Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Chapter 7^[a]

The 144,000 Sealed. ¹ After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,^[b] holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on land or sea or against any tree.^{(A) 2} Then I saw another angel come up from the East,^[c] holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, ³ “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”^{(B) 4} I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked^[d] from every tribe of the Israelites:^{(C) 5} twelve thousand were marked from the tribe of Judah,^[e] twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad, ⁶ twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh, ⁷ twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar, ⁸ twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, and twelve thousand were marked from the tribe of Benjamin.

Triumph of the Elect. ⁹ After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches^[f] 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 prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, ¹² and exclaimed:

¹³ Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;^[h] they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.^(D)

Chapter 8^[j]

The Seven Trumpets. ¹ When he broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven^[k] for about half an hour.^{(G) 2} And I saw that the seven angels who stood before God were given seven trumpets.^(H)

The Gold Censer. ³ Another angel came and stood at the altar,^[l] holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne.^{(I) 4} The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer, filled it with burning coals from the altar, and hurled it down to the earth. There were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.^(J)

The First Four Trumpets. ⁶ The seven angels who were holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.^(K)

⁷ When the first one blew his trumpet, there came hail and fire mixed with blood, which was hurled down to the earth. A third of the land was burned up, along with a third of the trees and all green grass.^[m]

^8 [n]When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a large burning mountain was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood,^{(L) 9} a third of the creatures living in the sea^[o] died, and a third of the ships were wrecked.

¹⁰ When the third angel blew his trumpet, a large star burning like a torch fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.^{(M) 11} The star was called “Wormwood,”^[p] and a third of all the water turned to wormwood. Many people died from this water, because it was made bitter.^(N)

¹² When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them became dark. The day lost its light for a third of the time, as did the night.^(O)

¹³ Then I looked again and heard an eagle flying high overhead cry out in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe^[q] to the inhabitants of the earth from the rest of the trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to blow!”