The Two Witnesses
11 Then I was given a measuring stick like a rod. I was told, “Go and measure the temple[a] of God and the altar, and count the number of people worshiping there. 2 But do not measure the yard outside the temple. Leave it alone. It has been given to the people who are not Jews. They will walk on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days. They will be dressed in rough cloth to show how sad they are.”
4 These two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone tries to hurt the witnesses, fire comes from their mouths and kills their enemies. Anyone who tries to hurt them will die like this. 6 These witnesses have the power to stop the sky from raining during the time they are prophesying. They have power to make the waters become blood. They have power to send every kind of trouble to the earth. They can do this as many times as they want.
7 When the two witnesses have finished telling their message, the beast will fight against them. This is the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit. He will defeat them and kill them. 8 The bodies of the two witnesses will lie in the street of the great city. This city is named Sodom[b] and Egypt. These names for the city have a special meaning. It is the city where the Lord was killed. 9 Men from every race of people, tribe, language, and nation will look at the bodies of the two witnesses for three and a half days. They will refuse to bury them. 10 People who live on the earth will be happy because these two are dead. They will have parties and send each other gifts. They will do these things because these two prophets brought much suffering to those who live on the earth.
11 But after three and a half days, God put the breath of life into the two prophets again. They stood on their feet. Everyone who saw them was filled with fear. 12 Then the two prophets heard a loud voice from heaven say, “Come up here!” And they went up into heaven in a cloud. Their enemies watched them go.
13 At that same time there was a great earthquake. A tenth of the city was destroyed. And 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. Those who did not die were very afraid. They gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second great trouble is finished. The third great trouble is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. And there were loud voices in heaven. The voices said:
“The power to rule the world
now belongs to our Lord and his Christ.
And he will rule forever and ever.”
16 Then the 24 elders[c] bowed down on their faces and worshiped God. These are the elders who sit on their thrones before God. 17 They said:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God All-Powerful.
You are the One who is and who was.
We thank you because you have used your great power
and have begun to rule!
18 The people of the world were angry;
but now is the time for your anger.
Now is the time for the dead to be judged.
It is time to reward your servants the prophets
and to reward your holy people,
all who respect you, great and small.
It is time to destroy those who destroy the earth!”
19 Then God’s temple[d] in heaven was opened. The Ark of the Covenant that holds the agreement that God gave to his people could be seen in his temple. Then there were flashes of lightning, noises, thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.
Footnotes
- 11:1 temple God’s house—the place where God’s people worship and serve him. Here, John sees it pictured as the special building in Jerusalem where God commanded the Jews to worship him.
- 11:8 Sodom City that God destroyed because the people were so evil.
- 11:16 24 elders Elder means “older.” Here the elders probably represent God’s people.
- 11:19 temple God’s house—the place where God’s people worship and serve him. John sees the heavenly temple pictured to be like the Temple of God’s people in the Old Testament.