Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks
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:
5 12,000 from Judah's tribe,
12,000 from Reuben's tribe,
12,000 from Gad's tribe,
6 12,000 from Asher's tribe,
12,000 from Naphtali's tribe,
12,000 from Manasseh's tribe,
7 12,000 from Simeon's tribe,
12,000 from Levi's tribe,
12,000 from Issachar's tribe,
8 12,000 from Zebulun's tribe,
12,000 from Joseph's tribe,
12,000 from Benjamin's tribe.[a]
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.[b]
10 They shouted loudly:
‘We worship our God who sits on the throne.
And we worship the Lamb.
They have saved us from Satan's power.’
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:
‘This is true!
We worship our God and we give him honour.
He is completely wise.
We thank him and we praise him.
He has all power and authority for ever!
Amen!’
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.[c] 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.[d] 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.[e]
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!’
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