1
Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion,
and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written
on their foreheads.
2
And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like
a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpist playing
their harps.
3
And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living
creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000
who had been redeemed from the earth.
4
These are those who did not defile themselves with women,
for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes.
They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God
and the Lamb.
5
No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
6
Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel
to proclaim to those who live on the earth - to every nation, tribe, language
and people.
7
He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of
his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth,
the sea and the springs of water."
8
A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,
which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."
9
A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice:
"If anyone worship the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead
or on the hand,
10
he, too, will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength
into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur
in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
11
And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day
or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who
receives the mark of his name."
12
This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's
commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.
13
Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor,
for their deeds will follow them."
14
I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud
was one "like a son of man" with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp
sickle in his hand.
15
Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him
who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time
to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe."
16
So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth,
and the earth was harvested.
17
Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
18
Still another angel, who had charge of the fire,came from the altar and called in
a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather
the clusters of grape from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe."
19
The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them
into the great winepress of God's wrath.
20
They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of
the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
