en_t4t/67-REV.usfm

\id REV - Translation 4 Translators 1
\ide 65001 - Unicode (UTF-8)
\h REVELATION
\toc1 Revelation
\toc2 Revelation
\toc3 Rev
\mt2 Jesus showed the Apostle John some visions. We call John's account
\mt1 Revelation
\c 1
\s1 Revelation 1:1-3
\s1 John urged people to read this book, listen carefully to it, and obey it.
\p
\v 1 \add This book tells the message\add* that God revealed to Jesus Christ. God revealed it to him in order that he might reveal to his servants the  \add things/events\add* that must happen soon. Jesus communicated  \add this message\add* to  \add me\add*, his servant John, by sending his angel to me.
\v 2 \add As I write it, I\add*, John, am truthfully reporting everything that I saw  \add and heard\add*, the message from God that Jesus Christ  \add truthfully reported to me\add*.
\v 3 \add God is\add* pleased with those who read  \add this book to the congregation\add*, and he will be pleased with those who listen carefully to it and obey what  \add he has commanded by means of\add* this prophetic message that  \add I\add* am writing. \add So read this message, listen carefully to it, and obey it\add*, because  \add these things that Jesus has revealed\add* will happen soon.
\s1 John said that he was writing to believers in the seven congregations in Asia. He prayed that God would bless them. He said that Christ is coming to judge rebellious people and to bring in his kingdom.
\sr Revelation 1:4-8
\p
\v 4 \add I\add*, John, am  \add writing this\add* to  \add you believers in\add* the seven congregations  \add that are located\add* in Asia  \add province\add*. \add I pray that God the Father, God's Spirit, and Jesus Christ\add* may act kindly toward (OR, bless) you and cause you to have  \add inner\add* peace. \add God the Father is\add* the one who exists, who has always existed, and who will always exist. The Spirit  \add of God, who\add* is in front of God's throne, has  \add all kinds of power\add* (OR, The Spirit of God  \add is symbolized\add* by seven spirits who are in front of God's throne).
\v 5 Jesus Christ is the one who has faithfully told  \add people about God\add*. He is the first one ◄whom God has raised from the dead/who became alive again after being dead►, in order  \add to show that he will raise us who trust him\add*. He is the one who rules the kings of the earth. He is the one who loves us. He is the one who has canceled the guilt for our sins. He did that by the blood  \add which flowed from his body when he died on the cross\add*.
\v 6 He is  \add the one who\add* has caused us to become people over whose lives God rules, and he has made us to be priests  \add who serve his\add* God and Father. \add As a result of this, we acknowledge that\add* Jesus Christ is eternally divine and eternally powerful. ◄Amen!/That is true!►
\p
\v 7 Listen carefully! Christ will surely come in the midst of the clouds  \add in order that he may judge the rebellious people of earth\add*, and everyone [SYN] will see him  \add come\add*. Even those who  \add are responsible for\add* piercing  \add and killing\add* him [MTY] \add will see him come. People from\add* all people-groups on earth will mourn because he  \add will punish them\add*. ◄Amen!/May it be so.►
\v 8 The Lord God declares, “I am the one who began  \add all things\add*, and I am the  \add one who will cause all things to\add* end [MET].” He is the one who exists, who has always existed, and who will always exist. He is the Almighty One.
\s1 Christ appeared to John and commissioned him to write down the vision that he was about to give him and to send it to the seven congregations in Asia.
\sr Revelation 1:9-20
\p
\v 9 I, John, your fellow believer, am suffering as you  \add are\add* because of our letting Jesus rule  \add our lives\add*. We are steadfastly enduring  \add trials\add* because of our relationship with him. I was punished by being sent/exiled to the island that is called {that  \add people\add* call} Patmos because  \add of my proclaiming\add* God's message and telling  \add people about\add* Jesus.
\v 10 \add God's\add* Spirit took control of me on one of the days  \add that we believers met to worship\add* the Lord.
\v 11 \add At that time\add*, I heard behind me someone  \add speaking to me as loudly and as clearly\add* [SIM] as a trumpet. He was saying  \add to me\add*, “Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to seven congregations. Send it to  \add the congregations\add* in Ephesus  \add city\add*, in Smyrna  \add city\add*, in Pergamum  \add city\add*, in Thyatira  \add city\add*, in Sardis  \add city\add*, in Philadelphia  \add city\add*, and in Laodicea  \add city\add*.”
\v 12 \add In this vision\add* I turned in order that I might see who had spoken to me [SYN]. When I turned,
\v 13 I saw seven golden lampstands. In the midst of the lampstands there was  \add someone\add* who looked like one who came from heaven. He wore a robe that reached to his feet, and he wore a gold band around his chest.
\v 14 The hair on his head was white like white wool  \add or\add* like snow. His eyes were  \add shining brightly\add* [SIM], like a flame of fire.
\v 15 His feet  \add looked\add* like brass that glows  \add as it is being\add* purified {as  \add people\add* purify it} in a furnace. \add When he spoke\add*, his voice  \add sounded\add* like the sound  \add made by\add* a huge waterfall (OR, a great/wide river of rushing water).
\v 16 In his right hand he held seven stars. A sword that had two sharp edges extended from his mouth. His face  \add shone as bright\add* as the sun shines  \add at midday\add* [MTY].
\v 17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet  \add and was unable to move or speak\add* [SIM], as though  \add I were\add* dead. But he put his right hand on me and said to me, “Stop being afraid! I am the one who began  \add all things\add* and the  \add one who causes all things to\add* end.
\v 18 I am the one who always lives. Although I died, I am alive and will live forever! I have  \add the power to cause people\add* to die, and I have authority over the place where all the dead people  \add are\add*.
\v 19 So write the  \add vision\add* that you are seeing. Write about the  \add conditions\add* that exist now, and the  \add events\add* that are about to happen afterward.
\v 20 The meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands  \add that you saw is this\add*:  The seven stars  \add in my hand represent the leaders, who are like\add* angels, \add who watch over\add* the seven congregations, and the  \add seven\add* lampstands  \add represent\add* the seven congregations.”
\c 2
\s1 Christ exhorts the congregation at Ephesus to repent and to begin again to love him and each other.
\sr Revelation 2:1-7
\p
\v 1 \add He also said to me\add*, “Write \add this message\add* to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Ephesus \add city: ‘I\add* am saying these things \add to you: I am\add* the one who firmly holds the seven stars in my right hand. \add I am\add* the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
\v 2 I know what you do: You labor \add for me\add* intensely, and you continue \add to serve me\add* steadfastly. \add I know\add* that you cannot tolerate people \add who teach what is\add* evil [MTY], and that you investigated people who falsely claimed that they are apostles, and you found that they were lying.
\v 3 \add I know\add* also that you continue \add to serve me\add* steadfastly. \add Even when people\add* ◄\add caused you to suffer/persecuted you\add*►, you continued to serve \add me\add* because \add you believe\add* in me, and you have not become too tired \add to keep on serving me\add*.
