Book of Common Prayer

Reaping the harvest

¹⁴ Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud one like a son of man. He had a gold crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ And another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one who was sitting on the cloud, “It’s harvest time! Put in your sickle and reap: the harvest of the earth is ripe!” ¹⁶ So the one sitting on the cloud applied his sickle to the earth, and reaped the harvest of the earth.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven. He, too, had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ Yet another angel came from the altar; he had authority over fire, and he spoke with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle. “Go to work with your sharp sickle,” he said, “and gather the clusters of fruit from the vine of the earth; the grapes are there in ripe bunches!” ¹⁹ So the angel went to work with his sickle on the earth, and gathered the fruit from the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of God’s anger. ²⁰ The winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for about two hundred miles.

Preparing the final plagues

15 Then I saw another sign—a great, amazing sight in heaven: seven angels who were bringing the seven last plagues. With them God’s anger is completed. ² And I saw what looked like a sea of glass, mixed with fire. There, by that glassy sea, stood the people who had won the victory over the monster and over its image, and over the number of its name. They were holding harps of God, ³ and they were singing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the lamb. This is how it went:

⁵ After this I looked, and the temple of the “tabernacle of witness” was opened in heaven. ⁶ The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in clean, shining linen, wearing golden belts across their chests. ⁷ Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the anger of the God who lives forever and ever. ⁸ The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and his power. Nobody was able to go into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels had been completed.

The parable of the fig tree

13 At that moment some people came up and told them the news. Some Galileans had been in the Temple, and Pilate had mixed their blood with that of the sacrifices.

² Jesus’ response was this. “Do you suppose,” he said, “that those Galileans suffered such things because they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? ³ No, let me tell you! Unless you repent, you will all be destroyed in the same way.

⁴ “And what about those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam collapsed on top of them? Do you imagine they were more blameworthy than everyone else who lives in Jerusalem? ⁵ No, let me tell you! Unless you repent, you will all be destroyed in the same way.”

⁶ He told them this parable. “Once upon a time there was a man who had a fig tree in his vineyard. He came to it looking for fruit, and didn’t find any. ⁷ So he said to the gardener, ‘Look here! I’ve been coming to this fig tree for three years hoping to find some fruit, and I haven’t found any! Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

⁸ “ ‘I tell you what, Master,’ replied the gardener; ‘let it alone for just this one year more. I’ll dig all round it and put on some manure. ⁹ Then, if it fruits next year, well and good; and if not, you can cut it down.’ ”