The Vision of the New Song on Mount Zion
14 Then I looked, and there was the lamb, standing on Mount Zion! With him were 144,000 people who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
2 Then I heard a sound from heaven like that of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like harpists playing on their harps. 3 They were singing a new song in front of the throne, 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 They have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins, and they follow the lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from among humanity as the first fruits for God and the lamb. 5 In their mouth no lie was found. They are blameless.
The Vision of Angels Sounding a Warning
6 Then I saw another angel flying overhead with the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live[a] on earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He said in a loud voice,
“Fear God and give him glory,
because the time for him to judge has arrived.
Worship the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea and springs of water.”
8 Then another angel, a second one, followed him, saying,
“Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen!
She has made all nations drink the wine,
the wrath earned for her sexual sins.”
9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying in a loud voice, “Whoever worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or his hand 10 will drink the wine of God’s wrath, which has been poured undiluted into the cup of his anger. He will be tortured with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the lamb. 11 The smoke from their torture goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
A Call for Endurance
12 Here is a call for[b] the endurance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to their faithfulness in Jesus:
13 I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this:
How blessed are the dead,
that is, those who die in the Lord from now on!”
“Yes,” says the Spirit.
“Let them rest from their labors,
for their actions follow them.”
The Vision of Earth Harvested
14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud! On the cloud sat someone who was like the Son of Man, with a gold victor’s crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Another angel came out of the Temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud,
“Swing your sickle,
and gather the harvest,
for the hour has come to gather it,
because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”
16 The one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 Then another angel came out of the Temple in heaven. He, too, had a sharp sickle. 18 From the altar came another angel who had authority over fire. He called out in a loud voice to the angel[c] who had the sharp sickle,
“Swing your sharp sickle,
and gather the bunches of grapes
from the vine of the earth,
because those grapes are ripe.”
19 So the angel swung his sickle in the earth, gathered the grapes from the earth, and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 The wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press as high as a horse’s bridle for about 1,600 stadia.[d]
Footnotes
- Revelation 14:6 Lit. sit
- Revelation 14:12 The Gk. lacks a call for
- Revelation 14:18 Lit. to the one
- Revelation 14:20 I.e. about 194 miles; one Roman stadion was about 640 feet