\v 4 Nevertheless, I have \add this complaint\add* against you: You no longer love \add each other and me\add* as you did when you first [MTY] \add trusted in me\add*.
\v 5 \add So, I tell you to\add* remember how you used to love \add me and each other, and\add* to \add realize\add* that you no longer love as you did. \add I tell\add* you to turn away from your sin \add of not loving me and each other\add*, and start loving \add each other and me again\add* as you did at first. If you do not turn away from your sinful behavior, I will come \add to judge\add* you and cause your group to cease to be a Christian congregation [MET].
\v 6 But you have the following good quality: Those Nicolaitans \add teach you believers that you can worship idols and that you may act immorally\add*. However, you hate such teaching, just like I also hate it.
\v 7 Everyone who wants to understand my message [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that \add God's\add* Spirit speaks to the congregations. To everyone who overcomes \add Satan\add*, I will give the right to eat \add fruit\add* [MTY] from the tree \add that gives\add* eternal life, the tree that is in God's garden.’”
\s1 Christ exhorts the congregation at Smyrna not to fear what they will suffer, but to trust in him, even if they must die because they trust in him.
\sr Revelation 2:8-11
\p
\v 8 “Write \add this message\add* to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Smyrna \add city: ‘I am\add* saying these things \add to you. I am\add* the one who began \add all things\add* and \add who causes all things to\add* end. I am the one who died and became alive \add again\add*.
\v 9 I know that you suffer \add because of what unbelievers do to you\add*, and that you lack \add material possessions\add*. But \add I also know that\add* you are \add spiritually\add* [MET] rich. \add I know\add* that people ◄slander/say evil things about► you. They say that they are Jews, but I do not \add consider that they are Jews. I consider that\add* they \add belong to\add* the assembly that Satan \add controls!\add*
\v 10 Do not be afraid of any of the things that you are about to suffer. The truth is that the devil is about to \add put\add* some of you in prison, to tempt you \add to deny that you believe in me\add*. For a short period of time you will suffer \add because of what people will do to you\add* [MTY]. Continue to trust in me, \add even if\add* they kill you \add because you trust in me\add*. As a result, I will \add reward you with\add* eternal life, \add just like\add* [MET] \add people reward a victorious athlete by putting\add* a wreath \add on his head\add*.
\v 11 Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that \add God's\add* Spirit speaks to the congregations. \add After\add* those who conquer \add Satan die\add*, they will live with God. They will never suffer again, even though many others will suffer as though they died a second time.’”
\s1 Christ exhorts the congregation at Pergamum to stop listening to what the Nicolaitans teach.
\sr Revelation 2:12-17
\p
\v 12 “Write \add this message\add* to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Pergamum \add city: ‘I am\add* saying these things \add to you. I am\add* the one who has the sharp two-edged sword.
\v 13 I know where you live: It is where Satan controls [MTY] \add people\add*. \add I know\add* that you firmly believe in me [MTY]. You did not deny that you believe/trust in me, not even in the time when Antipas, ◄my faithful witness/who faithfully told people about me►, \add was alive\add*. He was killed {People killed him} in your city, a city where \add people\add* habitually obey Satan.
\v 14 Nevertheless, I have this \add complaint\add* against you: You permit some of your \add members\add* to teach things like Balaam \add taught long ago. He\add* taught Balak to persuade the Israelite people to sin. \add Specifically\add*, he taught them to eat food that had been offered to idols, and to practice sexual immorality.
\v 15 In that way, you are also permitting some of \add your members\add* to practice what the Nicolaitans teach, \add which is like what Balaam taught\add*.
\v 16 So you must stop doing \add this\add*. If \add you do\add* not stop doing \add it\add*, I will come to you suddenly. With the words that I will speak I will fight against those \add who believe this false teaching\add* [MTY], and I will ◄\add condemn them/say that they must be punished\add*►.
\v 17 Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that \add God's\add* Spirit speaks to the congregations. To everyone who conquers \add Satan\add*, I will give \add blessings that will be like\add* the \add food called\add* manna \add that is in a jar\add* that is {that someone has} hidden. I will also give them a white stone on which \add I will\add* engrave a new name, a name that no one but the ones who receive it will know.’”
\s1 Christ rebukes the congregation at Thyatira for tolerating a teacher who encourages sexual immorality and eating food offered to idols. He warns those who participate in these things that he will punish them unless they repent, and he exhorts the rest of the members to remain loyal to him.
\sr Revelation 2:18-29
\p
\v 18 “Write \add this message\add* to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Thyatira \add city: ‘I\add*, ◄the Son of God/the one who is also God►, am saying these things \add to you: I am\add* the one whose eyes \add shine\add* [SIM] like a flame of fire, and whose feet \add shine\add* [MET] like fine brass.
\v 19 I know that you love \add me and each other\add*, and that you trust \add in me\add*. I know that you serve \add others\add* and that you steadfastly endure \add a lot of difficulties/trials. I know\add* that you are doing these things more now than \add you have done them\add* in the past.
\v 20 Nevertheless, I have this \add complaint\add* against you: You tolerate that woman \add among your members who is like\add* [MET] \add that wicked queen\add* Jezebel \add who lived long ago\add*. She says that she ◄is a prophetess/proclaims messages that come directly from God►, but by what she teaches she is deceiving my servants. She is urging them to practice sexual immorality and to eat food that they have offered to idols.
\v 21 Although I gave her time to turn away from \add her sexual immorality and pagan practices\add*, she did not want to stop \add doing them\add*.
\v 22 Take notice \add that as a result\add*, I will cause her to become very ill [MTY]. I will also cause those \add who act immorally as she does\add* [MET] to suffer greatly, if they do not stop \add doing\add* what she does.
\v 23 Some \add have become like\add* her children by accepting \add what she teaches\add* [MET]; I will certainly get rid of them. As a result, all the congregations will recognize that I am the one who finds out what everyone thinks and desires [MTY]. I will reward each of you according to what you have done.
\v 24 But I have something good to say about the rest \add of you believers\add* in Thyatira. \add It is good\add* that you do not accept that \add false\add* teaching. \add It is good that you reject\add* what those \add teachers\add* call their ❛secret \add practices❜, practices that\add* Satan \add inspired\add* (OR, what those teachers \add facetiously\add* call the secret, profound \add practices that\add* Satan \add inspires\add*). I will not burden you with any other commands \add than that which you already have\add*.
\v 25 Just keep \add believing firmly in me, and obey me\add* until I come.
\v 26 As for those who conquer \add Satan\add* and who (OR, \add because\add* they) keep on doing until they die what I command, I will give them my authority, just like I myself received it from my Father. \add They will exercise that authority\add* over the nations \add that rebel against God\add*.
\v 27 They will exercise authority over them \add severely as if they were striking them\add* [HYP] with an iron rod. They \add will destroy evildoers\add* just like \add people\add* shatter clay pots [MET].
