Revelation. 17 Let any one who has ears to hear lis ten to what the

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1 Revelation 1 The rev e la tion of Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his ser vants what must soon take place. He made it known by send ing his an gel to his ser vant John, 2 who tes ti fied to the word of God and to the tes ti mo ny of Jesus Christ, what ev er he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this proph e cy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this proph e cy and keep what is writ ten in it, be cause the time is near. 4 John: To the sev en church es in Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the sev en spir its be fore his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faith ful wit ness, the first born from the dead and the rul er of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us a king dom, priests to his God and Fa ther to him be glo ry and do min ion for ev er and ever. Amen. 7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen. 8 I am the Al pha and the Ome ga, says the Lord God, the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. 9 I, John, your broth er and part ner in the affliction, kingdom, and en dur ance that are in Jesus, was on the is land called Pat mos be cause of the word of God and the tes timo ny of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spir it on the Lord s day, and I heard a loud voice be hind me like a trum pet 11 say ing, Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the sev en church es: Eph e sus, Smyr na, Per ga mum, Thy a ti ra, Sar dis, Phil a del phia, and La od i cea. 12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw sev en gold en lamp stands, 13 and among the lamp stands was one like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe and with a gold en sash wrapped around his chest. 14 The hair of his head was white as wool white as snow and his eyes like a fi ery flame. 15 His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a fur nace, and his voice like the sound of cascading wa ters. 16 He had sev en stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth, and his face was shin ing like the sun at full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, Don t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, 18 and the Liv ing One. I was dead, but look I am alive for ev er and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Ha des. 19 There fore write what you have seen, what is, and what will take place af ter this. 20 The mys tery of the sev en stars you saw in my right hand and of the sev en gold en lamp stands is this: The sev en stars are the an gels of the sev en church es, and the sev en lamp stands are the sev en church es. 2 Write to the an gel of the church in Eph e sus: Thus says the one who holds the sev en stars in his right hand and who walks among the sev en gold en lampstands: 2 I know your works, your la bor, and your en durance, and that you can not tol er ate evil peo ple. You have test ed those who call them selves apos tles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. 3 I know that you have per se vered and en dured hard ships for the sake of my name, and have not grown wea ry. 4 But I have this against you: You have aban doned the love you had at first. 5 Re mem ber then how far you have fall en; re pent, and do the works you did at first. Oth er wise, I will come to you and re move your lamp stand from its place, un less you re pent. 6 Yet you do have this: You hate the prac tic es of the Nic o la i tans, which I also hate. 7 Let any one who has ears to hear lis ten to what the Spir it says to the church es. To the one who con quers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the par a dise of God. 8 Write to the an gel of the church in Smyr na: Thus says the First and the Last, the one who was dead and came to life: 9 I know your affliction and pov er ty, but you are rich. I know the slan der of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a syn a gogue of Sa tan. 10 Don t be afraid of what you are about to suf fer. Look, the dev il is about to throw some of you into pris on to test you, and you will ex pe ri ence affliction for ten days. Be faith ful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 Let any one who has ears to hear lis ten to what the Spir it says to the church es. The one who con quers will never be harmed by the sec ond death. 12 Write to the an gel of the church in Per ga mum: Thus says the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword: 13 I know where you live where Sa tan s throne is. Yet you are hold ing on to my name and did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of An ti pas, my faith ful wit ness who was put to death among you, where Sa tan lives. 14 But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teach ing of Ba laam, who taught Ba lak to place a stum bling block in front of the Is ra el ites: to eat meat sac ri ficed to idols and to com mit sex u al im mo rali ty. 15 In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teach ing of the Nic o la i tans. 16 So re pent! Oth er wise, I will come to you quick ly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 Let any one who has ears to hear lis ten to what the Spir it says to the church es. To the one who con quers, I will give some of the hid den man na. I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is in scribed that no one knows ex cept the one who re ceives it. 18 Write to the an gel of the church in Thy a ti ra: Thus says the Son of God, the one whose eyes are like a fi ery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze: 19 I know your works your love, faith ful ness, ser vice, and en dur ance. I know that your last works are great er than the first. 20 But I have this against you: You tol er ate the wom an Jez e bel, who calls her self a proph et ess and teach es and de ceives my ser vants to com mit sex u al im mo ral i ty and to eat meat sac ri ficed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to re pent of her sex u al immo ral i ty. 22 Look, I will throw her into a sick bed and those who com mit adul tery with her into great affliction. Unless they re pent of her works, 23 I will strike her chil dren dead. Then all the church es will know that I am the one who ex am ines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you ac cord ing to your works. 24 I say to the rest of you

