The Lamb and the 144,000

1Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion,a and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.b 2I heard a soundA from heaven like the sound of cascading watersa and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like harpists playing on their harps.b 3They sangA a new songa before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders,b but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins.a These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemedA from humanity as the firstfruitsb for God and the Lamb. 5No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.a

The Proclamation of Three Angels

6Then I saw another angela flying high overhead,b with the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth — to every nation, tribe, language, and people.c 7He spoke with a loud voice:a “Fear Godb and give him glory,c because the hour of his judgment has come.d Worship the one who made heaven and earth,e the sea and the springs of water.”

8And another, a second angel, followed, saying, “It has fallen, Babylon the Greata has fallen.A She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality,B which brings wrath.”b

9And another, a third angel, followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger.a He will be tormented with fire and sulfurb in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever.a There is no resta b day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or anyone who receives the markc of its name. 12This calls for endurance from the saints,a who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”A

13Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”a

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they will rest from their labors, since their works follow them.”

Reaping the Earth’s Harvest

14Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and one like the Son of Mana a was seated on the cloud, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.”a 16So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

17Then another angel who also had a sharp sickle came out of the temple in heaven. 18Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because its grapes have ripened.” 19So the angel swung his sickle at the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.a 20Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses’ bridles for about 180 miles.a a