\v 28 I will also give to \add everyone who conquers Satan a share in the glory like\add* the morning star \add has\add* [MTY, MET].
\v 29 Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that \add God's\add* Spirit speaks to the congregations.’”
\c 3
\s1 Christ exhorts the congregation at Sardis to wake up and repent. But the members who are worthy will live with him.
\sr Revelation 3:1-6
\p
\v 1 “Write \add this message\add* to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Sardis \add city\add*: ‘I am saying these things \add to you. I am\add* the one who can give \add to people\add* all the power of God's Spirit (OR, in whom is the Spirit of God who has all kinds of power; OR, \add who has God's Spirit, who is symbolized as\add* seven spirits), and \add I am the one\add* who has the seven stars. I know everything that you have done. You \add (pl)\add* appear to be alive \add spiritually\add*, but \add you are so weak spiritually it is as though\add* you are dead [MET].
\v 2 \add Become aware of your spiritual need as though you were\add* awaking \add from sleep\add* [MET], and strengthen \add yourself spiritually, because you are so useless that you are like someone who is\add* about to die [MET]. \add You must do this\add* because I know that my God considers that nothing that you do is satisfactory.
\v 3 So then, keep remembering \add God's message, what\add* you accepted when you heard it. Obey it continually, and turn away from your sinful behavior. If \add you do not become aware of your spiritual need and turn away from your\add* [MET] \add sinful behavior\add*, I will come to you \add when you are not expecting me\add*, as a thief \add comes\add* [SIM]. You will never know at what time I will come to \add judge\add* you.
\v 4 Nevertheless, \add there\add* in Sardis you have a few members who \add have not been doing what is wrong. It is as though they\add* have not soiled their garments [MET]. As a result, because they are worthy \add to live with me\add*, they will live with me \add and will be pure in every way\add* [MET], \add like people who are dressed\add* in \add pure\add* white \add clothing\add*.
\v 5 Everyone who conquers \add Satan\add* I will dress in these same white garments [MET] (OR, will be \add pure in every way as though they are\add* dressed in these white garments), and I will never erase their names from the book \add that contains the names of the people who have eternal\add* life. Instead, as my Father and his angels are listening, I will acknowledge that they [MTY] \add belong to me\add*.
\v 6 Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that \add God's\add* Spirit speaks to the congregations.’”
\s1 Christ exhorts the congregation at Philadelphia to continue to obey his word and to be faithful; he promises that some Jews will acknowledge that he loves the congregation, and he also promises that he will keep the congregation from spiritual harm during the period of testing.
\sr Revelation 3:7-13
\p
\v 7 “Write \add this message\add* to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Philadelphia \add city\add*: ‘I am saying these things \add to you. I am\add* God's Holy One, the True One. \add Just like King\add* David had authority [MTY] \add to allow people to enter the ancient city of Jerusalem, so I have the authority to allow people to enter\add* my kingdom. \add I am\add* the one who opens \add doors\add* so that no one can close them, and who closes doors so that no one can open them.
\v 8 I know everything you have done. Be aware that I have opened before you a door that no one can close. \add I know that although\add* you do not have \add many believers\add* (OR, much \add spiritual\add* strength) [MTY] \add in your congregation\add*, you have obeyed what I say, and you have not denied \add that you believe in\add* me [MTY].
\v 9 \add I am aware that\add* some of your people meet together with those who \add follow/worship\add* Satan. They claim to be Jews, but I know that they are not true Jews. They are lying. I will cause them to come to you and to bow down \add humbly\add* at your feet and to acknowledge that I love you.
\p
\v 10 Because you have paid attention to the message to endure patiently \add when you suffered\add*, I will keep you \add safe from those who will try to harm you spiritually\add* during the period/time that is about to come. At that time \add God will cause rebellious people\add* on the earth to suffer, in order that I can determine \add whether they will turn away from their sins or not\add*.
\v 11 I am coming soon. \add So\add* continue ◄to hold fast to/to believe firmly► the \add message\add* that you have received, in order that no one may cause you to lose the reward \add that God has reserved for\add* you.
\v 12 I will make everyone who conquers \add Satan secure\add*. They will be \add firm like\add* [MET] the pillars in the temple of my God, and they will remain there forever. I will mark them with the name of my God, \add showing that they belong to him. I will also mark them\add* with the name of the city of my God, \add showing that they will live there. That city is\add* the New Jerusalem, the city that will descend out of heaven from my God. \add I will also mark them\add* with my new name, \add showing that they belong to me\add*.
\v 13 Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that \add God's\add* Spirit speaks to the congregations.’”
\s1 Christ exhorts the congregation at Laodicea to repent of their neglect of fellowship with him and of their failure to accept his provision for their spiritual needs. He waits to restore fellowship with any member of the congregation who will respond to his call.
\sr Revelation 3:14-22
\p
\v 14 “Write \add this message\add* to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Laodicea \add city: ‘I\add* am saying these things \add to you. I am\add* the one who ◄guarantees \add all of God's promises/\add*confirms that \add God\add* will do \add all that he has promised\add*► [MET]. I am the one who testifies \add about God\add* reliably and accurately. I am the one by whom God created \add all things\add*.
\v 15 I know everything that you have done: You \add neither deny that you trust in me nor love/obey me zealously/wholeheartedly. You are like water that is\add* neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot!
\v 16 Because you are neither enthusiastic about me nor concerned about your lack of spiritual growth [MET], I am about to \add reject\add* you [MET], \add as if\add* I were spitting \add lukewarm water\add* out of my mouth.
\v 17 You are saying, “\add Because we have all that we need spiritually\add*, we are \add like\add* rich \add people who\add* have acquired a lot of wealth. We lack nothing!” But you do not realize that you are \add lacking in so many ways spiritually that you are like\add* [MET] people who are very wretched and pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
\v 18 I advise you \add to obtain from me all that you need spiritually, as though you were\add* buying from me gold that has been refined by fire {that fire has refined}, in order that you may be \add truly\add* rich [MET] \add spiritually. Let me make you righteous, as though you were\add* [MET] buying from me white garments in order that you might wear clothes instead of being naked and ashamed. \add Let me help you to perceive spiritual things, as though\add* [MET] you were buying from me eye salve in order to anoint your eyes in order that you might see.
\v 19 \add Since\add* I rebuke and correct all those whom I affectionately love, earnestly turn away from your sinful behavior.
\v 20 Be aware that \add I call each one of you to respond to me\add* as though [MET] I \add was\add* standing \add waiting\add* at \add your\add* door and knocking. I will come to all those who hear my voice and respond to me, and I \add will fellowship\add* with them \add as friends do when they\add* eat together [MET].
\v 21 I will permit everyone who conquers \add Satan\add* to sit \add and rule\add* with me on my throne, just like I conquered \add Satan\add* and now sit \add and rule\add* with my Father on his throne.
\v 22 Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that \add God's\add* Spirit speaks to the congregations.’”
