The Living Bible (399 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
Then I saw a Lamb standing on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and with him were 144,000 who had his Name and his Father’s Name written on their foreheads.
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And I heard a sound from heaven like the roaring of a great waterfall or the rolling of mighty thunder. It was the singing of a choir accompanied by harps.
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This tremendous choir—144,000 strong—sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four Living Beings and the twenty-four Elders; and no one could sing this song except those 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
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For they are spiritually undefiled, pure as virgins,
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following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the men on the earth as a consecrated offering to God and the Lamb.
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No falsehood can be charged against them; they are blameless.
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And I saw another angel flying through the heavens, carrying the everlasting Good News to preach to those on earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.
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“Fear God,” he shouted, “and extol his greatness. For the time has come when he will sit as Judge. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all its sources.”
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Then another angel followed him through the skies, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen—that great city—because she seduced the nations of the world and made them share the wine of her intense impurity and sin.”
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Then a third angel followed them shouting, “Anyone worshiping the Creature from the sea
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and his statue, and accepting his mark on the forehead or the hand
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must drink the wine of the anger of God; it is poured out undiluted into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb.
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The smoke of their torture rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the Creature and his statue, and have been tattooed with the code of his name.
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Let this encourage God’s people to endure patiently every trial and persecution, for they are his saints who remain firm to the end in obedience to his commands and trust in Jesus.”
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And I heard a voice in the heavens above me saying, “Write this down: At last the time has come for his martyrs
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to enter into their full reward. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for now they shall rest from all their toils and trials; for their good deeds follow them to heaven!”
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Then the scene changed, and I saw a white cloud and someone sitting on it who looked like Jesus, who was called “The Son of Man,”
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with a crown of solid gold upon his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
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Then an angel came from the temple and called out to him, “Begin to use the sickle, for the time has come for you to reap; the harvest is ripe on the earth.”
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So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the harvest was gathered in.
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After that another angel came from the temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.
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Just then the angel who has power to destroy the world with fire,
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shouted to the angel with the sickle, “Use your sickle now to cut off the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are fully ripe for judgment.”
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So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath.
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And the grapes were trodden in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out in a stream 200 miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle.
And I saw in heaven another mighty pageant showing things to come: Seven angels were assigned to carry down to earth the seven last plagues—and then at last God’s anger will be finished.
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Spread out before me was what seemed to be an ocean of fire and glass, and on it stood all those who had been victorious over the Evil Creature and his statue and his mark and number. All were holding harps of God,
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and they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous
Are your doings,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true
Are your ways,
O King of Ages.
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Who shall not fear,
O Lord,
And glorify your Name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
And worship before you,
For your righteous deeds
Have been disclosed.”
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Then I looked and saw that the Holy of Holies of the temple in heaven was thrown wide open!
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The seven angels who were assigned to pour out the seven plagues then came from the temple, clothed in spotlessly white linen, with golden belts across their chests.
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And one of the four Living Beings handed each of them a golden flask filled with the terrible wrath of the Living God who lives forever and forever.
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The temple was filled with smoke from his glory and power; and no one could enter until the seven angels had completed pouring out the seven plagues.
And I heard a mighty voice shouting from the temple to the seven angels, “Now go your ways and empty out the seven flasks of the wrath of God upon the earth.”
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So the first angel left the temple and poured out his flask over the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the Creature and was worshiping his statue.
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The second angel poured out his flask upon the oceans, and they became like the watery blood of a dead man; and everything in all the oceans died.
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The third angel poured out his flask upon the rivers and springs and they became blood.
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And I heard this angel of the waters declaring, “You are just in sending this judgment, O Holy One, who is and was,
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for your saints and prophets have been martyred and their blood poured out upon the earth; and now, in turn, you have poured out the blood of those who murdered them; it is their just reward.”
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And I heard the angel of the altar say,
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“Yes, Lord God Almighty, your punishments are just and true.”
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Then the fourth angel poured out his flask upon the sun, causing it to scorch all men with its fire.
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Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God who sent the plagues—they did not change their mind and attitude to give him glory.
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Then the fifth angel poured out his flask upon the throne of the Creature from the sea,
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and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. And his subjects gnawed their tongues in anguish,
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and cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores, but they refused to repent of all their evil deeds.
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The sixth angel poured out his flask upon the great River Euphrates and it dried up so that the kings from the east could march their armies westward without hindrance.
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And I saw three evil spirits disguised as frogs leap from the mouth of the Dragon, the Creature, and his False Prophet.
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These miracle-working demons conferred with all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great coming Judgment Day of God Almighty.
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“Take note: I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are awaiting me, who keep their robes in readiness and will not need to walk naked and ashamed.”
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And they gathered all the armies of the world near a place called, in Hebrew, Armageddon—the Mountain of Megiddo.
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Then the seventh angel poured out his flask into the air; and a mighty shout came from the throne of the temple in heaven, saying, “It is finished!”
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Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed; and there was a great earthquake of a magnitude unprecedented in human history.
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The great city of “Babylon” split into three sections, and cities around the world fell in heaps of rubble; and so all of “Babylon’s” sins were remembered in God’s thoughts, and she was punished to the last drop of anger in the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
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And islands vanished, and mountains flattened out,
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and there was an incredible hailstorm from heaven; hailstones weighing a hundred pounds fell from the sky onto the people below, and they cursed God because of the terrible hail.