2 The Throne Room of Heaven 669 Revelation 2-5 in Thy a ti ra, who do not hold this teach ing, who haven t known the so-called se crets of Sa tan as they say I am not put ting any oth er bur den on you. 25 Only hold on to what you have un til I come. 26 The one who con quers and who keeps my works to the end: I will give him author i ty over the na tions 27 and he will rule them with an iron scepter; he will shatter them like pottery 28 just as I have re ceived this from my Fa ther. I will also give him the morn ing star. 29 Let any one who has ears to hear lis ten to what the Spir it says to the church es. 3 Write to the an gel of the church in Sar dis: Thus says the one who has the sev en spir its of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you have a rep u ta tion for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Be alert and strength en what re mains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works com plete be fore my God. 3 Re mem ber, then, what you have re ceived and heard; keep it, and re pent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you. 4 But you have a few peo ple in Sar dis who have not de filed their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, be cause they are wor thy. 5 In the same way, the one who con quers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will nev er erase his name from the book of life but will ac knowl edge his name be fore my Father and be fore his an gels. 6 Let any one who has ears to hear lis ten to what the Spir it says to the church es. 7 Write to the an gel of the church in Phil a del phia: Thus says the Holy One, the true one, the one who has the key of Da vid, who opens and no one will close, and who clos es and no one opens: 8 I know your works. Look, I have placed be fore you an open door that no one can close be cause you have but lit tle pow er; yet you have kept my word and have not de nied my name. 9 Note this: I will make those from the syn a gogue of Sa tan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are ly ing I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. 10 Be cause you have kept my com mand to en dure, I will also keep you from the hour of test ing that is go ing to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 11 I am com ing soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one takes your crown. 12 The one who con quers I will make a pil lar in the temple of my God, and he will nev er go out again. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God the new Je ru sa lem, which comes down out of heav en from my God and my new name. 13 Let any one who has ears to hear lis ten to what the Spir it says to the church es. 14 Write to the an gel of the church in La od i cea: Thus says the Amen, the faith ful and true wit ness, the originator of God s cre a tion: 15 I know your works, that you are nei ther cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So, be cause you are luke warm, and nei ther hot nor cold, I am go ing to vom it you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I m rich; I have be come wealthy and need nothing, and you don t re al ize that you are wretch ed, pitiful, poor, blind, and na ked. 18 I ad vise you to buy from me gold re fined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shame ful na ked ness not be ex posed, and oint ment to spread on your eyes so that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and dis ci pline. So be zeal ous and re pent. 20 See! I stand at the door and knock. If any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 To the one who con quers I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I also con quered and sat down with my Fa ther on his throne. 22 Let any one who has ears to hear lis ten to what the Spir it says to the church es. 4 Af ter this I looked, and there in heav en was an open door. The first voice that I had heard speak ing to me like a trum pet said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place af ter this. 2 Im me di ate ly I was in the Spir it, and there was a throne in heav en and some one was seat ed on it. 3 The one seat ed there had the ap pear ance of jas per and car ne lian stone. A rain bow that had the ap pear ance of an em er ald surround ed the throne. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four el ders dressed in white clothes, with gold en crowns on their heads. 5 Flash es of light ning and rum blings and peals of thunder came from the throne. Sev en fi ery torch es were burning be fore the throne, which are the sev en spir its of God. 6 Some thing like a sea of glass, sim i lar to crys tal, was also be fore the throne. Four liv ing crea tures cov ered with eyes in front and in back were around the throne on each side. 7 The first liv ing crea ture was like a lion; the sec ond liv ing crea ture was like an ox; the third liv ing crea ture had a face like a man; and the fourth liv ing crea ture was like a fly ing eagle. 8 Each of the four liv ing crea tures had six wings; they were cov ered with eyes around and in side. Day and night they nev er stop, say ing, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come. 9 When ev er the liv ing crea tures give glo ry, hon or, and thanks to the one seat ed on the throne, the one who lives for ev er and ever, 10 the twenty-four el ders fall down before the one seat ed on the throne and wor ship the one who lives for ev er and ever. They cast their crowns be fore the throne and say, 11 Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created. 5 Then I saw in the right hand of the one seat ed on the throne a scroll with writ ing on both sides, sealed with sev en seals. 2 I also saw a mighty an gel pro claim ing with a loud voice, Who is wor thy to open the scroll and break its seals? 3 But no one in heav en or on earth or un der the earth was able to open the scroll or even to look in it. 4 I wept and wept be cause no one was found wor thy to open the scroll or even to look in it. 5 Then one of the el ders said to me, Do not weep. Look, the Lion from the tribe of Ju dah, the Root of Da vid, has con quered so that he is able to open the scroll and its sev en seals. 6 Then I saw one like a slaugh tered lamb stand ing in the midst of the throne and the four liv ing crea tures and among the el ders. He had sev en horns and sev en eyes, which are the sev en spir its of God sent into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll out of the right hand of the one seat ed on the throne.

3 Revelation A Multitude from the Great Tribulation 8 When he took the scroll, the four liv ing crea tures and the twenty-four el ders fell down be fore the Lamb. Each one had a harp and gold en bowls filled with in cense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth. 11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many an gels around the throne, and also of the liv ing crea tures and of the el ders. Their num ber was count less thou sands, plus thou sands of thou sands. 12 They said with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing! 13 I heard ev ery crea ture in heav en, on earth, un der the earth, on the sea, and ev ery thing in them say, Blessing and honor and glory and power be to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever! 14 The four liv ing crea tures said, Amen, and the el ders fell down and wor shiped. 6 Then I saw the Lamb open one of the sev en seals, and I heard one of the four liv ing crea tures say with a voice like thun der, Come! 2 I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rid er held a bow; a crown was giv en to him, and he went out as a con quer or in or der to con quer. 3 When he opened the sec ond seal, I heard the sec ond liv ing crea ture say, Come! 4 Then an oth er horse went out, a fi ery red one, and its rid er was al lowed to take peace from the earth, so that peo ple would slaugh ter one an other. And a large sword was giv en to him. 5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living crea ture say, Come! And I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rid er held a set of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard some thing like a voice among the four living crea tures say, A quart of wheat for a de nar i us, and three quarts of bar ley for a de nar i us, but do not harm the oil and the wine. 7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth liv ing crea ture say, Come! 8 And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. Its rid er was named Death, and Ha des was fol low ing af ter him. They were giv en author i ty over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by fam ine, by plague, and by the wild an i mals of the earth. 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw un der the al tar the souls of those who had been slaugh tered be cause of the word of God and the tes ti mo ny they had giv en. 10 They cried out with a loud voice: Lord, the one who is holy and true, how long un til you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood? 11 So they were each giv en a white robe, and they were told to rest a lit tle while lon ger un til the num ber would be com plet ed of their fel low ser vants and their broth ers and sis ters, who were go ing to be killed just as they had been. 12 Then I saw him open the sixth seal. A vi o lent earthquake oc curred; the sun turned black like sack cloth made of hair; the en tire moon be came like blood; 13 the stars of heav en fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its un ripe figs when shak en by a high wind; 14 the sky was split apart like a scroll be ing rolled up; and ev ery moun tain and is land was moved from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth, the no bles, the gen er als, the rich, the pow er ful, and ev ery slave and free per son hid in the caves and among the rocks of the moun tains. 16 And they said to the moun tains and to the rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seat ed on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 be cause the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand? 7 Af ter this I saw four an gels stand ing at the four corners of the earth, re strain ing the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw an oth er an gel ris ing up from the east, who had the seal of the liv ing God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four an gels who were al lowed to harm the earth and the sea: 3 Don t harm the earth or the sea or the trees un til we seal the ser vants of our God on their fore heads. 4 And I heard the num ber of the sealed: 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites: 5 12,000 sealed 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 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin. 9 Af ter this I looked, and there was a vast mul ti tude from ev ery na tion, tribe, peo ple, and lan guage, which no one could num ber, stand ing be fore the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branch es in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! 11 All the an gels stood around the throne, and along with the el ders and the four liv ing crea tures they fell face down be fore the throne and wor shiped God, 12 say ing, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen. 13 Then one of the el ders asked me, Who are these peo ple in white robes, and where did they come from? 14 I said to him, Sir, you know. Then he told me: These are the ones com ing out of the great trib u la tion. They washed their robes and made them white 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: 16 They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; he will guide them to springs of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

4 The Seven Trumpets 8 When he opened the sev enth seal, there was si lence in heav en for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven an gels who stand in the pres ence of God; sev en trumpets were giv en to them. 3 An oth er an gel, with a gold en in cense burner, came and stood at the al tar. He was giv en a large amount of in cense to of fer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold en al tar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the in cense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the pres ence of God from the an gel s hand. 5 The angel took the in cense burner, filled it with fire from the al tar, and hurled it to the earth; there were peals of thun der, rumblings, flash es of light ning, and an earth quake. 6 And the sev en an gels who had the sev en trum pets pre pared to blow them. 7 The first an gel blew his trum pet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth. So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 8 The sec ond an gel blew his trum pet, and some thing like a great moun tain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea. So a third of the sea be came blood, 9 a third of the liv ing crea tures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were de stroyed. 10 The third an gel blew his trum pet, and a great star, blaz ing like a torch, fell from heav en. It fell on a third of the riv ers and springs of wa ter. 11 The name of the star is Worm wood, and a third of the wa ters be came worm wood. So, many of the peo ple died from the wa ters, be cause they had been made bit ter. 12 The fourth an gel blew his trum pet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were dark ened. A third of the day was with out light and also a third of the night. 13 I looked and heard an ea gle fly ing high over head, cry ing out in a loud voice, Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, be cause of the re main ing trum pet blasts that the three an gels are about to sound! The fifth an gel blew his trum pet, and I saw a star that had fall en from heav en to earth. The key for the shaft 9 to the abyss was giv en to him. 2 He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great fur nace so that the sun and the air were dark ened by the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then lo custs came out of the smoke on to the earth, and pow er was giv en to them like the pow er that scor pi ons have on the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree, but only those peo ple who do not have God s seal on their fore heads. 5 They were not per mit ted to kill them but were to tor ment them for five months; their torment is like the tor ment caused by a scor pi on when it stings some one. 6 In those days peo ple will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them. 7 The ap pear ance of the lo custs was like hors es prepared for bat tle. Some thing like gold en crowns was on their heads; their fac es were like hu man fac es; 8 they had hair like wom en s hair; their teeth were like li ons teeth; 9 they had chests like iron breast plates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of many char i ots with hors es rush ing into bat tle; 10 and they had tails with stingers like scor pi ons, so that with their tails they had the pow er to harm peo ple for five months. 11 They had as their king the an gel of the abyss; his name in He brew is Abad don, and in Greek he has the name Apol lyon. 12 The first woe has passed. There are still two more woes to come af ter this The sixth an gel blew his trum pet. From the four horns of the gold en al tar that is be fore God, I heard a voice 14 say to the sixth an gel who had the trum pet, Re lease the four an gels bound at the great riv er Eu phra tes. 15 So the four an gels who were pre pared for the hour, day, month, and year were re leased to kill a third of the hu man race. 16 The num ber of mount ed troops was two hun dred mil lion; I heard their num ber. 17 This is how I saw the hors es and their rid ers in the vi sion: They had breast plates that were fi ery red, hyacinth blue, and sul fur yel low. The heads of the hors es were like the heads of li ons, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sul fur. 18 A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues by the fire, the smoke, and the sul fur that came from their mouths. 19 For the pow er of the hors es is in their mouths and in their tails, be cause their tails, which resemble snakes, have heads that in flict in ju ry. 20 The rest of the peo ple, who were not killed by these plagues, did not re pent of the works of their hands to stop wor ship ing de mons and idols of gold, sil ver, bronze, stone, and wood, which can not see, hear, or walk. 21 And they did not re pent of their mur ders, their sor cer ies, their sex u al immo ral i ty, or their thefts. 10 Then I saw an oth er mighty an gel com ing down from heav en, wrapped in a cloud, with a rain bow over his head. His face was like the sun, his legs were like pillars of fire, 2 and he held a lit tle scroll opened in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea, his left on the land, 3 and he called out with a loud voice like a roar ing lion. When he cried out, the sev en thun ders raised their voices. 4 And when the sev en thun ders spoke, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heav en, say ing, Seal up what the seven thun ders said, and do not write it down! 5 Then the an gel that I had seen stand ing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heav en. 6 He swore by the one who lives for ev er and ever, who cre at ed heav en and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: There will no lon ger be a de lay, 7 but in the days when the sev enth an gel will blow his trum pet, then the mys tery of God will be com plet ed, as he an nounced to his ser vants the proph ets. 8 Then the voice that I heard from heav en spoke to me again and said, Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the an gel who is stand ing on the sea and on the land. 9 So I went to the an gel and asked him to give me the lit tle scroll. He said to me, Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stom ach, but it will be as sweet as hon ey in your mouth. 10 Then I took the lit tle scroll from the an gel s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as hon ey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stom ach be came bit ter. 11 And they said to me, You must proph e sy again about many peo ples, na tions, lan guages, and kings. 11 Revelation 8-11 Then I was giv en a mea sur ing reed like a rod, with these words: Go and mea sure the tem ple of God and the al tar, and count those who wor ship there. 2 But ex clude the court yard out side the tem ple. Don t mea sure it, be cause it is giv en to the na tions, and they will tram ple the holy city for forty-two months. 3 I will grant my two wit ness es au thor i ty to proph e sy for 1,260 days, dressed in sack cloth. 4 These are the two ol ive trees and the two lamp stands that stand be fore the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and con sumes their en e mies; if any one wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6 They have au thor i ty to close

5 Revelation The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon up the sky so that it does not rain dur ing the days of their proph e cy. They also have pow er over the wa ters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with ev ery plague when ev er they want. 7 When they fin ish their tes ti mo ny, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war on them, con quer them, and kill them. 8 Their dead bod ies will lie in the main street of the great city, which fig u ra tive ly is called Sod om and Egypt, where also their Lord was cru ci fied. 9 And some of the peo ples, tribes, lan guages, and na tions will view their bod ies for three and a half days and not per mit their bodies to be put into a tomb. 10 Those who live on the earth will gloat over them and cel e brate and send gifts to one anoth er be cause these two proph ets had tor ment ed those who live on the earth. 11 But af ter three and a half days, the breath of life from God en tered them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heav en say ing to them, Come up here. They went up to heav en in a cloud, while their en e mies watched them. 13 At that mo ment a vi o lent earth quake took place, a tenth of the city fell, and sev en thou sand peo ple were killed in the earth quake. The sur vi vors were ter ri fied and gave glory to the God of heav en. 14 The sec ond woe has passed. Take note: The third woe is com ing soon! 15 The sev enth an gel blew his trum pet, and there were loud voices in heav en say ing, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. 16 The twenty-four el ders, who were seat ed be fore God on their thrones, fell face down and wor shiped God, 17 say ing, We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were angry, but your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth. 19 Then the tem ple of God in heav en was opened, and the ark of his cov enant ap peared in his tem ple. There were flash es of light ning, rum blings and peals of thun der, an earth quake, and se vere hail. 12 A great sign ap peared in heav en: a wom an clothed with the sun, with the moon un der her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was preg nant and cried out in la bor and ag o ny as she was about to give birth. 3 Then an oth er sign ap peared in heav en: There was a great fi ery red drag on hav ing sev en heads and ten horns, and on its heads were sev en crowns. 4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heav en and hurled them to the earth. And the drag on stood in front of the wom an who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might de vour her child. 5 She gave birth to a Son, a male who is go ing to rule all na tions with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne. 6 The wom an fled into the wil der ness, where she had a place pre pared by God, to be nour ished there for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heav en: Mi cha el and his an gels fought against the drag on. The drag on and his an gels also fought, 8 but he could not pre vail, and there was no place for them in heav en any lon ger. 9 So the great drag on was thrown out the an cient ser pent, who is called the dev il and Sa tan, the one who de ceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his an gels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heav en say, The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down. 11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows his time is short. 13 When the drag on saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he per se cut ed the wom an who had giv en birth to the male child. 14 The wom an was giv en two wings of a great ea gle, so that she could fly from the ser pent s presence to her place in the wil der ness, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time. 15 From his mouth the ser pent spewed wa ter like a riv er flow ing af ter the wom an, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth helped the wom an. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the riv er that the drag on had spewed from his mouth. 17 So the drag on was fu ri ous with the wom an and went off to wage war against the rest of her off spring those who keep the com mands of God and hold firm ly to the tes ti mo ny about Jesus. 18 The drag on stood on the sand of the sea. 13 And I saw a beast com ing up out of the sea. It had ten horns and sev en heads. On its horns were ten crowns, and on its heads were blas phe mous names. 2 The beast I saw was like a leop ard, its feet were like a bear s, and its mouth was like a lion s mouth. The drag on gave the beast his pow er, his throne, and great au thor i ty. 3 One of its heads ap peared to be fa tal ly wound ed, but its fa tal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and fol lowed the beast. 4 They wor shiped the drag on be cause he gave au thor i ty to the beast. And they wor shiped the beast, say ing, Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against it? 5 The beast was giv en a mouth to ut ter boasts and blas phe mies. It was al lowed to ex er cise au thor i ty for forty-two months. 6 It be gan to speak blas phe mies against God: to blas pheme his name and his dwell ing those who dwell in heav en. 7 And it was per mit ted to wage war against the saints and to con quer them. It was also giv en au thor i ty over ev ery tribe, peo ple, language, and na tion. 8 All those who live on the earth will wor ship it, ev ery one whose name was not writ ten from

6 The Lamb and the 144, Revelation the foun da tion of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaugh tered. 9 If any one has ears to hear, let him lis ten. 10 If anyone is to be taken captive, into captivity he goes. If anyone is to be killed with a sword, with a sword he will be killed. This calls for en dur ance and faith ful ness from the saints. 11 Then I saw an oth er beast com ing up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a drag on. 12 It ex er cis es all the au thor i ty of the first beast on its be half and com pels the earth and those who live on it to wor ship the first beast, whose fa tal wound was healed. 13 It also performs great signs, even caus ing fire to come down from heav en to earth in front of peo ple. 14 It de ceives those who live on the earth be cause of the signs that it is per mit ted to per form in the pres ence of the beast, tell ing those who live on the earth to make an im age of the beast who was wound ed by the sword and yet lived. 15 It was per mit ted to give breath to the im age of the beast, so that the im age of the beast could both speak and cause who ev er would not wor ship the im age of the beast to be killed. 16 And it makes ev ery one small and great, rich and poor, free and slave to re ceive a mark on his right hand or on his fore head, 17 so that no one can buy or sell un less he has the mark: the beast s name or the num ber of its name. 18 This calls for wis dom: Let the one who has un derstand ing cal cu late the num ber of the beast, be cause it is the num ber of a per son. Its num ber is Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, stand ing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Fa ther s name writ ten on their fore heads. 2 I heard a sound from heav en like the sound of cascading wa ters and like the rum bling of loud thun der. The sound I heard was like harp ists play ing on their harps. 3 They sang a new song be fore the throne and be fore the four liv ing crea tures and the el ders, but no one could learn the song ex cept the 144,000 who had been re deemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones who have not de filed themselves with wom en, since they re mained vir gins. These are the ones who fol low the Lamb wher ev er he goes. They were re deemed from hu man i ty as the first fruits for God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blame less. 6 Then I saw an oth er an gel fly ing high over head, with the eter nal gos pel to an nounce to the in hab i tants of the earth to ev ery na tion, tribe, lan guage, and peo ple. 7 He spoke with a loud voice: Fear God and give him glo ry, be cause the hour of his judg ment has come. Wor ship the one who made heav en and earth, the sea and the springs of wa ter. 8 And an oth er, a sec ond an gel, fol lowed, say ing, It has fall en, Bab ylon the Great has fall en. She made all the na tions drink the wine of her sex u al im mo ral i ty, which brings wrath. 9 And an oth er, a third an gel, fol lowed them and spoke with a loud voice: If any one wor ships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink the wine of God s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his an ger. He will be tor ment ed with fire and sul fur in the sight of the holy an gels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11 and the smoke of their tor ment will go up for ev er and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who wor ship the beast and its im age, or any one who re ceives the mark of its name. 12 This calls for en dur ance from the saints, who keep God s com mands and their faith in Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heav en say ing, Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spir it, so they will rest from their la bors, since their works fol low them. 14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and one like the Son of Man was seat ed on the cloud, with a gold en crown on his head and a sharp sick le in his hand. 15 An oth er an gel came out of the tem ple, cry ing out in a loud voice to the one who was seat ed on the cloud, Use your sick le and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the har vest of the earth is ripe. 16 So the one seat ed on the cloud swung his sick le over the earth, and the earth was har vest ed. 17 Then an oth er an gel who also had a sharp sick le came out of the tem ple in heav en. 18 Yet an oth er an gel, who had au thor i ty over fire, came from the al tar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sick le, Use your sharp sick le and gath er the clus ters of grapes from the vine yard of the earth, be cause its grapes have rip ened. 19 So the an gel swung his sick le at the earth and gath ered the grapes from the vine yard of the earth, and he threw them into the great wine press of God s wrath. 20 Then the press was tram pled out side the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the hors es bridles for about 180 miles. 15 Then I saw an oth er great and awe-inspiring sign in heav en: sev en an gels with the sev en last plagues; for with them God s wrath will be com plet ed. 2 I also saw some thing like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the vic to ry over the beast, its im age, and the num ber of its name, were stand ing on the sea of glass with harps from God. 3 They sang the song of God s ser vant Mo ses and the song of the Lamb: Great and awe inspiring are your works, Lord God, the Almighty; just and true are your ways, King of the nations. 4 Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship before you because your righteous acts have been revealed. 5 Af ter this I looked, and the heav en ly tem ple the taber na cle of tes ti mo ny was opened. 6 Out of the tem ple came the sev en an gels with the sev en plagues, dressed in pure, bright lin en, with gold en sash es wrapped around their chests. 7 One of the four liv ing crea tures gave the seven an gels sev en gold en bowls filled with the wrath of God who lives for ev er and ever. 8 Then the tem ple was filled with smoke from the glo ry of God and from his pow er, and no one could en ter the tem ple un til the sev en plagues of the sev en an gels were com plet ed. 16 Then I heard a loud voice from the tem ple say ing to the sev en an gels, Go and pour out the sev en bowls of God s wrath on the earth. 2 The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and se vere ly pain ful sores broke out on the peo ple who had the mark of the beast and who wor shiped its im age. 3 The sec ond poured out his bowl into the sea. It turned to blood like that of a dead per son, and all life in the sea died. 4 The third poured out his bowl into the riv ers and the springs of wa ter, and they be came blood. 5 I heard the angel of the wa ters say,

