Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

144,000 Marked with a Seal

7 After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth^[a] so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or against any tree. ² Then I saw another angel coming up from the east,^[b] having the seal of the living God. He cried out with a loud voice to the four angels who were permitted to harm the earth and the sea, ³ saying, “Do no harm to the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”^[c]

⁴ Now I heard the number of those marked with the seal:

144,000 from every tribe of Bnei-Yisrael—

⁵ 12,000 from the tribe of Judah;

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.

Countless Worshipers Before the Throne

⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a vast multitude that no one could count—from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues—was standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes, with palm branches^[d] in their hands ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, saying,

¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne, along with the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying,

¹³ Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these dressed in white robes, and where have they come from?”

I said to him, “Sir, you know.”

¹⁴ Then he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.^[e] They have washed their robes and made them white^[f] in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ For this reason, they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His Temple. The One seated on the throne will shelter them. ^{[g] 16} They shall never again go hungry, nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. ^{[h] 17} For the Lamb in the midst of the throne shall shepherd them and guide them to springs of living water, and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.”^[i]

The Seventh Seal and Seven Trumpets

8 Now when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ² Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets^[j] were given to them. ³ Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden incense burner.^[k] He was given much incense to offer up along with the prayers of all the kedoshim upon the golden altar before the throne. ⁴ And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the kedoshim,^[l] rose before God from the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel took the incense burner and filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there were clashes of thunder and rumblings and flashes of lightning and earthquakes.^[m]

⁶ Then the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. ⁷ The first trumpeted,^[n] and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and they were thrown upon the earth.^[o] A third of the earth burned up, a third of the trees burned up, and all the green grass burned up.

⁸ The second angel trumpeted, and something like a huge mountain^[p] ablaze with fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, ⁹ a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel trumpeted, and a great star fell from the heavens, burning like a torch. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹ Now the name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters that were made bitter.^[q]

¹² The fourth angel trumpeted, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them were darkened.^[r] A third of the day would not shine, as well as a third of the night.

¹³ Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying out with a loud voice as it flew high in the sky, saying, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpets the three angels are about to sound!”