\c 4
\s1 A throne was in heaven with one sitting on it. He was the center of every creature and object in heaven. The elders and the living creatures worshipped him as God, the mighty Creator.
\sr Revelation 4:1-11
\p
\v 1 After these things I, \add John\add*, saw  \add in the vision that\add* there was a door open in heaven. The one whose voice was like [SIM] a  \add loud\add* trumpet, the one  \add who had spoken to me\add* previously, said  \add to me\add*, “Come up here! I will show you events that must happen later.”
\v 2 Immediately I experienced that  \add God's\add* Spirit  \add was specially controlling me\add*. There was a throne there in heaven, and on the throne someone was sitting  \add and ruling\add*.
\v 3 ◄His appearance/He► \add shone\add* like [SIM] a  \add brilliant crystalline\add* jasper  \add jewel\add* and like a  \add brilliant red\add* carnelian  \add jewel\add*. Around the throne was a rainbow that  \add shone like a brilliant green\add* emerald  \add jewel\add*.
\v 4 Around the throne there were twenty-four other thrones. On these thrones twenty-four elders were  \add sitting\add*. They were wearing  \add pure\add* white garments and had golden crowns on their heads.
\v 5 From the throne there came lightning and rumblings and thundering. Seven torches of fire were burning in front of the throne. Those  \add represent\add* the Spirit of God, who has all kinds of  \add power\add* (OR, who is  \add also\add* symbolized as seven spirits).
\v 6 In front of the throne  \add there was what looked\add* like an ocean  \add made of\add* glass. It was  \add clear\add*, like crystal. On each of the four sides of the throne there was a living  \add creature\add*. Each one was covered with eyes in front and behind.
\v 7-8 The first living  \add creature\add* was like a lion. The second living  \add creature\add* was like an ox. The third living  \add creature\add* had a face like a man's face. The fourth living creature was like an eagle that was flying. Each of the four living  \add creatures\add* had six wings. They were covered with eyes, all around  \add their bodies\add* and under  \add their wings\add*. Day and night they continually [LIT] sing:
\q1 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty One.
\q1 He is the one who has always existed,
\q1 who exists now, and who will always exist.
\p
\v 9-10 The living  \add creatures praise\add*, honor [DOU], and thank the one who sits on the throne, the one who lives forever. Whenever they do that, the twenty-four elders ◄prostrate themselves/kneel down► before the one who sits on the throne, and they worship him, the one who lives forever. They lay their crowns in front of the throne and sing:
\q1
\v 11 Our(exc) Lord and God,
\q1 you are worthy that all beings praise you,
\q1 you are worthy that all beings honor you, and
\q1 you are worthy that all beings acknowledge
\q1 that you are the powerful one,
\q1 because you alone created all things.
\q1 Moreover, because you purposed/planned that they should exist,
\q1 you created them, and as a result they exist.
\c 5
\s1 When the Lamb took the scroll from the one on the throne, the whole created universe worshipped him who is the worthy Redeemer. The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures acknowledged that he alone was worthy to open the seals on the scroll.
\sr Revelation 5:1-14
\p
\v 1 I saw that there was a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. The scroll was written on its outside as well as on its inside, and it was sealed {Someone had written on the outside as well as on the inside of the scroll and sealed it} with seven seals.
\v 2 I saw a strong angel who was announcing in a loud voice, “◄The person who is worthy to break the seals of the scroll and then to open it should come to do it!/Who is worthy to break the seals of the scroll and then to open it?►” [RHQ]
\v 3 But no created being in heaven nor any created being on the earth nor any created being under the earth was able to open the scroll and see what was written on it.
\v 4 I cried loudly because there was no one worthy to do that.
\v 5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not cry any longer! Look, the one who is called the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Messiah who is the descendant of King David, has overcome Satan! As a result, he is worthy to break the seven seals on the scroll and open it!”
\v 6 Then I saw Jesus, the one who is like a [MET] sacrificial lamb, standing there. He stood near the throne, in the midst of the four living creatures and the elders. It appeared that he had been killed {that people had killed him}, but he was alive again. He had seven horns, and he had seven eyes that symbolize the Spirit of God who has all kinds of power (OR, who is also symbolized as seven spirits). \add He\add* sends  \add God's\add* Spirit out into all the earth.
\v 7 He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who sits on the throne.
\v 8 When he took the scroll, the four living  \add creatures\add* and the twenty-four elders ◄prostrated themselves/knelt down► before  \add Jesus\add*, the  \add one who is like a\add* lamb, \add to worship him\add*. They each had a harp, and they had golden bowls full of incense that  \add represents\add* the prayers of God's people.
\v 9 The living  \add creatures\add* and the elders sang a new song. They sang:
\q1 You are worthy to receive the scroll and to open its seals,
\q1 because you were killed, and because you redeemed/bought
\q1 people for God from every tribe, language [MTY], people-group,
\q1 and nation with the blood that flowed from your body when you died.
\q1
\v 10 You have caused them to become a people over whom our God rules,
\q1 and to become priests who serve him, and they will rule on [MTY] the earth.
\p
\v 11 As I  \add continued to\add* look, I heard the voices of many angels around the throne and around the living  \add creatures\add* and the elders. There were millions of them, a  \add crowd so large that no one could count them\add*.
\v 12 They were singing in a loud voice:
\q1 “The one who is like a lamb, who was killed {whom his enemies killed}
\q1 and who became alive again, is worthy that all created beings acknowledge
\q1 that he is infinitely powerful, infinitely rich,
\q1 infinitely wise, and infinitely strong!
\q1 He is worthy of being honored and praised by all created beings!”
\p
\v 13 I also heard every creature that is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the ocean, every creature in all those places, saying (OR, singing):
\q1 “We must forever praise and honor the one who sits on the throne
\q1 and the one who is like a lamb,
\q1 May they reign with complete power forever!”
\p
\v 14 The four living  \add creatures\add* said, “◄Amen!/May it be so!►” Then the elders prostrated themselves and worshipped  \add God and Jesus\add*.
\c 6
\s1 When the Lamb opened each of the first four seals of the scroll, each of the four living creatures called forth a mounted horseman who brought judgment to people on the earth.
\sr Revelation 6:1-8
\p
\v 1 I saw that \add Jesus, the one who is like a\add* lamb, opened the first of the seven seals \add of the scroll\add*. Then I heard one of the four living \add creatures\add* say in a voice \add as loud\add* as [SIM] thunder, “Come!”
\v 2 Then I saw a white horse \add come out\add*. The one who sat on it had a bow \add and arrows\add*. \add God\add* gave him a crown \add to show that he was the king\add*. Then the one who conquers \add people\add* went out to continue to conquer \add people\add*.
\v 3 When the \add one who was like a\add* lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living \add creature\add* say, “Come!”
\v 4 Then a red horse came out. The one sitting on it was allowed {\add God\add* allowed the one sitting on it} to cause \add people\add* to no longer \add live\add* peacefully, but instead to be killing each other. \add For this purpose\add* he was given {\add God's agent\add* gave to him} a large sword.
\v 5 When \add the one who is like a\add* lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living \add creature\add* say, “Come!” This time, I saw a black horse \add come out\add*. The one who sat on it had a pair of balance scales in his hand.
\v 6 I heard a voice \add that sounded\add* like \add it was coming from\add* among the four living \add creatures\add*. It was saying ◄\add to the horseman/to the man who was sitting on the horse\add*►, “A quart of wheat \add will cost so much that\add* a man must work a whole day to earn enough money to buy it, and three quarts of barley will sell for the same price. But do not cut off \add the supply of\add* olive oil or the wine [MTY]!”
\v 7 When the \add one who is like a\add* lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living \add creature\add* say, “Come!”
\v 8 This time I saw a pale horse \add come out\add*. The one who sat on it is named ❛\add The one who causes\add* death [PRS]❜, and \add the one that is named ❛The place where dead people go❜\add* accompanied him. \add God\add* gave them authority over one quarter of the people on earth to incite them to kill each other with weapons [SYN], and also authority to kill them ◄by means of \add their causing them to\add* lack food/by famine►, by means of \add their causing them to become\add* sick from epidemics, and by means of \add their causing\add* wild animals \add to attack them\add*.
\s1 When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, the souls of dead believers appealed to God to judge those who killed them, but God told them to rest a bit longer.
\sr Revelation 6:9-11
\p
\v 9 When the \add one who is like a\add* lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under (OR, at the base of) the altar \add in heaven\add* the souls of \add God's servants\add* who had been killed {whom \add people had\add* killed} because of \add their believing\add* God's message, and because they told others \add the message about Jesus\add*.
\v 10 They spoke loudly \add to God\add* saying, “Sovereign/Almighty Lord, you are holy and true. How long \add will it be\add* before you judge \add and punish\add* the people on earth who murdered \add us(exc)\add*?”
\v 11 \add God\add* gave to each of them a long white robe, and \add he\add* told them to rest a little longer until \add people\add* killed all the believers who served \add the Lord\add* with them. They were believers whom \add God wanted to die in just the same way\add* that these others had been killed.
\s1 When the Lamb opened the sixth seal of the scroll, the upheaval in the sky and on the earth caused all the rebellious people on earth to hide because they knew God's judgment time had come.
\sr Revelation 6:12-17
\p
\v 12 I saw that when \add the one who is like a\add* lamb opened the sixth seal, the earth shook violently. The sun became as black as cloth made ◄of \add black\add* wool/of pitch►. The whole moon became \add red\add* [SIM] like blood.
\v 13 The stars fell to the earth \add in great numbers\add*, just [SIM] like immature figs fall when a fig tree is shaken by a strong wind {when a strong wind shakes a fig tree}.
\v 14 The sky split open and \add rolled up on either side\add* just [SIM] like an \add old\add* scroll rolls up \add when it is split in two\add*. Every mountain and island moved out of its place.
\v 15 \add As a result, all the rebellious people\add* of the earth, \add including\add* kings, high-ranking people, generals, the rich people, the powerful people, along with every \add body else\add*, both slave and free, hid themselves in caves and between the mountain rocks.
\v 16 They shouted to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us \add (exc)\add* and hide us \add (exc)\add* in order that the one who sits upon the throne will not be able to see us \add (exc)\add* [MTY], and \add in order that\add* the \add one who is like a\add* lamb will not be able to punish [MTY] us \add (exc)\add*
\v 17 This is the great/terrible day on which they will punish [MTY] us \add (exc)\add*, and \add when that happens\add*, ◄no one will be able to survive!/who will be able to endure?► [RHQ]”
\c 7
\s1 An angel ascended from the east and commanded the four angels stationed in four directions to continue restraining the destructive winds until angels had sealed God's servants.
\sr Revelation 7:1-8
\p
\v 1 After this I saw four angels. One was standing at the north, one at the east, one at the south, and one at the west. They were restraining the winds that blew from all directions [MTY] to keep them from blowing  \add destructively\add* on the earth or on the ocean or even on any tree.
\v 2 I saw another angel ascend from the east. He was carrying God's seal. \add With this\add* seal God, who is all-powerful, marks  \add his own people to protect them\add*. He called out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom  \add he\add* had given  \add power\add* to harm the earth and the ocean. He said
\v 3 \add to them\add*, “Do not harm the earth or the ocean or the trees until we  \add (exc)\add* have marked the servants of our  \add (inc)\add* God on their foreheads.”
\v 4 \add Then the angel and his fellow angels marked all God's servants\add*. I heard the number of people who were marked {whom  \add the angels\add* marked} \add because of their being God's servants. The number was\add* one hundred and forty-four thousand. They were from all the tribes of Israel. \add They symbolized the complete number of people whom God would protect\add*.
\v 5 \add The angels\add* marked twelve thousand people from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad,
\v 6 twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh,
\v 7 twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar,
\v 8 twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, and twelve thousand from the tribe of Benjamin.
\s1 The triumphant crowd stood before the throne in heaven and acknowledged that their deliverance had come from God and the Lamb. Then the angels, the elders, the living creatures, and a huge crowd of people worshipped God in praise.
\sr Revelation 7:9-12
\p
\v 9 After these things I saw a huge crowd. There were so  \add many people\add* that no one would be able to count them. \add They were\add* from every nation, every tribe, every people-group, and every language [MTY]. They were standing before the throne and before  \add Jesus, the one who is like a\add* lamb. They were wearing white robes and held palm branches  \add to wave\add* with their hands  \add in order to celebrate\add*.
\v 10 They shouted loudly, “\add O\add* our  \add (exc)\add* God, you who sit on the throne, and  \add Jesus, you who are like a\add* lamb, \add you two\add* have delivered  \add us(exc) from Satan's power!\add*”
\v 11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living  \add creatures\add*. They all bowed down before the throne with their faces  \add to the ground\add* and worshipped God.
\v 12 They said, “May it be so! \add We(exc)\add* praise, thank, and honor  \add you\add*, our  \add (exc)\add* God, forever! \add We(exc) acknowledge\add* that you are completely wise, the powerful one, who is able to do all things forever! ◄It is so!/Amen!►”
\s1 One of the elders explained to John about the saints who are dressed in white robes.
\sr Revelation 7:13-17
\p
\v 13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These  \add people\add* who are wearing white robes, \add do you know\add* who they are, and where they come from?”
\v 14 I answered him, “Sir, \add I do not know. Surely\add* \bd you\bd* know  \add who they are!\add*” He said to me, “These are the people ◄whom  \add others\add* have caused to suffer greatly/who  \add have been persecuted\add*►. \add Because they believed that Jesus, the one who is like a sacrificial\add* lamb, \add atoned for our sin when\add* his blood  \add flowed from his body when he died, it is as though\add* [MET] they have washed their robes and have made them  \add clean and\add* white.
