Book of Common Prayer
11 1-2 And I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Get up and measure the Temple of God, and the altar, and count those who worship there. But leave out of your measurement the courtyard outside the Temple—do not measure that at all. For it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months.”
God’s two witnesses
3 “And I will give authority to my two witnesses to proclaim the message, clothed in sackcloth for twelve hundred and sixty days.”
4-6 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire issues from their mouths and consumes their enemies. Indeed, if anyone should try to hurt them, this is the way in which he will certainly meet his death. These witnesses have power to shut up the sky and stop any rain from falling during the time of their preaching. Moreover, they have power to turn the waters into blood, and to strike the earth with any plague as often as they wish.
The emergence of the animal
7-10 Then, when their work of witness is complete, the animal will come up out of the pit and go to war with them. It will conquer and kill them, and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is called by those with spiritual understanding, “Sodom” and “Egypt”—the very place where their Lord himself was crucified. For three and a half days men from all people and tribes and languages and nations will gaze upon their bodies and will not allow them to be buried. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will hold celebrations and send one another presents, because these two prophets had brought such misery to the inhabitants of the earth.
The resurrection and ascension of the two witnesses
11-12 But after three and a half days the Spirit of life from God entered them and they stood upright on their feet. This struck terror into the hearts of those who were watching them, and they heard a tremendous voice speaking to these two from Heaven, saying “Come up here!” And they went up to Heaven in a cloud in full view of their enemies.
13 And at that moment there was a great earthquake, a tenth-part of the city fell in ruins and seven thousand people were known to have been killed in the earthquake. The rest were terrified and acknowledged the glory of the God of Heaven.
The seventh trumpet: (i) the worship of Heaven
14 The second disaster is now past, and I see the third disaster following hard upon the heels of the second.
Jesus shows the absurdity of “his being in league with the devil”
14 Another time, Jesus was expelling an evil spirit which was preventing a man from speaking, and as soon as the evil spirit left him, the dumb man found his speech, to the amazement of the crowds.
15 But some of them said, “He expels these spirits because he is in league with Beelzebub, the chief of the evil spirits.”
16-20 Others among them, to test him, tried to get a sign from Heaven out of him. But he knew what they were thinking and told them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is doomed and a disunited household will collapse. And if Satan disagrees with Satan, how does his kingdom continue?—for I know you are saying that I expel evil spirits because I am in league with Beelzebub. But if I do expel devils because I am an ally of Beelzebub, who is your own sons’ ally when they do the same thing? They can settle that question for you. But if it is by the finger of God that I am expelling evil spirits, ‘then the kingdom of God has swept over you unawares’!
21-22 “When a strong man armed to the teeth guards his own house, his property is in peace. But when a stronger man comes and conquers him, he removes all the arms on which he pinned his faith and divides the spoils among his friends.
23 “Anyone who is not with me is against me, and the man who does not gather with me is really scattering.
The danger of a spiritual vacuum in a man’s soul
24-26 “When the evil spirit comes out of a man, it wanders through waterless places looking for rest, and when it fails to find any, it says, ‘I will go back to my house from which I came.’ When it arrives, it finds it cleaned and all in order. Then it goes and collects seven other spirits more evil than itself to keep it company, and they all go in and make themselves at home. The last state of that man is worse than the first.”
The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission.