Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks
144,000 People Are Sealed
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth to keep them from blowing on the land, the sea, or any tree. 2 I saw another angel coming from the east with the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been allowed to harm the land and sea, 3 “Don’t harm the land, the sea, or the trees until we have put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
4 I heard how many were sealed: 144,000. Those who were sealed were from every tribe of the people of Israel:
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
God’s People around His Throne in Heaven
9 After these things I saw a large crowd from every nation, tribe, people, and language. No one was able to count how many people there were. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb. They were wearing white robes, holding palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb!”
11 All the angels stood around the throne with the leaders and the four living creatures. They bowed in front of the throne with their faces touching the ground, worshiped God, 12 and said,
“Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength
be to our God forever and ever! Amen!”
13 One of the leaders asked me, “Who are these people wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered him, “Sir, you know.”
Then he told me,
“These are the people who are coming out of the terrible suffering.
They have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the lamb.
15 That is why they are in front of the throne of God.
They serve him day and night in his temple.
The one who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
16 They will never be hungry or thirsty again.
Neither the sun nor any burning heat will ever overcome them.
17 The lamb in the center near the throne will be their shepherd.
He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life,
and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
The Lamb Opens the Seventh Seal
8 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Seven Angels with Seven Trumpets
2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand in God’s presence, and they were given seven trumpets. 3 Another angel came with a gold incense burner and stood at the altar. He was given a lot of incense to offer on the gold altar in front of the throne. He offered it with the prayers of all of God’s people. 4 The smoke from the incense went up from the angel’s hand to God along with the prayers of God’s people. 5 The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. Then there was thunder, noise, lightning, and an earthquake.
6 The seven angels who had the seven trumpets got ready to blow them.
The First Four Angels Blow Their Trumpets
7 When the first angel blew his trumpet, hail and fire were mixed with blood, and were thrown on the earth. One-third of the earth was burned up, one-third of the trees was burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8 When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a huge mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the sea turned into blood, 9 one-third of the creatures that were living in the sea died, and one-third of the ships were destroyed.
10 When the third angel blew his trumpet, a huge star flaming like a torch fell from the sky. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs. 11 That star was named Wormwood. One-third of the water turned into wormwood, and many people died from this water because it had turned bitter.
12 When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, one-third of the sun, one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars were struck so that one-third of them turned dark. There was no light for one-third of the day and one-third of the night.
13 I saw an eagle flying overhead, and I heard it say in a loud voice, “Catastrophe, catastrophe, catastrophe for those living on earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts which the three angels are about to blow.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.