7 Revelation The Fall of Babylon the Great You are just, the Holy One, who is and who was, because you have passed judgment on these things. 6 Because they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, you have given them blood to drink; they deserve it! 7 I heard the al tar say, Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments. 8 The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun. It was al lowed to scorch peo ple with fire, 9 and peo ple were scorched by the in tense heat. So they blas phemed the name of God, who has the pow er over these plagues, and they did not re pent and give him glo ry. 10 The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its king dom was plunged into dark ness. People gnawed their tongues be cause of their pain 11 and blasphemed the God of heav en be cause of their pains and their sores, but they did not re pent of their works. 12 The sixth poured out his bowl on the great riv er Euphra tes, and its wa ter was dried up to pre pare the way for the kings from the east. 13 Then I saw three un clean spirits like frogs com ing from the drag on s mouth, from the beast s mouth, and from the mouth of the false proph et. 14 For they are demonic spir its per form ing signs, who trav el to the kings of the whole world to as sem ble them for the bat tle on the great day of God, the Al mighty. 15 Look, I am com ing like a thief. Blessed is the one who is alert and re mains clothed so that he may not go around na ked and peo ple see his shame. 16 So they as sem bled the kings at the place called in He brew, Ar ma ge ddon. 17 Then the sev enth poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the tem ple from the throne, say ing, It is done! 18 There were flash es of light ning, rum blings, and peals of thun der. And a se vere earth quake oc curred like no oth er since peo ple have been on the earth, so great was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cit ies of the na tions fell. Bab ylon the Great was re membered in God s pres ence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce an ger. 20 Ev ery is land fled, and the mountains dis ap peared. 21 Enor mous hail stones, each weigh ing about a hun dred pounds, fell from the sky on peo ple, and they blas phemed God for the plague of hail be cause that plague was ex treme ly se vere. 17 Then one of the sev en an gels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me: Come, I will show you the judg ment of the no to ri ous pros ti tute who is seat ed on many wa ters. 2 The kings of the earth commit ted sex u al im mo ral i ty with her, and those who live on the earth be came drunk on the wine of her sex u al im mo ral i ty. 3 Then he car ried me away in the Spir it to a wil der ness. I saw a wom an sit ting on a scar let beast that was covered with blas phe mous names and had sev en heads and ten horns. 4 The wom an was dressed in pur ple and scar let, adorned with gold, jew els, and pearls. She had a gold en cup in her hand filled with ev ery thing de test able and with the im pu ri ties of her pros ti tu tion. 5 On her fore head was written a name, a mys tery: Babylon the G Reat, the Moth er of Prostitutes and of the Detestable Things of the E arth. 6 Then I saw that the wom an was drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the wit ness es to Jesus. When I saw her, I was great ly as ton ished. 7 Then the an gel said to me, Why are you as ton ished? I will ex plain to you the mys tery of the wom an and of the beast, with the sev en heads and the ten horns, that car ries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss and go to de struc tion. Those who live on the earth whose names have not been writ ten in the book of life from the foun da tion of the world will be as ton ished when they see the beast that was, and is not, and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind that has wis dom: The sev en heads are sev en moun tains on which the wom an is seat ed. They are also sev en kings: 10 Five have fall en, one is, the oth er has not yet come, and when he comes, he must re main for only a lit tle while. 11 The beast that was and is not, is it self an eighth king, but it be longs to the sev en and is go ing to de struc tion. 12 The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet re ceived a king dom, but they will re ceive au thor i ty as kings with the beast for one hour. 13 These have one pur pose, and they give their pow er and au thor i ty to the beast. 14 These will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will con quer them be cause he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those with him are called, chosen, and faith ful. 15 He also said to me, The wa ters you saw, where the pros ti tute was seat ed, are peo ples, mul ti tudes, na tions, and lan guages. 16 The ten horns you saw, and the beast, will hate the pros ti tute. They will make her des o late and na ked, de vour her flesh, and burn her up with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to car ry out his plan by having one pur pose and to give their king dom to the beast un til the words of God are ful filled. 18 And the wom an you saw is the great city that has roy al pow er over the kings of the earth. 18 Af ter this I saw an oth er an gel with great au thor i ty com ing down from heav en, and the earth was il lumi nat ed by his splen dor. 2 He called out in a mighty voice: It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen! She has become a home for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, and a haunt for every unclean and despicable beast. 3 For all the nations have drunk the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath. The kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from her sensuality and excess. 4 Then I heard an oth er voice from heav en: Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins or receive any of her plagues. 5 For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. 6 Pay her back the way she also paid, and double it according to her works. In the cup in which she mixed, mix a double portion for her. 7 As much as she glorified herself and indulged her sensual and excessive ways, give her that much torment and grief. For she says in her heart, I sit as a queen;

