Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Worship God and obey him^[a]

¹³ The man who had gone to fetch Micaiah said to him, ‘All the other prophets are saying the same thing. They say that the king will win the fight. So you must agree with what they are saying. Promise that something good will happen.’ ¹⁴ But Micaiah said, ‘I can only speak what the Lord tells me to say. As surely as the Lord lives, that is what I must do.’

¹⁵ When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, ‘Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?’ Micaiah answered, ‘Yes, attack it. You will surely win the fight. The Lord will give it to you, our king.’ ¹⁶ Then King Ahab said to Micaiah, ‘I have already told you many times to tell me only what is true! You must promise to do this in the name of the Lord!’

¹⁷ Then Micaiah said, ‘I saw the whole army of Israel and they were walking about on the hills without any leader. They were like sheep with no shepherd as their guide. The Lord told me, “These people have no master. They should go home quietly and they should not fight.” ’

¹⁸ The king of Israel said to King Jehoshaphat, ‘I told you what he would say! He never says that anything good will happen to me. He only says that I will have trouble.’ ¹⁹ Then Micaiah said, ‘So now listen to the Lord's message! I saw the Lord as he was sitting on his throne. The great crowd of his angels in heaven were standing around him, on his right side and on his left side. ²⁰ The Lord asked, “Who will go and deceive King Ahab so that he attacks Ramoth Gilead and he dies there?” Many of the angels suggested different things. ²¹ Then a spirit came and stood in front of the Lord. The spirit said, “I will deceive Ahab.”^[a] The Lord asked him, “How will you do it?” ²² The spirit said, “I will give a message to all Ahab's prophets. I will cause them to speak lies.” The Lord said, “Go and deceive King Ahab, as you have said. He will do what you say.”

²³ So you see what has happened. The Lord has sent a spirit to all these prophets who serve you. This spirit has caused them to speak lies. The Lord has decided that terrible trouble will come on you.’

The Lamb and the 144,000 people

14 Then I looked again and I saw the Lamb. He was standing on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. There were 144,000 people there with him. The Lamb's name and his Father's name were written on the front of those people's heads.

² Then I heard a loud sound which came from heaven. The noise was like water that pours along a river very fast. It was like the loud noise of thunder. The sound was like people who were making music with harps. ³ The 144,000 people were singing a new song that they had learned. They sang it in front of the throne. They sang in front of the four beings that are alive and in front of the leaders. Only these 144,000 people could learn the new song. They are the people that God had saved from among the people who lived on the earth.

⁴ These 144,000 people have kept themselves pure. They have not had sex with women in a wrong way. They follow the Lamb everywhere that he goes. God has saved them from among the people of the world and he has paid for their sins. They are the first people to become a gift to God and to the Lamb. ⁵ They have not spoken any lies. They have done nothing wrong.^[a]

The three angels with messages

⁶ Then I saw another angel who was flying high in the sky above me. He brought God's message of good news that is always true. He came to tell this news to everyone who lives on the earth. He would tell it to people from every nation, from every tribe and from every language. ⁷ He said in a loud voice, ‘Respect God and give him honour! Now it is time for him to judge people. He made the sky and the earth and the sea. He also made the springs of water. So worship him!’

⁸ A second angel followed the first one. He said, ‘God has destroyed Babylon! It is no longer a great city! It has caused people everywhere to do the same bad things as it enjoys. She is like a prostitute who makes men become drunk and have sex in a wrong way. She has caused them to turn away from God.’^[b]

⁹ A third angel followed the other two angels. He said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the wild animal and its idol, God will punish them. If anyone receives that animal's mark on their head or on their hand, God will punish them. ¹⁰ God will be very angry with all those people. They will be like people who must drink God's strong wine. When they drink wine from the cup of God's anger, they will have terrible pain. Fire and sulphur will burn them. God's angels and the Lamb will watch while God punishes them. ¹¹ The smoke will rise for ever while they burn. They will have no rest during the day or during the night. This will happen to everyone who worships the wild animal and its image. It will happen to everyone who receives the mark which shows its name.’