Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

This is a song that David wrote.

God takes care of his people^[a]

³⁹ Israel's people, this is what the Almighty Lord says to you: Now, every one of you, go to serve your idols! But after that, you will listen to me. You will no longer insult my holy name. You will no longer give gifts to your idols. ⁴⁰ All of Israel's people will serve me on my holy mountain, Israel's great mountain. There I will accept them as my people. That is what the Almighty Lord says. I will receive your offerings, your gifts and all your holy sacrifices. ⁴¹ I will bring you home from the nations and all the places where you have been living. Then I will welcome you, like sweet incense that pleases me. When I am among you, I will show all the other nations that I am holy. ⁴² I will bring you into the land of Israel. That is the land that I promised to give to your ancestors. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ⁴³ You will remember all the wrong things that you did which made you unclean. You will be ashamed of yourselves because of all the evil things that you have done. ⁴⁴ At that time, I will help you. I will not punish you as you deserve for your wicked and evil acts. Instead, I will do things that bring honour to my name. Then, Israel's people, you will know that I am the Lord. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’

The Lamb opens the seals

6 Then I watched while the Lamb opened one of the seven seals on the book. I heard one of the four beings say, ‘Come!’ It spoke very loudly with a voice like thunder. ² I looked, and I saw a white horse. The person who was riding the horse held a bow. Someone gave him a crown. He had fought against many people and he had won. Now he rode out on his horse to win against many more people.

³ Then the Lamb opened the second seal. I heard another of the beings say, ‘Come!’ ⁴ Then another horse came out. This horse was bright red, like fire. The person who was riding the horse had authority. He could take peace away from the earth, so that people killed each other. Someone gave him a large sword.

⁵ Then the Lamb opened the third seal. I heard the next being say, ‘Come!’ I looked, and I saw a black horse. The person who was riding the horse held something in his hand. He used it to weigh things. ⁶ Then I heard a sound like somebody speaking among the four beings. The voice said, ‘A litre of wheat is worth one day's work. And three litres of barley is also worth one day's work. But do not destroy the olive oil and the wine.’^[a]

⁷ Then the Lamb opened the fourth seal. I heard the last being say, ‘Come!’ ⁸ I looked, and I saw a grey horse.^[b] The name of the person who was riding the horse was Death. The place for dead people, called Hades, was following near to him. They had authority to kill people in a quarter of the earth. They could kill people in different ways. They could kill them in wars. They could cause people to die because there was no food. They could cause people to become very ill so that they died. They could also cause wild animals to kill people.

⁹ Then the Lamb opened the fifth seal. I saw an altar where people offered gifts to God. I saw the souls of some of God's people under the altar. These people had died because they had believed God's message. They had continued to speak the true message about Jesus Christ. That is why people had killed them. ¹⁰ These believers called out loudly, ‘Lord, you have all authority. You are completely good. You always do what is right. When will you decide to judge the people who live on the earth? Do not wait! You should quickly punish the people who killed us!’

¹¹ Then each believer received white clothes. God told them to wait for a short time more. They must wait until other believers on earth also died. These believers are also servants of God. God will wait until people kill those believers too. Then the number of them will be complete.

¹² I watched again. I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal. Then the ground shook with a great earthquake. The sun became black like thick black cloth. The whole moon became red like blood. ¹³ The stars in the sky fell to the earth. They fell like fruits fall from a tree when a strong wind blows. ¹⁴ The sky divided into two parts. It rolled up like a piece of paper. Every mountain and every island moved away from its place.

¹⁵ Then everyone on the earth hid themselves. They went to the mountains and they hid among the rocks and in holes in the rocks. Everyone tried to hide, even the kings and the rulers. The soldiers' leaders, the rich people and other powerful people all went to hide. Everyone hid, whether they were slaves or free people. ¹⁶ They shouted to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and cover us. Hide us, so that the one who sits on the throne cannot see us. Also hide us from the Lamb who is very angry with us. ¹⁷ Their great day has come. They will punish us because they are so angry. Nobody will be able to escape.’

God marks his people from Israel

7 After this, I saw four angels. They were standing at the four corners of the earth. They were stopping the four winds of the earth. As a result, no wind could blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. ² Then I saw another angel who was coming up from the east. He was carrying the seal of the God who lives for ever. He shouted loudly to the four other angels. They had received authority to destroy the land and the sea. ³ But he shouted to them, ‘Do not destroy the land or the sea or the trees yet. Wait until we put a seal on the heads of God's servants. God's seal on the front of their heads will keep them safe.’

⁴ Then I heard how many people received God's seal. The number of people was 144,000. They came from all the tribes of Israel's people: