Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

The Vision of the Sealing of 144,000 People

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 so that no wind could blow on the land, on the sea, or on any tree. ² I saw another angel coming from the east having the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been permitted to harm the land and sea, ³ “Don’t harm the land, the sea, or the trees until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.”

⁴ I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000. Those who were sealed were from every tribe 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, and 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

The Vision of Tribulation Saints

⁹ After these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ They cried out in a loud voice,

¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces in front of the throne and worshipped God, ¹² saying,

¹³ “Who are these people wearing white robes,” one of the elders asked me, “and where did they come from?”

¹⁴ I told him, “Sir, you know.”

Then he told me, “These are the people who are coming out of the terrible suffering.^[a] They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. ¹⁵ That is why:

The Vision of the Seventh Seal Opened

8 When the lamb^[d] opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

The Vision of Seven Angels Given Seven Trumpets

² Then I saw the seven angels who stand in God’s presence, and seven trumpets were given to them. ³ Another angel came with a gold censer and stood at the altar. He was given a large quantity of incense to offer on the gold altar before the throne, along with the prayers of all the saints. ⁴ The smoke from the incense and the prayers of the saints went up from the angel’s hand to God. ⁵ The angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. Then there were peals of thunder, noises, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. ⁶ The seven angels who had the seven trumpets got ready to blow them.

The Vision of the First Four Trumpets

⁷ When the first angel blew his trumpet, hail and fire were mixed with blood and 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 was destroyed.

¹⁰ When the third angel blew his trumpet, a huge star blazing like a torch fell from heaven. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star is Wormwood. One-third of the water turned into wormwood, and many people died from the 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. One-third of the day was kept from having light, as was the night.

The Vision of the Eagle Flying

¹³ Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying overhead say in a loud voice,