Bible in 90 Days

False teachers are trying to turn people away from God

¹ This letter is from me, Jude. I am Jesus Christ's servant and I am James's brother.^[a] I am writing to you people that God, the Father, loves. God has chosen you to be his own people. He is keeping you safe until the time when Jesus Christ returns.

² I pray that God will be kind to you and that he will give you peace in your minds more and more. I want you to know more and more how much God loves you.

³ My friends, I wanted very much to write to you about how God has saved us from sin. That is what he has done for you and for us. But instead of that, I now know that I must write to you about something else. I must tell you to be strong and brave. You must do everything that you can to keep God's true message safe. God has given this message to his special people and his message will never change. Do not let anyone teach you a different message.

⁴ I say this because certain bad people have secretly come among you. They have turned away from God. They are trying to change God's true message. They teach that we can do any evil things that we want to do. They say that God will be kind and he will forgive us for all those things. They do not accept the authority of Jesus Christ, who is our only Master and our Lord. God will certainly punish those wicked people. A long time ago God said that he would punish people like them.

⁵ Remember that the Lord brought Israel's people out of Egypt where they had been slaves. But later he destroyed all those same people who did not trust him.^[b] I want you to remember these important things. You should already know all about them, but you must never forget them. ⁶ Also remember that some angels refused to obey God. They took more authority for themselves than God had given them. They left their own proper place with God in heaven.^[c] So God has tied them up as prisoners for ever in a completely dark place. He will keep them there until that great day when he will judge everyone.

⁷ Also, remember what happened to the cities called Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other cities that were near them.^[d] Like those bad angels, the people who lived in those places were also doing evil things. They were having sex with people who were not their husbands or their wives. They liked to have sex in other ways that are not right. God destroyed their cities. He has punished them with fire that never stops burning. That is an example of what will happen to wicked people like them.

⁸ These false teachers who have come among you do the same kind of bad things. Their dreams deceive them so that they use their bodies to do disgusting things. They refuse to obey God's authority. They insult God's powerful angels. ⁹ Even the leader of God's angels, Michael, did not speak bad words like that against the Devil. Long ago, Michael argued with the Devil about who should have Moses' dead body.^[e] But even when the Devil said bad words against God, Michael himself did not speak against the Devil. He did not think that he should do that. Instead, Michael said, ‘The Lord himself will show that you are wrong.’ ¹⁰ But these false teachers speak bad things against anything that they do not understand. They are like animals that cannot think properly. They just do the things that their nature causes them to do. Those are the things that are destroying them.

¹¹ It will be terrible for them! They have lived in the way that Cain lived.^[f] They have made the same mistake that Balaam made, because they wanted to get money for themselves.^[g] Like Korah, they have refused to obey God.^[h] So God will destroy them.

The false teachers are very dangerous

¹² When you eat special meals together as believers, those false teachers meet with you. But they are dangerous! They will stop you showing your love for one another. They come only because they want to eat too much. They do not respect God or other people. They only think about themselves and they are not ashamed. They are like clouds that you think will bring rain. But the wind blows those clouds along and there is no rain. They are like trees that have no fruit, even at the time for harvest. People pull trees like that out of the ground. They are completely dead and can give no fruit. ¹³ Those false teachers are like water in the sea that the wind blows during a storm. The dirt that comes to the top of the water is like the disgusting things that those people do. They are like stars that have moved away from their proper places in the sky. God has prepared a completely dark place for them. God will keep them there for ever.

¹⁴ Long ago, Enoch also spoke about those false teachers.^[i] Enoch belonged to the seventh family that was born, starting with Adam. He said, ‘Look, the Lord will come with many thousands of his own angels. ¹⁵ He will judge all people. He will punish everyone who lives in a way that does not please him. He will punish them because of all the wicked things that they have done. He will punish them because of all the bad words that they have spoken against him.’^{[j] 16} Those people are always complaining. They like to accuse other people. They do any bad things that will make themselves happy. They speak great things about themselves, to show how important they are. They praise other people only so that they can get something good for themselves.

Christians must continue to trust God

¹⁷ But as for you, my friends, remember the message that the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ have taught you. They spoke about what would happen in future times. ¹⁸ They said to you, ‘In the last days of this world, some people will laugh at God's message.^[k] They will say that it is silly to obey God. Instead, they will do the bad things that they want to do. Those things do not please God.’

¹⁹ It is people like this who cause you to argue with one another, so that you belong to separate groups. Their thoughts belong to this world. They do not have God's Spirit in them.

²⁰ But you, my friends, have believed the message that comes from God himself. So you must help one another to trust God more and more. Pray to God with the help of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ Continue to live in a way that shows God's love. As you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to come, remember that he is very kind. Because of that, you will have life with God for ever.

²² Help those people who do not know whether to trust God. Be kind to them. ²³ Some people are in great danger. You must save them from the fire of God's punishment.^[l] Also be kind to people who have done wicked and disgusting things. But be careful! Do not let their sins make you bad too.

Jude thanks God

²⁴ God is able to keep you safe so that you continue to trust him. One day you will stand in front of him and you will be very happy. God will bring you to that place and you will be completely good. You will be able to stand near to God, who shines with beautiful light. ²⁵ He is the only God. He is the one who saves us because of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we praise him! We say that he is very great! He rules with power and authority. This has always been true. It is true now, and it will be true for ever. Amen!

John's message

1 This book describes the things that God showed to Jesus Christ. He wanted Jesus to show these things to his own servants. They are events that must happen soon. Jesus sent his angel to show them to me, his servant John.

² I, John, have written about everything that God showed me. These things are a true message from God. They are the things that Jesus Christ says are true. ³ If anyone reads aloud the words of this prophecy, God will bless that person. God will also bless the people who listen to these words, if they continue to obey them. The things that are written here will soon happen.

John writes to the seven churches

⁴ I am John. I am writing to the seven churches that are in the region of Asia. I pray that God will be very kind to you. I pray that he will give you peace in your minds. God is alive now. He has always been alive. He will continue to be alive for ever.

God will help you, and the seven spirits that are in front of his throne will help you.^[m]

⁵ Jesus Christ will also help you. He always speaks a true message. He is the first person who became alive again after death.^[n] He rules the kings of the earth.

Jesus loves us and he died for us. That is how he made us free. Because of Jesus, God will not punish us for the bad things that we have done. ⁶ Jesus has brought us into his family, so that we belong to God's kingdom. He has made us priests, so that we serve his God and Father.

