A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line

2 ^[a] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^(A)a man with a measuring line in his hand! ² Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, ^(B)“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” ³ And behold, ^(C)the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him ⁴ and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ^(D)‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited ^(E)as villages without walls, because of ^(F)the multitude of people and livestock in it. ⁵ And I will be to her ^(G)a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

⁶ Up! Up! ^(H)Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have ^(I)spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. ^7 (J)Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. ⁸ For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me^[b] to the nations who plundered you, ^(K)for he who touches you touches ^(L)the apple of his eye: ⁹ “Behold, ^(M)I will shake my hand over them, ^(N)and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then ^(O)you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. ^10 (P)Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for ^(Q)behold, I come ^(R)and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. ^11 (S)And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. ^(T)And I will dwell in your midst, and ^(U)you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ^12 (V)And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again ^(W)choose Jerusalem.”

¹³ Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

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.