\v 15 Because of this, they are in front of God's throne, and they serve him day and night in his  \add heavenly temple. God\add*, the one who sits on the throne, will shelter/protect them [MTY].
\v 16 \add As a result\add*, they will never again be hungry. They will never again be thirsty. The sun will never again ◄beat on/burn► them, nor will any heat  \add scorch them\add*.
\v 17 This is because the  \add one who is like a\add* lamb who is at the throne will  \add take care of them, just like\add* a shepherd  \add takes care of his sheep\add* [MET]. He will guide them  \add to the source of eternal life, just like a shepherd leads his sheep\add* to springs of water, \add which enable the sheep\add* to live [MET]. God will  \add cause them to no longer be sad. It will be as if he were\add* wiping away all tears from their eyes [MTY].”
\c 8
\s1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, it thundered, lightning flashed, and the earth shook.
\sr Revelation 8:1-5
\p
\v 1 When  \add Jesus\add*, the  \add one who is like a\add* lamb, opened the seventh seal, there was no sound at all in heaven for ◄a very short time/about half an hour►.
\v 2 I saw the seven angels who stand in front of God. A trumpet was given {◄\add God/An angel\add*► gave a trumpet} to each one of them.
\v 3 Another angel, who had a golden container for burning incense, came and stood at the altar. \add He was given\add* {\add An angel\add* gave to him} a large quantity of incense, in order that he might offer it, with the prayers of all God's people, upon the golden altar that is in front of  \add God's\add* throne. \add Then he burned this incense on the altar\add*.
\v 4 From the  \add pot in\add* the angel's hand, the smoke of the incense, along with the prayers of God's people went up to God.
\v 5 \add In response\add*, the angel took the golden incense burner and filled it with  \add coals of\add* fire from the altar. He threw  \add the contents of\add* the [MTY] incense burner onto the earth. Thunder sounded and rumbled, lightning was flashing, and the earth shook.
\s1 The successive blasts by each of the first four trumpet angels resulted in great catastrophes on the earth and in the sky.
\sr Revelation 8:6-12
\p
\v 6 The seven angels, \add each\add* of which had  \add one of\add* the seven trumpets, prepared to blow them.
\v 7 When the first angel blew his trumpet, hail and fire mixed with blood poured down onto the earth. \add As a result\add*, a third of  \add everything on the surface of\add* the land was burned up {\add the fire\add* burned up a third of  \add everything on the surface of\add* the land}. A third of the trees were also burned up {It also burned up a third of the trees}, and  \add a third of\add* all the green grass was burned up.
\v 8 When the second angel blew his trumpet, something that was like a huge mountain burning with fire fell into the ocean. \add As a result\add*, a third of the ocean became  \add red like\add* [MTY] blood,
\v 9 a third of the living creatures in the ocean died, and a third of the ships  \add in the ocean\add* were destroyed.
\v 10 When the third angel blew his trumpet, a huge star, which was burning like a torch, fell from the sky into a third of the rivers and into  \add a third of\add* the water springs.
\v 11 The name of the star is Bitterness. \add As a result\add*, the water in a third  \add of the rivers and springs\add* became bitter, and many people died from  \add drinking\add* the water because it had become bitter.
\v 12 When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, \add God\add* struck the sun, the moon, and the stars, so that they lost a third of their light. The  \add sun\add* also did not shine during a third of the day, and  \add the moon and stars did not shine during a third\add* of the night.
\s1 An eagle announced that rebellious people on earth would suffer greatly.
\sr Revelation 8:13
\p
\v 13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying high in the sky, shouting in a loud voice, “Terrible things will happen to  \add rebellious\add* people who live on the earth as a result of  \add what will happen when\add* the three remaining angels blow their trumpets! They are about to blow them!”
\c 9
\s1 When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, locusts with stings like scorpions came on the earth and attacked the rebellious people.
\sr Revelation 9:1-12
\p
\v 1 The fifth angel blew his trumpet. Then I saw \add an evil angel. He was like\add* a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. He was given {\add Someone\add* gave him} the key to the shaft \add that descended\add* ◄\add to\add* the underworld/\add to\add* the deep dark pit►.
\v 2 When he opened that shaft, smoke arose from it like smoke from a great burning furnace. The smoke prevented \add anyone from seeing the light of\add* the sun and the sky.
\v 3 Locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth. \add They were given\add* {\add God\add* gave them} power \add to sting people\add*, like scorpions \add sting people\add*.
\v 4 \add God\add* told the locusts that they should not harm the grass of the earth, nor any plants, nor any tree. \add God said that they should harm only\add* those people who did not have a mark on the forehead \add to show that they belonged to God\add*.
\v 5 \add God\add* did not allow the locusts to kill those people. Instead, \add he\add* allowed them to continue torturing people for five months. When they tortured people, the pain those people felt was like the pain a scorpion causes when it stings someone.
\v 6 During the time \add when the locusts torture rebellious people, the pain will be so bad that\add* people will want to find a way to die, but they will not find [PRS] any way. They will long to die, but they will not be able to die [PRS].
\v 7 The locusts looked like horses that are ready for battle. They had on their heads what looked like golden crowns. Their faces were like the faces of people.
\v 8 They had \add long\add* hair like the \add long\add* hair of women. Their teeth were \add strong\add*, like lions' teeth.
\v 9 They wore metal breastplates. \add When they were flying\add*, their wings made a noise like a roar when many horses \add pull chariots as they are\add* rushing into battle.
\v 10 They had tails like \add tails of\add* scorpions \add by which they\add* stung \add people\add*. Their power to harm people during those five months was in their tails.
\v 11 The king who ruled over them was the angel of the underworld. His name in the Hebrew language is Abaddon. In the Greek language it is Apollyon. \add Both of\add* those names \add mean ❛Destroyer❜\add*.
\p
\v 12 That ended the first terrible event. \add Be aware that\add* two tragic events are still to come.
\s1 When the sixth angel blew his trumpet, a third of the rebellious people on earth died. But the rest of the rebels did not repent of their false worship or of their evil practices.
\sr Revelation 9:13-21
\p
\v 13 The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice from the four corners of the golden altar that is in God's presence.
\v 14 It was saying to the sixth angel, the one who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels whom \add I\add* have bound at the great river Euphrates.”
\v 15 The four angels were released, those who had been {\add He\add* released the four angels, whom \add God\add* had} kept ready for that \add exact\add* hour of that day, of that month, of that year. They were released {\add He\add* released them} in order that they might enable \add their soldiers to\add* kill a third of the \add rebellious\add* people.
\v 16 The number of the soldiers riding on horses that did that was two hundred million. I heard \add someone say\add* how many there were.
\v 17 In the vision I saw what the horses and the \add beings\add* that rode them looked like. They \add wore\add* breastplates that were \add red\add* like fire, \add dusky blue\add* like smoke, and \add yellow\add* like sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions. From their mouths came fire, smoke, and \add fumes of burning\add* sulfur.