So we praise Jesus Christ! He will always be very great! He has power for all time. Amen. This is true!

⁸ The Lord God says, ‘I caused all things to begin and I will cause the end of all things. I have all power and authority. I am alive. I have always been alive. I will continue to be alive for ever.’

Jesus appears to John

⁹ I am John. I am a believer, as you are. I am like your brother and your friend. Because we belong to Jesus' kingdom, we are having trouble and pain. So we all need to be strong and patient, as Jesus helps us. The Roman leaders punished me because I taught God's message. I told people the true message about Jesus. That is why they sent me to Patmos island.^[p]

¹⁰ On the Lord's day, God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear things.^[q] I heard a voice speak behind me. The sound was as loud as a trumpet. ¹¹ The voice said: ‘When you see these things, write them in a book. Then you must send the book to the seven churches in these cities:

¹² I turned round to see who was speaking to me. When I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands with their lights. ¹³ In the middle of the lights, I saw someone like a son of man.^[r] He was wearing long clothes that reached down to his feet. He wore a gold belt around the top part of his body. ¹⁴ His head and his hair were white like sheep's hair. They were very white, like snow. His eyes were like fires that were burning brightly. ¹⁵ His feet shone like a metal that shines brightly in a very hot fire. When he spoke, his voice was very loud. It was like the sound of water that pours along a river very quickly. ¹⁶ He held seven stars in his right hand. A sword with two sharp edges came out of his mouth. His face was like the sun when it shines very brightly.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead person. Then he put his right hand on me, and he said to me, ‘Do not be afraid! I am the one who is the first and also the last. ¹⁸ I am the one who always lives. I died once. But look! Now I am alive and I will be alive for ever. I have authority over death and over Hades, the place for dead people.^{[s] 19} So write down the things that you have seen. Write about what you see that is happening now. Also write about the things that will happen later.

²⁰ You saw seven stars that I held in my right hand. You saw seven lights in their gold lampstands. Now I will tell you what they mean. The seven stars show what the angels of the seven churches are like.^[t] The seven lights in their lampstands show what the seven churches themselves are like.’

Jesus' message to the believers at Ephesus

2 ‘Now write this to the angel of the church at Ephesus:^[u]

“This is the message to you from the one who holds the seven stars. He holds them carefully in his right hand. He walks among the seven gold lampstands.

² I know everything that you do. You have worked much for me. You have continued to work patiently. I know that you do not accept bad people as your friends. Some of these bad people say that they are apostles of Jesus. You have thought carefully about what they teach people. And you have discovered that it is not true. ³ You have been patient and strong in times of trouble. You have continued to serve me because you believe in me. You have not stopped when you become tired.

⁴ But I have something to say against you. You loved me very much when you first believed in me. You do not love me as much now. ⁵ Think carefully about this! You do not now live in the way you did at the beginning. So you must change the way you live. Do again the good things that you did at the beginning. If you do not change the way you live, I will come to punish you. I will take away your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But this is something that you do well: you hate the bad things that the Nicolaitans are doing. I also hate what they do.^[v]

⁷ God's Spirit is now speaking to people in the churches. You should recognize that the Spirit is speaking. Everyone who knows that should listen to what he says. I will let everyone who wins against Satan eat my fruit. This fruit is from the tree that makes us alive. And this tree grows in God's garden.” ’^[w]

Jesus' message to the believers at Smyrna

⁸ ‘Write this to the angel of the church at Smyrna:

“This is the message to you from the one who is the first and the last. He was dead, but he became alive again.

⁹ I know that bad people are making you suffer. I also know that you are poor. But really, you are rich. Some people say that they are Jews, but they tell lies about you. So they cannot be my true people. Instead, they belong to a group of Satan's people. ¹⁰ I know that trouble will soon come to you. But do not be afraid. Listen! The Devil will cause some of you to go to prison. He wants to see whether you will continue to believe in me. As a result, you will suffer for ten days.^[x] But continue to trust me, even if you die. Then you will win against the Devil. I will give you a gift, as they give a crown to the winner of a race.^[y] You will have life with me for ever.

¹¹ God's Spirit is speaking to you in the churches. You should understand what the Spirit is saying to you. You have ears, so listen carefully! The second death will not hurt anyone who wins against Satan.” ’^[z]

Jesus' message to the believers at Pergamum

¹² ‘Write this to the angel of the church at Pergamum:

“This is the message to you from the one who has the sharp sword with two edges.

¹³ I know where you live. It is the place where Satan sits as king.^[aa] But you still continue to trust me. You remember Antipas who spoke a clear message about me. Because of that, some people in your city killed him. You saw what happened to him, but you continued to believe in me. You still serve me, even there where Satan lives.^[ab]

¹⁴ But I have a few things to say against you. Some people among you agree with what Balaam taught long ago. He taught Balak to do a bad thing against God's people.^[ac] Balak caused the Israelite people to do wrong things. As a result, they ate food that people had given to idols. They also had sex with people who were not their husbands or wives. ¹⁵ Also, some people among you do the bad things that the Nicolaitans teach. ¹⁶ So you must stop doing these bad things. If you do not change how you live, I will quickly come to punish you. I will fight against those bad people with my sharp sword that comes out of my mouth.

¹⁷ God's Spirit is speaking to you in the churches. You should understand what the Spirit is saying to you. You have ears, so listen carefully! To everyone who wins against Satan I will give some of my special food called manna. I will also give each of them a white stone.^[ad] I will write a new name on that stone. Nobody will know that name except the person who receives it.” ’

Jesus' message to the believers at Thyatira

¹⁸ ‘Write this to the angel of the church at Thyatira:

“This is the message to you from the Son of God. He has eyes that burn brightly like flames of fire. His feet shine like bright metal.

¹⁹ I know everything that you do. I know that you have great love. I know that you believe in me. I know that you continue to serve me well. You are patient and strong. You do these good things now more than you did at the beginning.

²⁰ But I have something to say against you. You let that woman Jezebel teach you. She says that she is a prophet from God. But she leads my servants into bad ways. She teaches them to have sex with many people.^[ae] And she teaches them to eat food that people have given to idols. ²¹ I have given her time to stop doing these bad things. But she refuses to change how she lives. She does not stop having sex with other men. ²² Listen to this! I will cause her to suffer on her bed, so that she cannot get up. Those who join her in her sins will also suffer very much, unless they change the way they live. ²³ I will send a terrible illness to kill those who obey her. Then all the people in the churches will know that I look deep inside them. I know what you really want. I know what you really think. I will give each of you what is right for you, as a result of what you have done.

²⁴ But I say this to you other people in Thyatira. You have not agreed with what Jezebel taught. You have not learned what they call ‘Satan's deep secrets’. So I say this to you: I will not tell you to obey any other difficult rules. ²⁵ But continue to obey my message that you have already received. Believe in me until I come.

²⁶ Continue to obey me until the end and win the fight against Satan. If anyone does that, I will give him authority to rule over the nations of the world. ²⁷ That person will rule the nations with strong authority. He will destroy them, like someone who breaks clay pots into many pieces.^{[af] 28} He will have the same authority that I received from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.^{[ag] 29} God's Spirit is speaking to you in the churches. You should understand what the Spirit is saying to you. You have ears, so listen carefully!” ’

Jesus' message to the believers at Sardis

3 ‘Write this to the angel of the church at Sardis:

“This is the message to you from the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

I know everything that you do. I know that people praise you. They think that you are alive. But that is not true, because really you are dead in your spirits. ² Wake up! You must become strong again. Do not let the little bit of life that you have completely disappear! I know that there are still more things for you to do to please my Father God. ³ So remember God's message that you have heard. Obey what God has said. Turn away from the wrong things that you do. Change the way that you live. If you do not wake up, I will come to punish you. I will come secretly, like someone who robs people. So you will not know what time I will come to you.

⁴ But you have a few people among you in Sardis who have not done these bad things. They are like people who have kept their clothes clean. They will walk with me and they will wear white clothes. They are good people and it is right for them to wear these white clothes. ⁵ Everyone who wins against Satan will wear white clothes like they do. I will never remove their names from God's book of life.^[ah] I will say clearly to my Father and his angels that those people belong to me. ⁶ God's Spirit is speaking to you in the churches. You should understand what the Spirit is saying to you. You have ears, so listen carefully!” ’

Jesus' message to the believers at Philadelphia

⁷ ‘Write this to the angel of the church at Philadelphia:

“This is my message to you. I am the one who is completely good, the true God. I have King David's key in my hand.^[ai] When I open a door, nobody can shut it. And when I shut a door, nobody can open it.

⁸ I know everything that you do. Look! I have opened a door that is in front of you. Nobody can shut that door. I know that you are not very strong. But you have obeyed what I told you. You have continued to believe in me. ⁹ Some people there say that they are Jews. But that is not true. They are telling lies. Instead, they belong to a group of Satan's people. I will cause those people to bend down low in front of you to give you honour. Then they will understand that I love you. ¹⁰ I have told you to be patient in this difficult time. You have obeyed what I told you. Because of that, I will keep you safe from the time of great trouble that will come. This trouble will come to everyone who lives in the world. It will show me what each person is really like.

¹¹ I will come soon.^[aj] Continue to obey my message that you already know. Then nobody can take away your crown which is God's gift to you.^[ak]

¹² Everyone who wins against Satan will be safe in God's house. I will make them like a strong pillar in the temple of my God. They will never leave that place again. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of his city. The name of that city is the new Jerusalem.^[al] It will come down from heaven. My God will send it down to the earth. I will also write my new name on those people. ¹³ God's Spirit is speaking to you in the churches. You should understand what the Spirit is saying to you. You have ears, so listen carefully!” ’

Jesus' message to the believers at Laodicea

¹⁴ ‘Write this to the angel of the church at Laodicea:

“This is my message to you. I am the one whose name is ‘Amen’.^[am] I faithfully tell people God's true message. Everything that God has created starts with me.

¹⁵ I know everything that you do. I know that you are neither cold nor hot. It would be better if you were either cold or hot. ¹⁶ But you are only warm. Because you are neither cold nor hot, I am ready to throw you away completely.^[an]

¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich. God has helped me to have many things. I do not need anything more.’ But you do not know how very poor you are really! You are like people who cannot see. You are like people who are without clothes. Really, other people should feel very sorry for you. ¹⁸ So I tell you that you should buy gold from me. With my gold, you would be really rich. My gold is the best, because it has been through fire. You should also buy white clothes from me to dress yourselves. Then you will not be ashamed because you have no clothes. You should also buy medicine from me to put on your eyes. Then you will be able to see well.^[ao]

¹⁹ I help everyone that I love. When they have done wrong things, I tell them, ‘You have done a wrong thing.’ I show them the right thing that they should do. So be serious about how you live. Stop doing wrong things and turn to me. ²⁰ Look! I am standing at the door of your house. I am knocking on your door. When you hear my voice, you should open the door. Then I will come in. We will eat a meal together as friends.

²¹ Everyone who wins against Satan will come to sit with me on my throne where I rule. I won against my enemies. Then I sat down with my Father on his throne. I will give you the same authority. ²² God's Spirit is speaking to you in the churches. You should understand what the Spirit is saying to you. You have ears, so listen carefully!” ’

God on his throne

4 After this, I looked. There in front of me was an open door in heaven. I heard the same voice that I had heard before. It spoke like the sound of a trumpet. It said to me, ‘Come up here. I will show you the things that must happen after this.’

² Immediately God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear more things. I saw a throne in heaven, with someone sitting on it. ³ The person who sat there shone with bright red and white light, like jewels called jasper and ruby. Around the throne there was a rainbow that shone with bright green light like an emerald jewel. ⁴ All around the throne there were 24 other thrones. 24 leaders were sitting on these thrones. They were wearing white clothes and they had gold crowns on their heads. ⁵ A storm with bright lightning came from the throne. There was the loud noise of thunder. In front of the throne there were seven lights of fire burning brightly. These lights are the seven spirits of God.^{[ap] 6} Also in front of the throne there was something like a sea of glass that shone with light.