8 Celebration in Heaven 675 Revelation I am not a widow, and I will never see grief. 8 For this reason her plagues will come in just one day death and grief and famine. She will be burned up with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is mighty. 9 The kings of the earth who have com mit ted sex u al im mo ral i ty and shared her sen su al and ex ces sive ways will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burn ing. 10 They will stand far off in fear of her tor ment, say ing, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in a single hour your judgment has come. 11 The mer chants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, be cause no one buys their car go any lon ger 12 cargo of gold, sil ver, jew els, and pearls; fine lin en, pur ple, silk, and scar let; all kinds of fra grant wood prod ucts; ob jects of ivo ry; ob jects of ex pen sive wood, brass, iron, and mar ble; 13 cin na mon, spice, in cense, myrrh, and frank in cense; wine, ol ive oil, fine flour, and grain; cat tle and sheep; hors es and car riages; and slaves hu man lives. 14 The fruit you craved has left you. All your splendid and glamorous things are gone; they will never find them again. 15 The mer chants of these things, who be came rich from her, will stand far off in fear of her tor ment, weep ing and mourn ing, 16 say ing, Woe, woe, the great city, dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls; 17 for in a single hour such fabulous wealth was destroyed! And ev ery shipmaster, seafarer, the sail ors, and all who do busi ness by sea, stood far off 18 as they watched the smoke from her burn ing and kept cry ing out: Who was like the great city? 19 They threw dust on their heads and kept cry ing out, weep ing, and mourn ing, Woe, woe, the great city, where all those who have ships on the sea became rich from her wealth; for in a single hour she was destroyed. 20 Rejoice over her, heaven, and you saints, apostles, and prophets, because God has pronounced on her the judgment she passed on you! 21 Then a mighty an gel picked up a stone like a large mill stone and threw it into the sea, say ing, In this way, Babylon the great city will be thrown down violently and never be found again. 22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; no craftsman of any trade will ever be found in you again; the sound of a mill will never be heard in you again; 23 the light of a lamp will never shine in you again; and the voice of a groom and bride will never be heard in you again. All this will happen because your merchants were the nobility of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. 24 In her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all those slaughtered on the earth. 19 Af ter this I heard some thing like the loud voice of a vast mul ti tude in heav en, say ing, Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God, 2 because his judgments are true and righteous, because he has judged the notorious prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality; and he has avenged the blood of his servants that was on her hands. 3 A sec ond time they said, Hallelujah! Her smoke ascends forever and ever! 4 Then the twenty-four el ders and the four liv ing creatures fell down and wor shiped God, who is seat ed on the throne, say ing, Amen! Hallelujah! 5 A voice came from the throne, say ing, Praise our God, all his servants, and the ones who fear him, both small and great! 6 Then I heard some thing like the voice of a vast mul ti tude, like the sound of cascading wa ters, and like the rum bling of loud thun der, say ing, Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns! 7 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine lin en rep re sents the righ teous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, Write: Blessed are those in vit ed to the mar riage feast of the Lamb! He also said to me, These words of God are true. 10 Then I fell at his feet to wor ship him, but he said to me, Don t do that! I am a fellow ser vant with you and your broth ers and sis ters who hold firm ly to the tes ti mo ny of Jesus. Wor ship God, be cause the tes ti mo ny of Jesus is the spir it of proph e cy. 11 Then I saw heav en opened, and there was a white horse. Its rid er is called Faith ful and True, and he judg es and makes war with jus tice. 12 His eyes were like a fi ery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows ex cept him self. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. 14 The ar mies that were in heav en fol lowed him on white hors es, wear ing pure white lin en. 15 A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the na tions with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also tram ple the wine press of the fierce an ger of God, the Al mighty. 16 And he has a name writ ten on his robe and on his thigh: K ing of K ings and L ord of L ords. 17 Then I saw an an gel stand ing in the sun, and he called out in a loud voice, say ing to all the birds fly ing high overhead, Come, gath er to geth er for the great sup per of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of mil i tary com mand ers, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of hors es and of their rid ers, and the flesh of ev ery one, both free and slave, small and great.