\v 18 Those three things—the fire, the smoke, and the \add burning\add* sulfur from \add the horses'\add* mouths—killed a third of the \add rebellious\add* people.
\v 19 The power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails have heads like snakes by which they harm people.
\v 20 The rest of the \add rebellious\add* people, those who were not killed by these plagues of \add fire and smoke and burning sulfur\add*, did not turn from their sinful behavior. \add They did not stop worshipping\add* the idols that they had made with their own hands. They did not stop worshipping demons and idols \add that were made\add* of gold, of silver, of bronze, of stone, and of wood, \add even though they are idols\add* that can neither see nor hear nor walk.
\v 21 They did not stop murdering people, or practicing sorcery, or acting in sexually immoral ways, or stealing \add things\add*.
\c 10
\s1 John saw a mighty angel coming down out of heaven and holding a small open scroll. When the angel shouted, the thunders responded, but a voice from heaven prohibited John from recording what they said. The angel affirmed that the living Creator of the universe would no longer delay in completing his purpose for his creation.
\sr Revelation 10:1-7
\p
\v 1 \add In the vision\add* I saw another mighty angel that was coming down out of heaven. A cloud  \add surrounded him\add*. There was a rainbow over his head. His face  \add shone\add* [SIM] like the sun. His legs looked like pillars of fire.
\v 2 He had in his hand a small scroll that was open. He set his right foot on the ocean and his left foot on the land.
\v 3 He shouted something with a loud voice, a voice like the roar of a lion. When he shouted this, it thundered seven  \add times\add*, speaking  \add words that I could understand\add*.
\v 4 When it thundered  \add like that\add*, I was about to write  \add the words that I\add* heard, but a voice from heaven said to me, “Keep secret what the thunder said! Do not write it down!”
\v 5 Then the angel whom I had seen standing on the ocean and the land raised his right hand toward heaven,
\v 6 and he asked the one who lives forever, the one who created heaven and everything that is in it, \add who created\add* the earth and everything that is in it, and  \add who created\add* the ocean and everything that is in it, to affirm that what he said was true. \add He said that he\add* would surely no longer delay  \add what he had planned\add*.
\v 7 He said that when the time  \add came\add* for the seventh angel to blow his trumpet, \add he\add* would complete God's secret plan, just like he announced  \add long ago\add* to his servants, the prophets.
\s1 The heavenly voice told John to take the open scroll from the angel and eat it. When he had eaten it, he was commanded by God to prophesy again about all people.
\sr Revelation 10:8-11
\p
\v 8 The one whose voice I had heard from heaven spoke to me again. He said, “Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the ocean and on the land.”
\v 9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. In your mouth it will  \add taste\add* sweet like honey, but it will make your stomach bitter.”
\v 10 I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. In my mouth it  \add tasted\add* sweet like honey, but when I had eaten it, \add it\add* made my stomach bitter.
\v 11 The one whose  \add voice spoke from heaven said to me\add*, “You must ◄prophesy again/proclaim again what I will reveal to you► about many people-  \add groups\add*, many nations, \add speakers of\add* many languages [MTY], and many kings.”
\c 11
\s1 Christ told John to count his worshipers from the nations, and he appointed two witnesses to prophesy to the nations for a limited time. When they finished witnessing, the beast from the underworld killed them, causing the nations to enjoy temporary victory. God resurrected his witnesses, took them to heaven, and punished the nations. Survivors feared and acknowledged God as awesome.
\sr Revelation 11:1-14
\p
\v 1 \add An angel gave\add* to me a reed similar to a measuring stick. He said  \add to me\add*,  “\add Christ says this: ‘Go\add* to the temple  \add where people worship\add* God, measure it and the altar  \add in it\add*, and count the people who worship there.
\v 2 But do not measure the courtyard outside  \add of the temple\add* [DOU], because  \add it\add* has been given {\add God\add* has given it} to  \add the\add* non-Jewish  \add people. As a result\add*, they will trample  \add Jerusalem city\add* for forty-two months.
\v 3 I will appoint my two ◄witnesses/men who will tell others about me►. They will proclaim what I reveal to them for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. They will wear  \add rough\add* clothes made from goat's hair  \add to show that they are sad about people's sin\add*.’”
\v 4 Those  \add witnesses are the ones\add* that are represented by the two olive trees and the two lampstands that are in the presence of the Lord  \add who rules\add* the earth [SYM].
\v 5 If enemies try to harm those  \add witnesses\add*, fire will come from the mouths of the witnesses and destroy them. If people want to harm them, \add the two witnesses\add* will certainly kill them similarly.
\v 6 Those  \add witnesses\add* will have authority over the sky in order to keep rain from falling during the time that they are proclaiming what God reveals to them. They also will have authority to cause water  \add everywhere\add* to become  \add red like\add* [MET] blood, and  \add authority\add* to send down to the earth all kinds of plagues. They will do this as often as they want to.
\v 7 When they have finished proclaiming  \add to people the message from God\add*, the beast that comes up ◄from the underworld/from the deep dark pit► will attack them, overcome them, and will kill them.
\v 8 The dead bodies of the  \add two\add* witnesses will lie in the street of the great city where their Lord was crucified, the city that is symbolically named Sodom or Egypt  \add because its people are very evil, like the people who lived in Sodom and Egypt\add*.
\v 9 Individuals of many people-  \add groups\add*, tribes, language  \add groups\add* [MTY], and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days. But they will not allow  \add anyone\add* to bury their bodies.
\v 10 When the  \add rebellious\add* people who live on the earth  \add see that the witnesses are dead\add*, they will rejoice and celebrate. They will send gifts to each other, because these two prophets had  \add sent plagues which\add* tormented the  \add rebellious\add* people on the earth.
\v 11 But after three and a half days, God will cause them to breathe again and live. They will stand up, and the people who see them will be terrified.
\v 12 The  \add two witnesses\add* will hear a loud voice from heaven saying to them: “Come up here!” Then they will go up into heaven in a cloud. Their enemies will see them  \add as they ascend\add*.
\v 13 At that same time there will be a great earthquake, as a result of which a tenth of  \add the buildings in\add* [MTY] the city will collapse, and seven thousand people will die. The rest of the people will be afraid and  \add acknowledge\add* that the God  \add who rules in\add* heaven is awesome.
\p
\v 14 That will be the second terrible event. \add Be aware that\add* the third tragic event will happen soon.
\s1 When the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, voices from heaven declared that the Lord God and his Messiah now govern all people, and the elders declared that the time had come for God's final judgment. With the heavenly sanctuary open, lightning flashed, thunder reverberated, the earth shook, and large hail fell.
\sr Revelation 11:15-19
\p
\v 15 Then the seventh angel blew  \add his trumpet\add*. Voices in heaven shouted loudly, “Our Lord  \add God\add* and the Messiah  \add whom he has appointed\add* can now govern  \add all the people in\add* [MTY] the world, and they will continue to rule those people forever!”