In the middle, round the throne, there were four other beings that were alive. They had eyes all over them, on their fronts and on their backs. ⁷ The first of these beings was like a lion. The second being was like an ox. The third being had a face like a man's face. And the fourth being was like an eagle that was flying. ⁸ Each of these four beings had six wings. They had eyes all over them, even under their wings. All day and all night they never stop saying:

⁹ God sits on the throne and he is alive for ever. The four beings that are alive worship him and they thank him. ¹⁰ When they do this, the 24 leaders bend down to the ground. They also worship the Lord God, who sits on the throne and is alive for ever. They put their crowns in front of God's throne, and they praise him. They say:

The book and the Lamb

5 Then I looked at the one who was sitting on the throne. I saw that he held a book in his right hand.^[aq] Words were written on both sides, the inside and the outside. Seven seals kept the book closed. ² Then I saw a powerful angel. He said with a loud voice, ‘Who is so good that they can break the seals? Who can open the book?’ ³ But nobody in heaven could open the book and look inside it. Neither could anyone on the earth or anyone under the earth open it.^[ar]

⁴ I wept much because there was nobody who was good enough. Nobody was so good that they could open the book. Nobody could look inside it. ⁵ Then one of the leaders said to me, ‘Do not weep! Look! There is someone who can break the seven seals and then open the book. His name is the Lion from Judah's tribe. He is called the Root of King David. He has won over all his enemies.’^[as]

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb. He was standing in the middle of the throne. The four beings that are alive and the leaders were around him. The Lamb appeared to be like a lamb that someone had killed. He had seven horns and seven eyes. His eyes are the seven spirits of God, that God has sent into all parts of the world. ⁷ The Lamb came and he took the book. He took it from the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. ⁸ When he had taken the book, the four beings and the 24 leaders fell down to the ground in front of the Lamb. They worshipped him. Each leader had a harp to make music. They were also holding gold bowls which were full of incense. That nice smell shows what it is like when God's people pray to him. ⁹ The beings that are alive and the leaders sang a new song. They sang:

¹¹ Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of many angels. There were thousands and millions of them. They were standing around the throne, with the beings that are alive and the leaders. ¹² They all sang with loud voices:

¹³ Then I heard everything that is alive singing. That was everything in heaven and everything on the earth, and everything under the earth and everything in the sea. They were singing:

¹⁴ The four beings that are alive agreed. They said, ‘Yes, this is true.’ The leaders fell down and they worshipped God and the Lamb.^[at]

The Lamb opens the seals

6 Then I watched while the Lamb opened one of the seven seals on the book. I heard one of the four beings say, ‘Come!’ It spoke very loudly with a voice like thunder. ² I looked, and I saw a white horse. The person who was riding the horse held a bow. Someone gave him a crown. He had fought against many people and he had won. Now he rode out on his horse to win against many more people.

³ Then the Lamb opened the second seal. I heard another of the beings say, ‘Come!’ ⁴ Then another horse came out. This horse was bright red, like fire. The person who was riding the horse had authority. He could take peace away from the earth, so that people killed each other. Someone gave him a large sword.

⁵ Then the Lamb opened the third seal. I heard the next being say, ‘Come!’ I looked, and I saw a black horse. The person who was riding the horse held something in his hand. He used it to weigh things. ⁶ Then I heard a sound like somebody speaking among the four beings. The voice said, ‘A litre of wheat is worth one day's work. And three litres of barley is also worth one day's work. But do not destroy the olive oil and the wine.’^[au]

⁷ Then the Lamb opened the fourth seal. I heard the last being say, ‘Come!’ ⁸ I looked, and I saw a grey horse.^[av] The name of the person who was riding the horse was Death. The place for dead people, called Hades, was following near to him. They had authority to kill people in a quarter of the earth. They could kill people in different ways. They could kill them in wars. They could cause people to die because there was no food. They could cause people to become very ill so that they died. They could also cause wild animals to kill people.

⁹ Then the Lamb opened the fifth seal. I saw an altar where people offered gifts to God. I saw the souls of some of God's people under the altar. These people had died because they had believed God's message. They had continued to speak the true message about Jesus Christ. That is why people had killed them. ¹⁰ These believers called out loudly, ‘Lord, you have all authority. You are completely good. You always do what is right. When will you decide to judge the people who live on the earth? Do not wait! You should quickly punish the people who killed us!’

¹¹ Then each believer received white clothes. God told them to wait for a short time more. They must wait until other believers on earth also died. These believers are also servants of God. God will wait until people kill those believers too. Then the number of them will be complete.

¹² I watched again. I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal. Then the ground shook with a great earthquake. The sun became black like thick black cloth. The whole moon became red like blood. ¹³ The stars in the sky fell to the earth. They fell like fruits fall from a tree when a strong wind blows. ¹⁴ The sky divided into two parts. It rolled up like a piece of paper. Every mountain and every island moved away from its place.

¹⁵ Then everyone on the earth hid themselves. They went to the mountains and they hid among the rocks and in holes in the rocks. Everyone tried to hide, even the kings and the rulers. The soldiers' leaders, the rich people and other powerful people all went to hide. Everyone hid, whether they were slaves or free people. ¹⁶ They shouted to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and cover us. Hide us, so that the one who sits on the throne cannot see us. Also hide us from the Lamb who is very angry with us. ¹⁷ Their great day has come. They will punish us because they are so angry. Nobody will be able to escape.’

God marks his people from Israel

7 After this, I saw four angels. They were standing at the four corners of the earth. They were stopping the four winds of the earth. As a result, no wind could blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. ² Then I saw another angel who was coming up from the east. He was carrying the seal of the God who lives for ever. He shouted loudly to the four other angels. They had received authority to destroy the land and the sea. ³ But he shouted to them, ‘Do not destroy the land or the sea or the trees yet. Wait until we put a seal on the heads of God's servants. God's seal on the front of their heads will keep them safe.’

⁴ Then I heard how many people received God's seal. The number of people was 144,000. They came from all the tribes of Israel's people:

The large crowd who were wearing white clothes

⁹ After this, I looked again. I saw a very big crowd of people. There were so many people that nobody could count them. They came from every nation, from every tribe and from every language. They were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing long white clothes and they held branches of palm trees in their hands.^[ax]

¹⁰ They shouted loudly:

¹¹ All the angels were standing around the throne, and around the leaders and the four beings. The angels all bent down so that their faces touched the ground. They worshipped God who was on the throne in front of them. ¹² They said:

¹³ Then one of the leaders asked me, ‘Who are these people in white clothes? Where did they come from?’

¹⁴ I replied, ‘You surely know who they are, sir.’

He said to me, ‘They are the people who have had a time of very bad trouble. Now they have come out of that. They have washed their clothes in the blood of the Lamb. Now their clothes are white and clean.^{[ay] 15} Because of that, they are now standing in front of God's throne. They serve God in his house all the time, day and night. And God will keep them safe because he is with them. ¹⁶ They will never again be hungry. They will never be thirsty. The sun will not burn them, nor will any other strong heat burn them. ¹⁷ The Lamb is there with them, near to God's throne. He will take care of them, like a shepherd with his sheep. He will take them to drink fresh water that gives people life. They will no longer be sad. God will take away all the tears from their eyes.’

