10Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was wearing a cloud like a robe. There was a rainbow above his head. His face was like the sun. His legs were like pillars of fire.

²He was holding a little scroll. It was lying open in his hand. The angel put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. ³Then he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke.

⁴When they had spoken, I was getting ready to write. But I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said. Do not write it down.”

⁵Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. ⁶He made a promise in the name of the One who lives for ever and ever. He took an oath in the name of the One who created the sky, earth and sea and all that is in them. He said, “There will be no more waiting! ⁷But in the days when the seventh angel is ready to blow his trumpet, the last part of God’s plan will be carried out. God told all this to the prophets who served him long ago.”

⁸Then the voice I had heard from heaven spoke to me again. It said, “Go and take the scroll from the angel standing on the sea and on the land. It is lying open in his hand.”

⁹So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will become sour in your stomach. But in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.” ¹⁰I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. In my mouth it tasted as sweet as honey. But when I had eaten it, it became sour in my stomach. ¹¹Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11I was given a long stick that looked like a measuring rod. I was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar. Count the worshipers who are there. ²But do not measure the outer courtyard. It has been given to those who aren’t Jews. They will overrun the holy city for 42 months.

³“I will give power to my two witnesses. They will prophesy for 1,260 days. They will be dressed in black clothes to show how sad they are.”

⁴The witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand in front of the Lord of the earth. ⁵If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and eats up their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.

⁶These witnesses have power to close up the sky. Then it will not rain while they are prophesying. They also have power to turn the waters into blood. And they can strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want to.

⁷When they have finished giving their witness, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them. He will overpower them and kill them. ⁸Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city where their Lord was nailed to the cross. The city is sometimes pictured as Sodom, or as Egypt.

⁹For three and a half days, people from every tribe, language and nation will stare at their bodies. They will refuse to bury them. ¹⁰Those who live on the earth will be happy about this and will celebrate. They will send each other gifts, because these two prophets had made them suffer.

¹¹But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered the two witnesses. They stood up. Terror struck those who saw them.

¹²Then the two witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven. It said to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud. Their enemies watched it happen.

¹³At that very hour there was a powerful earthquake. A tenth of the city crumbled and fell. In the earthquake, 7,000 people were killed. Those who lived through it were terrified. They gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second terrible judgment has passed. The third is coming soon.

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵The seventh angel blew his trumpet. There were loud voices in heaven. They said,

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.

He will rule for ever and ever.”

¹⁶The 24 elders were sitting on their thrones in front of God. They fell on their faces and worshiped God. ¹⁷They said,

“Lord God who rules over all, we give thanks to you.

You are the One who is and who was.

We give you thanks because you have taken your great power

and have begun to rule.

¹⁸The nations were angry,

and the time for your anger has come.

The time has come to judge the dead.

It is time to reward your servants the prophets

and your own people and those who honor you.

There is a reward for all your people,

both great and small.

It is time to destroy

those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹Then God’s temple in heaven was opened. Inside it the wooden chest called the ark of his covenant could be seen. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

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