Book of Common Prayer

¹⁴ I looked and saw a white cloud. I saw someone like the Son of Man sitting on the cloud. He had a big gold crown on his head and a sharp harvest knife in his hand.

¹⁵ Another angel came out of God's temple. He called in a loud voice to the one who was sitting on the cloud. He said, `Take your knife and cut the harvest. The time has come to take in the harvest because the earth is ready.'

¹⁶ So the one who sat on the cloud used his knife on earth. And the harvest on earth was cut.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven. He also had a sharp knife.

¹⁸ And another angel came from the altar. He had power over fire. He called in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp knife. He said, `Take your sharp knife and gather the fruit that grows on the vine on the earth. Its fruit is ripe.'

¹⁹ So the angel used his knife on earth. He gathered the fruit of the vine on the earth. He put it in the big place where the water of the fruit is pressed out. This place is God's anger.

²⁰ It was outside the city that they pressed the fruit. Blood ran out of the place. It came up as high as the horses' heads for about two hundred miles.

15 I saw another big and wonderful thing in the sky. I saw seven angels who carried the seven big troubles. They are the last troubles. When these troubles have come, God's anger is ended. 2I saw something that looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. And I saw those people who had won the fight against the beast, and its idol, and its mark, and the number of its name. They were standing on the sea of glass and they had the harps of God in their hands.

² They sing the song of Moses who is the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. They say, `Lord God who has all power, the things you do are great and wonderful! King for ever, your ways are right and true!

³ Who will not respect and honour you and praise your name, Lord? You are the only one who is holy. People from all countries will come and worship you because they have seen that you are right and fair.'

⁴ After this I looked. The temple in heaven was open. It was the place where God's agreement was kept.

⁵ The seven angels who carried the seven troubles came out of the temple. They were wearing linen clothes, clean and shining. Around their chests they wore gold belts.

⁶ One of the four living beings gave the angels seven gold bowls. The bowls were full of the anger of God who lives for ever and ever.

⁷ The temple was full of smoke because God is so great and has so much power. No one could go into the temple until the seven troubles, which the seven angels had, were ended.

13 Some people were there at that time who told Jesus what Pilate had done. He had killed some of the people of Galilee and put their blood with the blood of their sacrifices to God.

² Jesus answered, `Do you think it was because they were worse than all the other people in Galilee?

³ I tell you, "No!" But if you do not stop doing wrong things, then you will all die as they did.

⁴ Eighteen men died when the high house in Siloam fell on them. Do you think they were worse than all the other men who lived in Jerusalem?

⁵ I tell you, "No!" But if you do not stop doing wrong things, you will all die as they did.'

⁶ Then Jesus told this story: `A man had a fruit tree on his farm. He came to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.

⁷ He said to the man who cared for the trees, "For three years I have come to look for fruit on this tree, but I have not found any. Cut it down. Why should it spoil my farmland?"

⁸ The man who cared for the trees answered, "Sir, let it stay one more year. I will dig around it and put good soil around it.

⁹ If it has fruit on it next year, that will be good. But if it has no fruit, you can have it cut down." '