Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

7 And after these things I saw four messengers, standing upon the four corners of the land, holding the four winds of the land, that the wind may not blow upon the land, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree;

² and I saw another messenger going up from the rising of the sun, having a seal of the living God, and he did cry with a great voice to the four messengers, to whom it was given to injure the land and the sea, saying,

³ `Do not injure the land, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we may seal the servants of our God upon their foreheads.'

⁴ And I heard the number of those sealed, (144 thousands were sealed out of all the tribes of the sons of Israel):

⁵ of the tribe of Judah 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad 12 thousand were sealed;

⁶ of the tribe of Asher 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh 12 thousand were sealed;

⁷ of the tribe of Simeon 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar 12 thousand were sealed;

⁸ of the tribe of Zebulun 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin 12 thousand were sealed.

⁹ After these things I saw, and lo, a great multitude, which to number no one was able, out of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands,

¹⁰ and crying with a great voice, saying, `The salvation [is] to Him who is sitting upon the throne -- to our God, and to the Lamb!'

¹¹ And all the messengers stood around the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell upon their face, and bowed before God,

¹² saying, `Amen! the blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom, and the thanksgiving, and the honour, and the power, and the strength, [are] to our God -- to the ages of the ages! Amen!'

¹³ And answer did one of the elders, saying to me, `These, who have been arrayed with the white robes -- who are they, and whence came they?'

¹⁴ and I have said to him, `Sir, thou hast known;' and he said to me, `These are those who are coming out of the great tribulation, and they did wash their robes, and they made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb;

¹⁵ because of this are they before the throne of God, and they do service to Him day and night in His sanctuary, and He who is sitting upon the throne shall tabernacle over them;

¹⁶ they shall not hunger any more, nor may the sun fall upon them, nor any heat,

¹⁷ because the Lamb that [is] in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and wipe away shall God every tear from their eyes.'

8 And when he openeth the seventh seal, there came silence in the heaven about half-an-hour,

² and I saw the seven messengers who before God have stood, and there were given to them seven trumpets,

³ and another messenger did come, and he stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given to him much perfume, that he may give [it] to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that [is] before the throne,

⁴ and go up did the smoke of the perfumes to the prayers of the saints out of the hand of the messenger, before God;

⁵ and the messenger took the censer, and did fill it out of the fire of the altar, and did cast [it] to the earth, and there came voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

⁶ And the seven messengers who are having the seven trumpets did prepare themselves that they may sound;

⁷ and the first messenger did sound, and there came hail and fire, mingled with blood, and it was cast to the land, and the third of the trees was burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up.

⁸ And the second messenger did sound, and as it were a great mountain with fire burning was cast into the sea, and the third of the sea became blood,

⁹ and die did the third of the creatures that [are] in the sea, those having life, and the third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ And the third messenger did sound, and there fell out of the heaven a great star, burning as a lamp, and it did fall upon the third of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters,

¹¹ and the name of the star is called Wormwood, and the third of the waters doth become wormwood, and many of the men did die of the waters, because they were made bitter.

¹² And the fourth messenger did sound, and smitten was the third of the sun, and the third of the moon, and the third of the stars, that darkened may be the third of them, and that the day may not shine -- the third of it, and the night in like manner.

¹³ And I saw, and I heard one messenger, flying in the mid-heaven, saying with a great voice, `Wo, wo, wo, to those dwelling upon the land from the rest of the voices of the trumpet of the three messengers who are about to sound.'