The Lamb and the 144,000
1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the tLamb, and with him u144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name vwritten on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven wlike the roar of many waters and xlike the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a ynew song before the throne and before the zfour living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been aredeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as bfirstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and cin their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
The Messages of the Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel dto proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every enation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, f“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, g“Fallen, fallen is hBabylon the great, she who made all nations drink the iwine of the passion1 of her sexual immorality.”
9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his jforehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the kwine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with lfire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And mthe smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, nday or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives othe mark of its name.”
12 pHere is a call for the endurance of the saints, qthose who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.2
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, r“Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may srest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
The Harvest of the Earth
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, tand seated on the cloud uone like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, v“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great wwinepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.3
Save Me, O God
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David.
1 Save me, O God!
For the owaters have come up to my neck.1
2 I sink in deep pmire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the qflood sweeps over me.
3 rI am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
sMy eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
4 More in number than the hairs of my head
are tthose who hate me uwithout cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6 vLet not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7 For it is wfor your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 xI have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s sons.
9 For yzeal for your house has consumed me,
and zthe reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled2 my soul with afasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make bsongs about me.
13 cBut as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the dabundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the edeep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, fturn to me.
17 gHide not your face from your servant,
for hI am in distress; make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for food,
22 kLet their own table before them become a snare;
and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.3
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
24 lPour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 mMay their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.4
28 Let them be nblotted out of the obook of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
29 But pI am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
30 I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 qThis will please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 rWhen the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
and sdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.
34 tLet heaven and earth praise him,
uthe seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36 the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who vlove his name shall dwell in it.