The Lamb opens the last seal

8 The Lamb opened the seventh seal. Then it became completely quiet in heaven for about half an hour. ² Then I saw the seven angels who stand in front of God. Someone gave them seven trumpets.

³ Then another angel came. He stood at the altar where people offered gifts to God. He had a gold bowl to put incense in. He received a lot of incense and he burned it as a gift to God. It made a nice smell and it mixed with the prayers of God's people. The angel offered the incense and the prayers on the gold altar that was in front of God's throne.^{[az] 4} When he did that, the smoke from the incense went up in front of God. The prayers of God's people also went up to God. ⁵ Then the angel took the gold bowl and he filled it with fire from the altar. Then he threw it all down onto the earth. There were loud noises and the sound of thunder. There was bright lightning, like a very bad storm. The earth shook with an earthquake.

The first four trumpets

⁶ Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to make a noise with their trumpets. ⁷ The first angel made a sound with his trumpet. Strong rain with stones of ice fell on the earth. The rain was mixed with fire and blood and it poured down. It burned a third of the earth. It destroyed a third of the trees and all the green grass.

⁸ Then the second angel made a sound with his trumpet. I saw something like a very big mountain that was burning with fire. This mountain fell down into the sea. A third of the sea became blood. ⁹ A third of the animals that lived in the sea died. It also destroyed a third of the ships on the sea.

¹⁰ Then the third angel made a sound with his trumpet. I saw a very big star, which was burning with a bright light. It fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star means ‘It tastes bad’. A third of the water on the earth became bad. Many people died because they drank that bad water.

¹² Then the fourth angel made a sound with his trumpet. A third of the sun became dark. A third of the moon and a third of the stars also became dark. There was no light for a third of the day and there was no light for a third of the night.^[ba]

¹³ Then I looked up. I saw an eagle that was flying high in the sky above me. I heard it say with a loud voice, ‘Great trouble! Great trouble! Yes, great trouble is coming to the people who live on the earth! Very bad things will happen when the other three angels make a sound with their trumpets!’

The fifth trumpet

9 The fifth angel made a sound with his trumpet. Then I saw a star that had fallen down from the sky to the earth. Someone gave a key to that star. The key could open the entrance to the deep hole.^{[bb] 2} When the star opened the entrance, smoke came up out of the hole. It was like the smoke from a very big hot fire. The smoke caused the sun and the sky to become dark.

³ Then locusts came out of the smoke and they came down on the earth. They received power to cause great pain, like the power of scorpions. ⁴ They knew that they must not do anything bad to the grass on the earth. They must not attack any plant or any tree. They could only attack people who did not have God's seal on the front of their heads. ⁵ The locusts did not have authority to kill those people. But they could cause them very bad pain for five months. Their pain was like the great pain from a scorpion when it hurts someone. ⁶ During that time of great pain, people will want to kill themselves. They will want to die, but they will not find any way to die.

⁷ The locusts were like horses that were ready to fight in a war. They wore something on their heads that seemed to be gold crowns. Their faces looked like human faces. ⁸ Their hair was like women's hair. Their teeth were like lions' teeth. ⁹ They had shields over the front of their bodies, like shields made from iron. Their wings made a very loud noise. The sound was like many horses that are pulling chariots into a battle. ¹⁰ They had poison in their tails, like scorpions. They had power to attack people with their tails and to cause them pain for five months. ¹¹ The king that ruled them was the angel of the deep hole. His name is ‘Abaddon’ in the Hebrew language. In the Greek language his name is ‘Apollyon’.^[bc]

¹² The first great trouble has now finished. But after all these things, there are two more great troubles still to come.

The sixth trumpet

¹³ Then the sixth angel made a sound with his trumpet. I heard a voice that spoke to him from the four corners of the gold altar. This altar is near to God himself. ¹⁴ The voice said to the sixth angel, ‘There are four angels at the great Euphrates river. Someone has tied them so that they cannot move. You must go and undo them!’ ¹⁵ So the four angels now became free. God had kept them ready for that special time, for that hour, in that day, in that month, in that year. They were now ready to kill a third of people everywhere. ¹⁶ I heard how many soldiers there were in their great army. There were 200 million soldiers who rode on horses.

¹⁷ In my vision, I saw the soldiers and their horses. The soldiers had shields over the front of their bodies. The shields had many colours. They were bright red like fire, bright blue, and yellow like sulphur. The horses' heads looked like lions' heads. Fire, smoke and sulphur came out of their mouths. ¹⁸ The fire, the smoke and the sulphur killed people. These three dangerous things killed a third of people everywhere. ¹⁹ The horses had great power in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails were like snakes, with heads that could hurt people very much.

²⁰ But all the people that the fire, the smoke and the sulphur did not kill continued to do bad things. They did not change how they lived. They worshipped things that they had made for themselves. They worshipped demons and idols that they made from gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood. Those idols cannot see anything or hear anything. They cannot walk anywhere. But the people continued to worship them. ²¹ They were not sorry that they murdered other people. They were not sorry that they used magic to hurt people. They continued to have sex with people in wrong ways. They continued to rob other people. They did not want to change the way that they lived.^[bd]

The angel and the little book

10 Then I saw another powerful angel. He was coming down from heaven. He had a cloud all round him, like his clothes. There was a rainbow above his head. His face was like the sun and his legs shone like fire. ² He had a little book in his hand and it was open. He put his right foot on the sea and he put his left foot on the land. ³ Then he shouted with a loud voice, like a lion that roars. When he shouted, seven loud voices answered him. They were like the noise of thunder. ⁴ When the seven voices of thunder spoke, I was ready to write. But I heard a voice that came from heaven. The voice said to me, ‘Keep secret what the seven voices of thunder have said. Do not write it down.’

⁵ Then I looked again at the angel who stood with one foot on the sea and his other foot on the land. He raised his right hand towards heaven. ⁶ He made a strong promise by the name of God, who lives for ever. He created heaven, the earth and the sea, as well as everything that is in them. The angel said, ‘There is no more time to wait! ⁷ Now is the time when the seventh angel will make a sound with his trumpet. Then God will quickly finish what he wants to do. This has been a secret, but he told it long ago to the prophets who were his servants.’

