The Lamb and the 144,000
14 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
The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues
15 Then I saw another xsign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.
2 And I saw what appeared to be a ysea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had zconquered the beast and its image and athe number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing bthe song of Moses, the servant of God, and cthe song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and amazing are your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
dJust and true are your ways,
O King of the nations!1
4 eWho will not ffear, O Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are gholy.
hAll nations will come
and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the itent2 of witness in heaven jwas opened, 6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, kwith golden sashes around their chests. 7 And one of the lfour living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 8 and the sanctuary mwas filled with nsmoke from the glory of God and from his power, and ono one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath
16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven pangels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful qsores came upon the people who bore rthe mark of the beast and sworshiped its image.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it tbecame like the blood of a corpse, and uevery living thing died that was in the sea.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters1 say,
“Just are you, O vHoly One, wwho is and who was,
for you brought these judgments.
6 For they have shed the xblood of saints and prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”
7 And I heard the yaltar saying,
“Yes, Lord God the Almighty,
ztrue and just are your judgments!”
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed2 the name of God who had power over these plagues. They adid not repent and give him glory.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on bthe throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into cdarkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, dand its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 And I saw, coming out of the mouth of ethe dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of fthe false prophet, three unclean spirits like gfrogs. 14 For they are demonic spirits, hperforming signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to iassemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming jlike a thief! Blessed is the one who kstays awake, lkeeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
The Seventh Bowl
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a mloud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, n“It is done!” 18 And there were oflashes of lightning, rumblings,3 peals of thunder, and a pgreat earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 qThe great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and rGod remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the scup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And tevery island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great uhailstones, about one hundred pounds4 each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the vplague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.
The Great Prostitute and the Beast
17 Then one of the wseven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the xgreat prostitute ywho is seated on many waters, 2 zwith whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the awine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he bcarried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of cblasphemous names, and it had dseven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed ein purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a fgolden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her gforehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, hdrunk with the iblood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.1
When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw jwas, and is not, and is about to krise from the bottomless pit2 and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the lbook of life from the foundation of the world will mmarvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 nThis calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And othe ten horns that you saw are ten pkings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war on the qLamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is rLord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
15 And the angel3 said to me, “The waters that you saw, swhere the prostitute is seated, are tpeoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is uthe great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”
The Fall of Babylon
18 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, vand the earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice,
w“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
xa haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
3 For all nations have drunk1
the ywine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and the zmerchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
a“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
5 for bher sins are heaped high as heaven,
and cGod has remembered her iniquities.
6 dPay her back eas she herself has paid back others,
and repay her fdouble for her deeds;
mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.
7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
g‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
and mourning I shall never see.’
8 For this reason her plagues will come hin a single day,
death and mourning and famine,
and she will be iburned up with fire;
for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”
9 jAnd the kings of the earth, kwho committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,
“Alas! Alas! You great city,
you mighty city, Babylon!
For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.2
14 “The fruit for which your soul longed
has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
are lost to you,
never to be found again!”
15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
16 “Alas, alas, for the great city
that was clothed in fine linen,
lin purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!
17 For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.”
mAnd all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,
“What city was like the great city?”
19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,
“Alas, alas, for the great city
where all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
For in a single hour she has been laid waste.
20 nRejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and apostles and prophets,
for God has given judgment for you against her!”
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and othrew it into the sea, saying,
“So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence,
and will be found no more;
22 and pthe sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
will be found in you no more,
and qthe sound of the mill
will be heard in you no more,
23 and the light of a lamp
will shine in you no more,
and rthe voice of bridegroom and bride
will be heard in you no more,
for your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
and all nations were deceived by your ssorcery.
24 And in her was found the tblood of prophets and of saints,
and of uall who have been slain on earth.”