Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks
The Church on Earth
7 After this I saw four angels, who stood at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth so that the wind could not blow on the earth, the sea, or any tree.
2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He called out with a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to harm the earth and the sea. He said, 3 “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have placed a seal on the foreheads of God’s servants.”
4 And I heard the number of those sealed:
144,000 sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel:
| 5 from the tribe of Judah, | 12,000, who were sealed, |
| from the tribe of Reuben, | 12,000, |
| from the tribe of Gad, | 12,000, |
| 6 from the tribe of Asher, | 12,000, |
| from the tribe of Naphtali, | 12,000, |
| from the tribe of Manasseh, | 12,000, |
| 7 from the tribe of Simeon, | 12,000, |
| from the tribe of Levi, | 12,000, |
| from the tribe of Issachar, | 12,000, |
| 8 from the tribe of Zebulun, | 12,000, |
| from the tribe of Joseph, | 12,000, |
| from the tribe of Benjamin, | 12,000, who were sealed. |
The Church in Heaven
9 After these things I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing in front of the throne and of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 10 They called out with a loud voice and said:
Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from
the Lamb.
11 All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, 12 saying:
Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and
power and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen.
13 One of the elders spoke to me and said, “These people dressed in white robes, who are they and where did they come from?”
And I answered him, “Sir, you know.”
14 And he said to me:
These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation.
They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of
the Lamb.
15 Because of this they are in front of the throne of God,
and they serve him day and night in his temple.
He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
16 They will never be hungry or thirsty ever again.
The sun will never beat upon them, nor will any scorching heat,
17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd.
He will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
The Seventh Seal: Seven Angels With Seven Trumpets
8 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, holding a gold censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer together with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar that was in front of the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense went up from the hand of the angel before God, together with the prayers of the saints.
5 The angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. Then there came crashes of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
The First Four Trumpets
6 The seven angels, who had the seven trumpets, prepared to sound them. 7 The first sounded his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, and[a] a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8 Then the second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, 9 a third of the creatures that live in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 Then the third angel sounded his trumpet, and a huge star, blazing like a lamp, fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star was Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood.[b] Many of the people died from these waters because they had been made bitter.
12 Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, as well as a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them became dark. And there was no light for a third of the day and likewise for the night.
13 Then I looked and I heard a single eagle[c] flying in the middle of the sky, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those whose home is on the earth because of the remaining trumpet blasts of the three angels who are about to sound their trumpets.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.