⁸ Then I heard again the voice that spoke to me from heaven. He said, ‘Go to the angel who is standing with one foot on the sea and his other foot on the land. Go and take the book that is open in his hand.’ ⁹ So I went to the angel. I asked him to give me the little book. He said to me, ‘Take the book and then eat it. It will be very sweet like honey in your mouth. But it will hurt your stomach like bad food.’ ¹⁰ So I took the little book from the angel's hand and I ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten the book, it hurt my stomach. ¹¹ Then the voice said to me, ‘You must continue to tell God's message to people. You must say what will happen to people from everywhere in the world. They are the people of many nations, and people who speak many languages, and also their kings.’^[be]

God's two servants

11 Someone gave me a stick, like the sticks that people use to measure things. He told me, ‘Go and measure the size of the temple and the altar. Also count the number of people who worship God there. ² But do not measure the yard that is outside God's house. Do not measure it, because God has given that yard to Gentiles who do not believe in him. They will stamp all over God's own city for 42 months and they will destroy it.

³ I will give authority to my two servants who speak my message clearly. They will tell people my messages for 1,260 days. They will wear rough clothes made from goats' hair.’^[bf]

⁴ These servants are the two olive trees and the two lampstands.^[bg] They stand in front of God who is the Lord of the earth. ⁵ If anyone tries to hurt them, fire comes out of the servants' mouths. This fire destroys their enemies. Anyone who wants to hurt the two servants must die in this way. ⁶ These servants of God have authority to shut up the sky. Then there will be no rain during the time that they tell their messages from God. They also have authority to cause the water on earth to become blood. They can cause many different kinds of trouble to happen on the earth. They can do this as often as they want to.

⁷ When these two servants of God have finished speaking God's messages, a wild animal will attack them. This is the animal that lives in the deep hole.^[bh] It will come up out of the hole. It will be stronger than the two servants and it will kill them. ⁸ Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city where people killed their Lord on a cross.^[bi] This city should be called Sodom or Egypt, because it is as bad as those places.^[bj]

⁹ People from everywhere in the world will look at the servants' dead bodies for three and a half days. Those are people from every nation, from every tribe and from every language. They will not agree to bury the bodies. ¹⁰ The people who live on the earth will be very happy because the two servants of God are now dead. They will send gifts to each other because they are so happy. These two prophets of God had caused bad trouble for them, but now they have died.

¹¹ But after three and a half days, God breathed life into those dead bodies. They stood up. The people who saw them were very afraid. ¹² Then God's two servants heard a loud voice that came from heaven. The voice said, ‘Come up here.’ They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.^[bk]

¹³ At the same time the ground shook with a strong earthquake. One in every ten buildings in the city fell down. 7,000 people died because of the earthquake. The people who were still alive became very afraid. They praised the God of heaven and said that he is very powerful.

¹⁴ That is the second great trouble and it has now finished. But the third great trouble will come soon.

The seventh trumpet

¹⁵ The seventh angel made a sound with his trumpet. Then there was the sound of loud voices in heaven. They shouted:

¹⁶ The 24 leaders were sitting on their thrones in front of God. Now they threw themselves down on their faces and they worshipped God. ¹⁷ They said:

¹⁹ Then the door of the temple in heaven became open. Inside it, I saw God's Covenant Box.^[bl] There was a great storm with bright lightning and the loud noise of thunder. There was an earthquake and strong rain with stones of ice fell from the sky.

The woman and the great red snake

12 A very wonderful thing then appeared in the sky. I saw a woman who was wearing the sun like her clothes. The moon was under her feet. A crown of 12 stars was on her head. ² She was pregnant. She screamed with pain as she tried to give birth to her baby.

³ Then another wonderful thing appeared in the sky. It was a very big red dragon. It had seven heads and ten horns. There was a crown on each head. ⁴ Its tail beat away a third of the stars from the sky. It threw them down on the earth. Then the dragon stood in front of the woman who would soon give birth to her baby. He was waiting there to eat her child as soon as he was born. ⁵ The woman gave birth to a son. He was a man who would rule all the nations of the world with strong authority. Then someone quickly took her child away. He went up to God and to his throne. ⁶ The woman ran away into the wilderness. God had prepared a special place to keep her safe there for 1,260 days.

⁷ Then a war started in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his army of angels fought against Michael and his angels.^{[bm] 8} But the dragon and his army were not strong enough to win the battle. They no longer had a place for themselves in heaven. ⁹ Michael and his angels threw the great dragon out of heaven. The dragon is called the Devil or Satan. He is the snake who has been there since long ago. He tells lies to deceive the whole world. They threw him down to the earth, together with all his angels. ¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven that said:

¹³ The dragon realized that they had thrown him down to the earth. So he chased after the woman who had given birth to the baby boy. He wanted to catch her. ¹⁴ But the woman received the two wings of a very big eagle. Then she could fly to the place in the wilderness that God had prepared for her. In that place God would keep her safe from the big snake. God would take care of her there for a time, times and half a time.^[bn]

¹⁵ Then the dragon poured lots of water out of his mouth like a river. He wanted the river of water to carry the woman away. ¹⁶ But a big hole opened in the ground. The river that poured from the dragon's mouth went down into the hole. That helped the woman to escape. ¹⁷ As a result, the dragon was very angry with the woman. So he went away to fight a war against her other descendants. Those are the people who obey God's commands. They continue to trust Jesus and to speak his message.^[bo]

¹⁸ After that, the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.

The wild animal from the sea

13 Then I saw a wild animal that was coming up out of the sea.^[bp] It had ten horns and there was a crown on each horn. The animal also had seven heads. On each head there was a bad name that insulted God. ² The wild animal that I saw was like a leopard. But its feet were like a bear's feet and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave his own power and great authority to the wild animal so that it could rule as king.

³ Someone had hurt one of the wild animal's heads with a bad wound. It seemed that it would soon die. But the wound in the animal's head had become well again. This surprised all the people who were living on the earth. As a result, they were ready to obey what the wild animal said. ⁴ People worshipped the dragon because he had given his authority to the wild animal. They also worshipped the wild animal. They said, ‘Nobody is like this animal! Nobody is strong enough to fight against him!’

