Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

God’s People Sing a New Song

14 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, who was standing on Mount Zion.^[a] There were 144,000 people with him. They all had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

² And I heard a sound from heaven as loud as the crashing of floodwaters or claps of thunder. But it sounded like harpists playing their harps. ³ The people sang a new song before the throne and before the four living beings and the elders. The only ones who could learn the new song were the 144,000 who had been bought from the earth. No one else could learn it.

⁴ These are the ones who did not do sinful things with women. They kept themselves pure. Now they follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were bought from among the people of the earth as the first to be offered to God and the Lamb. ⁵ They are not guilty of telling lies; they are without fault.

The Three Angels

⁶ Then I saw another angel flying high in the air. The angel had the eternal Good News to announce to the people living on earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and race of people. ⁷ The angel said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him praise. The time has come for God to judge all people. Worship God. He made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.”

⁸ Then the second angel followed the first angel and said, “She is destroyed! The great city of Babylon is destroyed! She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual sin and of God’s anger.”

⁹ A third angel followed the first two angels. This third angel said in a loud voice, “God will punish all those who worship the beast and the beast’s idol and agree to have the beast’s mark on their forehead or on their hand. ¹⁰ They will drink the wine of God’s anger. This wine is prepared with all its strength in the cup of God’s anger. They will be tortured with burning sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke from their burning pain will rise forever and ever. There will be no rest, day or night, for those who worship the beast and its idol or who wear the mark of its name.” ¹² This means that God’s holy people must be patient. They must obey God’s commands and keep their faith in Jesus.

¹³ Then I heard a voice from heaven. It said, “Write this: From now on there are great blessings for those who belong to the Lord when they die.”

The Spirit says, “Yes, that is true. They will rest from their hard work. What they have done will stay with them.”

The Earth Is Harvested

¹⁴ I looked and there before me, sitting on a white cloud, was one who looked like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ Then another angel came out of the temple. This angel called to the one who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and gather from the earth. The time to harvest has come, and the fruit on the earth is ripe.” ¹⁶ So the one who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth. And the earth was harvested.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven. This angel also had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ And then another angel, one with power over the fire, came from the altar. He called to the angel with the sharp sickle and said, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the bunches of grapes from the earth’s vine. The earth’s grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ The angel swung his sickle over the earth. He gathered the earth’s grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s anger. ²⁰ The grapes were squeezed in the winepress outside the city. Blood flowed out of the winepress. It rose as high as the heads of the horses for a distance of 200 miles.^[b]

The Angels With the Last Plagues

15 Then I saw another wonder in heaven. It was great and amazing. There were seven angels bringing seven plagues. These are the last plagues, because after these, God’s anger is finished.

² I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. All those who had won the victory over the beast and his idol and over the number of its name were standing by the sea. These people had harps that God had given them. ³ They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:

⁵ After this I saw the temple, the holy place of God’s presence,^[c] in heaven. It was opened, ⁶ and the seven angels bringing the seven plagues came out. They were dressed in clean, shining linen cloth. They wore golden bands tied around their chests. ⁷ Then one of the four living beings gave seven golden bowls to the seven angels. The bowls were filled with the anger of God, who lives forever and ever. ⁸ The temple was filled with smoke from the glory and the power of God. No one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

The Bowls Filled With God’s Anger

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple. It said to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s anger on the earth.”

² The first angel left. He poured out his bowl on the land. Then all those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its idol got sores that were ugly and painful.

³ The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea. Then the sea became blood like a dead man’s blood. And everything living in the sea died.

⁴ The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water. The rivers and the springs of water became blood. ⁵ Then I heard the angel of the waters say to God,

⁷ And I heard the altar say,

⁸ The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. The sun was given power to burn the people with fire. ⁹ The people were burned by the great heat. They cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues. But they refused to change their hearts and lives and give glory to God.

¹⁰ The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. And darkness covered the beast’s kingdom. People bit their tongues because of the pain. ¹¹ They cursed the God of heaven because of their pain and the sores they had. But they refused to change their hearts and turn away from the evil things they did.

¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates. The water in the river was dried up. This prepared the way for the rulers from the east to come. ¹³ Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs. They came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴ These evil spirits are the spirits of demons. They have power to do miracles.^[d] They go out to the rulers of the whole world to gather them for battle on the great day of God All-Powerful.

¹⁵ “Listen! I will come at a time you don’t expect, like a thief. Great blessings belong to those who stay awake and keep their clothes with them. They will not have to go without clothes and be ashamed for people to see them.”

¹⁶ Then the evil spirits gathered the rulers together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

¹⁷ The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. Then a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne. It said, “It is finished!” ¹⁸ Then there were flashes of lightning, noises, thunder, and a big earthquake. This was the worst earthquake that has ever happened since people have been on earth. ¹⁹ The great city split into three parts. The cities of the nations were destroyed. And God did not forget to punish Babylon the Great. He gave that city the cup filled with the wine of his terrible anger. ²⁰ Every island disappeared and there were no more mountains. ²¹ Giant hailstones fell on the people from the sky. These hailstones weighed almost 100 pounds^[e] each. People cursed God because of this plague of the hail. It was terrible.