Vengeance on Midian

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 ^m“Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward ⁿyou shall be gathered to your people.” 3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. 4 You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the ^otrumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7 They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, ^pEvi, Rekem, ^qZur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. ^rAnd they also killed ^sBalaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as ^tplunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 10 All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, 11 and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. 12 Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the ^uplains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the ^vcommanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16 Behold, these, ^won Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in ^xthe incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. 17 Now therefore, ^ykill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18 But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him ^zkeep alive for yourselves. 19 ^aEncamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 You shall purify ^bevery garment, every article of skin, all work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses: 22 ^conly the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the ^dwater for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.”

25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation, 27 and ^edivide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28 And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. 29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord. 30 And from the people of Israel’s half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who ^fkeep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.” 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

32 Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. 36 And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, 37 and the Lord’s tribute of sheep was 675. 38 The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 72. 39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord’s tribute was 61. 40 The persons were 16,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 32 persons. 41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.

42 From the people of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army— 43 now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 and 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 persons— 47 from the people of Israel’s half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses 49 and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. 50 And we have brought the Lord’s offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, ^gto make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. 52 And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels.¹ 53 (The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the people of Israel before the Lord.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his ^aface was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, ^b“Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and ^cdo not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^draised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the ^etrumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and ^feat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be ^gsweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

1 Then I was given a ^hmeasuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure ⁱthe court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will ^jtrample the holy city for ^kforty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^l1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

4 These are ^mthe two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, ⁿfire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have ^othe power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to ^pturn them into blood and ^qto strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ^rrises from the bottomless pit^{1 s}will make war on them and ^tconquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of ^uthe great city that symbolically² is called ^vSodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the ^wpeoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days ^xa breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ^y“Come up here!” And they ^zwent up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a ^agreat earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second ^bwoe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

15 Then the seventh angel blew his ^ctrumpet, and there were ^dloud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord ^eand of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the ^ftwenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God ^gfell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,

19 Then God’s temple in heaven ^lwas opened, and the ^mark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were ⁿflashes of lightning, rumblings,³ peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy ^ohail.

The Woman and the Dragon

1 And a great ^psign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red ^qdragon, with ^rseven heads and ^sten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down ^ta third of the stars of heaven and ^ucast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is ^vto rule⁴ all the nations ^wwith a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for ^x1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

7 Now war arose in heaven, ^yMichael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was ^zthrown down, ^athat ancient serpent, who is called the ^bdevil and Satan, the ^cdeceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a ^dloud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the ^eauthority of ^fhis Christ have come, for the ^gaccuser of our brothers⁵ has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have ^hconquered him by the blood of the ⁱLamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^jthey loved not their lives even ^kunto death. 12 Therefore, ^lrejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^mwoe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two ⁿwings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^ofor a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on ^pthose who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood⁶ on the sand of the sea.