⁵ The wild animal received authority to rule people for 42 months. It could speak proud words and insult God. ⁶ So it started to speak against God. It insulted God's name and the place where he lives, as well as the people who live there in heaven. ⁷ It received power to fight a war against God's own people and to win against them. It received authority to rule over people from every nation, people from every tribe and people from every language. ⁸ Nearly all the people who live on the earth will worship the wild animal. But those people whose names are in the Lamb's book of life will not worship it.^[bq] The Lamb wrote the names of these believers in his book from the beginning of the world. He is the Lamb that people killed as a sacrifice.

⁹ Everyone who can understand should listen carefully to these words:

This means that God's people must be patient and strong. They must continue to trust God.^[br]

The wild animal from the land

¹¹ Then I saw a second wild animal. This one was coming up out of the ground.^[bs] It had two horns like a lamb's horns. But it spoke like a dragon. ¹² It worked for the first wild animal and it used the authority of the first wild animal. It made all the people on earth worship the first wild animal. That first animal was the one that someone had hurt very much. It seemed that it would soon die but it had become well again.

¹³ The second wild animal did great miracles. It even caused fire to come down from heaven to the earth, while people watched. ¹⁴ It used the authority of the first wild animal to do many miracles. In that way, it deceived the people who lived on the earth. It told them to make an image of the first wild animal. This was the animal that was still alive after a sword had given it a bad wound. ¹⁵ The second wild animal received power to give life to the image of the first wild animal. As a result, the image could speak. It said, ‘Anyone who refuses to worship me must die!’

¹⁶ The second wild animal also caused everyone to receive a mark. Everyone received a mark on their right hand or on the front of their head. This included important people and ordinary people, rich people and poor people, free people and slaves. ¹⁷ Nobody could buy anything unless they had this mark on them. Nor could they sell anything. This mark shows the wild animal's name or the number of its name.

¹⁸ You must think carefully so that you can understand this number. Anyone who is wise should try to understand what the wild animal's number means. It is a human number. The number is 666.

The Lamb and the 144,000 people

14 Then I looked again and I saw the Lamb. He was standing on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. There were 144,000 people there with him. The Lamb's name and his Father's name were written on the front of those people's heads.

² Then I heard a loud sound which came from heaven. The noise was like water that pours along a river very fast. It was like the loud noise of thunder. The sound was like people who were making music with harps. ³ The 144,000 people were singing a new song that they had learned. They sang it in front of the throne. They sang in front of the four beings that are alive and in front of the leaders. Only these 144,000 people could learn the new song. They are the people that God had saved from among the people who lived on the earth.

⁴ These 144,000 people have kept themselves pure. They have not had sex with women in a wrong way. They follow the Lamb everywhere that he goes. God has saved them from among the people of the world and he has paid for their sins. They are the first people to become a gift to God and to the Lamb. ⁵ They have not spoken any lies. They have done nothing wrong.^[bt]

The three angels with messages

⁶ Then I saw another angel who was flying high in the sky above me. He brought God's message of good news that is always true. He came to tell this news to everyone who lives on the earth. He would tell it to people from every nation, from every tribe and from every language. ⁷ He said in a loud voice, ‘Respect God and give him honour! Now it is time for him to judge people. He made the sky and the earth and the sea. He also made the springs of water. So worship him!’

⁸ A second angel followed the first one. He said, ‘God has destroyed Babylon! It is no longer a great city! It has caused people everywhere to do the same bad things as it enjoys. She is like a prostitute who makes men become drunk and have sex in a wrong way. She has caused them to turn away from God.’^[bu]

⁹ A third angel followed the other two angels. He said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the wild animal and its idol, God will punish them. If anyone receives that animal's mark on their head or on their hand, God will punish them. ¹⁰ God will be very angry with all those people. They will be like people who must drink God's strong wine. When they drink wine from the cup of God's anger, they will have terrible pain. Fire and sulphur will burn them. God's angels and the Lamb will watch while God punishes them. ¹¹ The smoke will rise for ever while they burn. They will have no rest during the day or during the night. This will happen to everyone who worships the wild animal and its image. It will happen to everyone who receives the mark which shows its name.’

¹² This means that God's people must go on being patient and strong. They must continue to obey God's rules. They must continue to trust Jesus.

¹³ Then I heard a voice that spoke from heaven. It said, ‘Write this: From this time, people who continue to believe in the Lord and then they die will be very happy.’ God's Spirit says, ‘Yes, they will rest from their work. God will not forget the good things that they have done.’

The earth's harvest

¹⁴ Then I looked, and I saw a white cloud in front of me. I saw someone who was like a son of man.^[bv] He was sitting on the cloud. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp knife in his hand.^{[bw] 15} Then another angel came out from God's house in heaven. He shouted with a loud voice to the person who was sitting on the cloud. He told him, ‘Use your sharp knife and start to work. It is time to bring in the harvest. Cut down the plants and bring them in. The harvest on the earth is now ready.’

¹⁶ Then the person who sat on the cloud moved his sharp knife over the earth. He cut down the earth's plants and he brought in the harvest.^[bx]

¹⁷ Then another angel came out from God's house in heaven. He also had a sharp knife in his hand. ¹⁸ Again, another angel came from the altar where people offered gifts to God. This angel had authority for the fire on the altar.^[by] He shouted with a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp knife. He told him, ‘Use your knife and cut the grapes off the earth's vine. The grapes are ready now to make wine.’

¹⁹ So the angel moved his sharp knife over the earth. He cut off the grapes which grew in the earth's vineyard. He threw the grapes into the winepress where God stamps on the grapes because he is very angry. ²⁰ The winepress was outside the city. When God stamped on the grapes, the juice that came out of the winepress was blood.^[bz] The river of blood was very deep. It rose as high as horses' necks and it went as far as 300 kilometres.

The seven angels with the last troubles

15 Then I saw another very wonderful thing in the sky.^[ca] I saw seven angels with seven terrible troubles to hurt people. They are the final troubles. When they have finished, God will stop being angry.

² Then I saw what seemed to be a glass sea. Fire was mixed in it. I also saw people who were standing at the edge of the glass sea. Those people had fought against the wild animal and they had won. They had won against its image and the number that means its name. They had fought and they had won. God had given them harps. They held the harps to make music. ³ Now they sang the song of God's servant, Moses, and the Lamb's song.^[cb] They sang this:

⁵ After this I looked again. I saw that God's house in heaven was open. That house is like God's tent, where he lived among his people in the wilderness.^{[cc] 6} The seven angels with the seven terrible troubles then came out of God's house. They were wearing clean, bright clothes that were made from linen. They had gold belts around the top part of their bodies. ⁷ Then one of the four beings that were alive gave seven gold bowls to the seven angels. God had poured his anger into the bowls. He is the God who is alive for ever. ⁸ Then God's house in heaven became full of smoke, which showed God's great glory and his power. As a result, nobody could go into God's house until the angels had finished sending the seven terrible troubles.

