15 (AN)And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are ^(AO)at ease; ^(AP)for while I was angry but a little, ^(AQ)they furthered the disaster. ¹⁶ Therefore, thus says the Lord, ^(AR)I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; ^(AS)my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^(AT)the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. ¹⁷ Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AU)My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, ^(AV)and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again ^(AW)choose Jerusalem.’”

A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen

^18 [a] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^(AX)four horns! ¹⁹ And I said to ^(AY)the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, ^(AZ)“These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. ²¹ And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, ^(BA)“These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come ^(BB)to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations ^(BC)who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

The First Beast

13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, ^(A)with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and ^(B)blasphemous names on its heads. ² And the beast that I saw was ^(C)like a leopard; its feet were like ^(D)a bear's, and its mouth was like ^(E)a lion's mouth. And to it ^(F)the dragon gave his power and ^(G)his throne and great authority. ³ One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and ^(H)the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. ⁴ And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^(I)“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵ And the beast was given ^(J)a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^(K)forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,^[a] that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ Also it was allowed ^(L)to make war on the saints and to conquer them.^[b] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, ⁸ and all ^(M)who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in ^(N)the book of life of ^(O)the Lamb ^(P)who was slain. ^9 (Q)If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

^(T)Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

¹¹ Then ^(U)I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. ¹² It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,^[c] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, ^(V)whose mortal wound was healed. ^13 (W)It performs great signs, even ^(X)making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, ¹⁴ and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of^[d] the beast ^(Y)it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast ^(Z)that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵ And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not ^(AA)worship the image of the beast ^(AB)to be slain. ¹⁶ Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,^{[e] (AC)}to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, ¹⁷ so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, ^(AD)the name of the beast or ^(AE)the number of its name. ^18 (AF)This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number ^(AG)of a man, and his number is 666.^[f]

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and behold, on ^(AH)Mount Zion ^(AI)stood the Lamb, and with him ^(AJ)144,000 who ^(AK)had his name and his Father's name written ^(AL)on their foreheads. ² And I heard a voice from heaven ^(AM)like the roar of many waters and ^(AN)like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of ^(AO)harpists playing on their harps, ³ and they were singing ^(AP)a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. ^(AQ)No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴ It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for ^(AR)they are virgins. It is these ^(AS)who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as ^(AT)firstfruits for God and the Lamb, ⁵ and ^(AU)in their mouth no lie was found, for they are ^(AV)blameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

⁶ Then I saw another angel ^(AW)flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to ^(AX)those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. ⁷ And he said with a loud voice, ^(AY)“Fear God and ^(AZ)give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and ^(BA)worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the ^(BB)springs of water.”

⁸ Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ^(BC)“Fallen, fallen is ^(BD)Babylon the great, ^(BE)she who made all nations drink ^(BF)the wine of the passion^[g] of her sexual immorality.”

⁹ And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone ^(BG)worships the beast and its image and receives ^(BH)a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink ^(BI)the wine of God's wrath, ^(BJ)poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and ^(BK)he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And ^(BL)the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and ^(BM)they have no rest, day or night, these ^(BN)worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

^12 (BO)Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who ^(BP)keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.^[h]

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: ^(BQ)Blessed are the dead ^(BR)who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, ^(BS)“that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

¹⁴ Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one ^(BT)like a son of man, ^(BU)with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ And another angel ^(BV)came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ^(BW)“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for ^(BX)the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” ¹⁶ So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ And another angel came out from the altar, ^(BY)the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, ^(BZ)for its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great ^(CA)winepress of the wrath of God. ²⁰ And ^(CB)the winepress was trodden ^(CC)outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as ^(CD)a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.^[i]

The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

15 Then ^(CE)I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, ^(CF)seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

² And I saw ^(CG)what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those ^(CH)who had conquered the beast and its image and ^(CI)the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass ^(CJ)with harps of God in their hands. ³ And they sing ^(CK)the song of Moses, ^(CL)the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

⁵ After this I looked, and ^(CR)the sanctuary of ^(CS)the tent^[k] of witness in heaven was opened, ⁶ and out of the sanctuary came ^(CT)the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright ^(CU)linen, ^(CV)with golden sashes around their chests. ⁷ And one of ^(CW)the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven ^(CX)golden bowls full of the wrath of God ^(CY)who lives forever and ever, ⁸ and ^(CZ)the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and ^(DA)no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.