The seven bowls with the seven last troubles

16 Then I heard a loud voice speak from God's house in heaven. It said to the seven angels, ‘Take your seven bowls that are full of God's anger. Go and pour them out on the earth.’

² The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land. As a result, very bad and painful sores appeared on people's skin. Everyone who had the wild animal's mark on them and who worshipped the animal's image had those sores.

³ Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea. As a result, the sea became like the blood of a dead person. Everything that was living in the sea then died.

⁴ Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and on the springs of water. As a result, all the water became blood.

⁵ Then I heard the voice of the angel who had authority over the waters. He said to God,

⁷ Then I heard a voice from the altar in heaven. It said,

⁸ Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. God gave authority to the sun so that it burned people with fire. ⁹ The strong heat burned people and it hurt them very much. As a result, they said bad things against God's name, because he had the power to cause these terrible troubles. But they refused to change how they lived. They refused to agree that God is great.

¹⁰ Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the wild animal. As a result, the whole kingdom that the wild animal ruled became dark. People were biting their tongues because of their great pain. ¹¹ They cursed the God of heaven because of their pain and because of the sores on their skin. But they did not stop doing bad things.

¹² Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates river. As a result, the river became dry. This prepared a way for kings from the east to march across it. ¹³ Then I saw three bad spirits that looked like frogs. One bad spirit came out of the dragon's mouth.^[cd] Another one came out of the first wild animal's mouth. The third one came out of the false prophet's mouth.^{[ce] 14} Those bad spirits are the spirits of demons. They had the power to do miracles. They went to all the rulers in the whole world, to bring them together to fight in a big war. That war will happen on the great day of God, who has all power and authority.

¹⁵ The Lord says: ‘Listen! I will come secretly, like someone who robs people. If you continue to watch carefully, you will be happy. Keep your clothes with you all the time. Then, when I come, you will not be ashamed because you have no clothes.’^[cf]

¹⁶ Then the bad spirits brought the rulers together to fight in the big war. They came to the place that is called Armageddon in the Hebrew language.

¹⁷ Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. A voice spoke loudly from the throne in God's house. The voice said, ‘Now it has happened!’ ¹⁸ There was a great storm, with bright lightning and loud noises of thunder. The ground shook with a strong earthquake. The earthquake was stronger than anything that had happened since people first lived on the earth. ¹⁹ As a result, the great city of Babylon broke into three parts. When the ground shook, it also destroyed the big cities of other nations in the world. God did not forget the evil things that the people of the great city of Babylon had done. So they had to drink wine from the cup of God's great anger.

²⁰ When the ground shook, every island in the sea disappeared. There were no more mountains anywhere. ²¹ Strong rain with stones of ice fell from the sky. The stones hit people and caused them great pain. The weight of each stone was about 50 kilograms. The people cursed God because the strong rain and the stones of ice caused them to have such terrible pain.^[cg]

The great prostitute

17 One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came to me. ‘Come with me,’ he said. ‘I will show you how God will punish the great prostitute.^[ch] She sits at a place where there are many rivers.^{[ci] 2} It is like the kings who rule on the earth have had sex with that bad woman. She has led the people who live on the earth to do bad things. They have become drunk from the strong wine that she has given to them.’^[cj]

³ Again, God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear strange things. The angel carried me away to a wilderness. There I saw a woman who was sitting on a wild animal that was bright red. All over this wild animal, names were written that insulted God. The animal had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was wearing clothes that were made from expensive cloth. She also wore bright things that made her look beautiful. She shone with gold, valuable stones and pearls. She held a gold cup in her hand. The cup was full of the bad and disgusting things that she had caused people to do. ⁵ A name was written on the front of her head. Only God knows what it means. It was:

Powerful Babylon.

Mother of all prostitutes.

Mother of all the disgusting things on the earth.

⁶ I saw that the woman was like a drunk. She was like someone who had drunk the blood of God's people. She had killed them because they had told other people about Jesus. When I saw her, I was very surprised. ⁷ Then the angel asked me, ‘Why are you surprised? I will explain the secret of the woman to you. I will tell you the secret of the wild animal that she rides. The wild animal that you saw has seven heads and ten horns. ⁸ This animal was once alive, but it is not alive now. Soon it will come up out of the deep hole again but then God will destroy it completely.^[ck] All these things will surprise many people who live on the earth. Those are the people whose names are not written in God's book of life from the beginning of the world. They will be surprised to see the animal that was alive at one time. It is not alive now, but it will soon appear again.

⁹ If you are wise, think carefully about this. The animal's seven heads are a picture of seven hills in the place where the woman sits.^{[cl] 10} They are also a picture of seven kings. Five of these kings have already stopped ruling. Another king is ruling now. The last king has not yet come. When he does come, he must rule only for a short time. ¹¹ The wild animal is a picture of an eighth king. He was alive once, but he is not alive now. He belongs to the group of seven kings, but God will destroy him completely.

¹² The ten horns that you saw are a picture of ten more kings.^[cm] They have not yet begun to rule anywhere. But they will receive authority to rule as kings for one hour. They will rule people together with the wild animal. ¹³ They all have the same purpose. They will give their power to the wild animal. They will give him authority to rule people. ¹⁴ Together they will fight a war against the Lamb. But the Lamb will win against them. He is the Lord above all lords. He is the King who rules over all kings. And God's people will be with him. They are the people that the Lamb has chosen to belong to him. They are the people who have continued to trust him.’

¹⁵ Then the angel said to me, ‘You saw the many rivers where the prostitute sits. Those rivers are a picture of people from many nations. They are crowds of people from different countries who speak many different languages. ¹⁶ The wild animal and the ten horns that you saw will hate the prostitute. Those rulers will destroy her. They will remove all her clothes. They will eat the meat on her body. Then they will burn her with fire.^{[cn] 17} They will decide to do that because God has given them those thoughts. So, they will do what he wants. They will give to the wild animal their authority to rule as king. The animal will continue to rule until everything happens that God has said will happen. ¹⁸ The bad woman that you saw is a picture of the great city. That city has power over all the kings who rule on the earth.’