\v 16 The twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones in God's presence ◄prostrated themselves/bowed down low► and worshipped him.
\v 17 They said:
\q1 Lord God, you are the Almighty One!
\q1 You are the one who exists now!
\q1 You are the one who has always existed!
\q1 We thank you that you have defeated with your power
\q1 everyone who has rebelled against you,
\q1 and you now rule over all the people in the world.
\q1
\v 18 The unbelieving people of [MTY] the nations were angrily raging at you.
\q1 As a result you have become very angry with them.
\q1 You have decided that this is the appropriate time for you to judge all the dead people.
\q1 You have also decided that it is the time for you to reward all your servants,
\q1 both the prophets and the rest of your people who reverence you [MTY],
\q1 whether they were considered socially significant/important or socially insignificant/unimportant.
\q1 It is time for you to reward all of them!
\q1 You have also decided it is the time for you to destroy the people who are destroying others on the earth.
\p
\v 19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened {was open} and  \add I\add* saw in the temple the sacred box/chest that contains God's covenant. Lightning was flashing, it was thundering and rumbling, the earth shook, and large hail  \add fell from the sky\add*.
\c 12
\s1 When the royal woman gave birth to a kingly son, she fled to safety and care in a place in the wilderness that was prepared by God.
\sr Revelation 12:1-6
\p
\v 1 Then something very unusual appeared in the sky. It was a woman, whose  \add appearance and\add* clothing were [MET] as bright as the sun. The moon was under her feet. On her head was a crown  \add that was made\add* of twelve stars.
\v 2 She was pregnant. Then, because she was about to give birth, she cried out because she was suffering pain.
\v 3 Something else very unusual appeared in the sky. It was a huge red dragon. It had seven heads and ten horns. On each of its heads was a royal crown.
\v 4 The dragon's tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and threw them to the earth. The dragon set himself in front of the woman who was about to give birth, in order that he might eat her child as soon as it was born.
\v 5 She gave birth to a son, who  \add is destined\add* to rule all the nations with  \add complete authority as if he was using\add* [MET] an iron rod [MET]. \add God\add* snatched away her child and took him to  \add rule from\add* his throne.
\v 6 The woman fled to a desert. She has a place there that God has prepared for her, in order that  \add the angels\add* may take care of her for a thousand, two hundred and sixty days.
\s1 There was a battle in heaven in which Michael and his angels fought the dragon. The dragon and his angels were thrown out of heaven to earth. A loud voice from heaven declared the victory and the sovereignty of God and lamented the tragic struggle coming to people on earth.
\sr Revelation 12:7-12
\p
\v 7 There was a battle in heaven. Michael and the angels that he  \add commanded\add* fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back  \add against Michael and his angels\add*.
\v 8 But the dragon did not win the battle, so  \add God\add* did not allow the dragon and his angels to stay in heaven any longer.
\v 9 The huge dragon was thrown {\add Michael and his angels\add* threw the huge dragon} out  \add of heaven\add*. The dragon is the ancient serpent, \add the one\add* who is called the Devil and Satan. He is the one who deceives  \add people all over\add* the earth. He was thrown to the earth, along with all his angels.
\v 10 Then I heard  \add someone\add* in heaven shout loudly, saying,
\q1 Now our God has saved his people by his power, and he rules all people!
\q1 Now his Messiah, who is the supreme ruler whom God appointed,
\q1 has authority to rule all people, because our God has thrown out of heaven the one who accuses our fellow believers!
\q1 The dragon is the one who accuses them day and night before our God,
\q1 saying that they have sinned and that God ought punish them.
\q1
\v 11 Our fellow believers overcame him because they never stopped trusting
\q1 (OR, never stopped telling people about) Jesus,
\q1 and because they trusted in what the one who is like a lamb accomplished
\q1 when his blood flowed when he died.
\q1 Even though those believers wanted to live,
\q1 they were willing to let people kill them for speaking truly about him.
\q1
\v 12 So, all you angels living [MTY] in heaven, rejoice!
\q1 But terrible things will happen to you ungodly people who [MTY] live on the earth and
\q1 on the ocean, because the devil has come down to you!
\q1 He is very angry because he knows that he has only a short time
\q1 during which he can harm people.
\s1 When the dragon pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child, he was thwarted, so he prepared to fight against her other offspring.
\sr Revelation 12:13-18
\p
\v 13 When the dragon realized that he had been thrown {that  \add the angels\add* had thrown him} down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to a son.
\v 14 But the woman was given two wings like the wings of a very large eagle, in order that she might fly to a desolate place. That is a place  \add that God\add* has prepared for her. There she was taken care of {\add God's angels\add* took care of her} for three and one half years. The serpent, \add that is, the dragon\add*, was not able to reach her there.
\v 15 The serpent poured water like a river from his mouth in the direction of the woman, in order that the water might sweep her away.
\v 16 But the ground helped the woman  \add by\add* opening up and swallowing the river that the dragon poured out from his mouth!
\v 17 Then the dragon was very angry with the woman, so he went away to fight against  \add the people who are like\add* the rest of her descendants. They are the people who obey God's commandments and who tell other people about Jesus (OR, hold fast to what Jesus taught them).
\v 18 The dragon stood on the ocean shore.
\c 13
\s1 A beast rose from the ocean. It received power and authority from the dragon. All people worshipped it, that is, all people whose names were not recorded in the book of life worshipped the beast for forty-two months.
\sr Revelation 13:1-10
\p
\v 1 I saw a beast that was coming up out of the ocean. It had ten horns and seven heads. On each  \add of\add* its horns there was a royal crown. On  \add each\add* of its heads there was a name that insulted  \add God\add*.
\v 2 The beast that I saw was like a leopard. But its feet were like the feet of a bear, and its mouth was like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave the beast  \add power\add*. From his own throne he also gave it authority  \add to rule people\add* [DOU].
\v 3 One of the heads of the beast had been wounded {\add The Lord\add* had wounded one of the heads of the beast}, causing the beast to almost die. But its wound was healed. \add As a result, nearly\add* all  \add the people of\add* the earth [HYP, MTY] marveled at the beast and became his disciples.
\v 4 They worshipped the dragon, because he had given to the beast authority  \add to rule people\add*. They also worshipped the beast, saying, “◄No one is  \add as powerful\add* as the beast!/Who is  \add as powerful\add* as the beast?► [RHQ] ◄No one would dare to fight against it!/Who would dare to fight against it?►” [RHQ]
\v 5 The beast was allowed {\add God\add* allowed the beast} to speak [MTY] proudly and to insult  \add God\add*. \add It was also\add* allowed {\add God\add* also allowed it} to exercise authority  \add over people\add* for forty-two months.
\v 6 It spoke [MTY] in order to insult God, in order to insult his name, in order to insult the place where he lives, and in order to insult the people who live there in heaven.
\v 7 \add It was\add* allowed {\add God\add* allowed it} to fight against God's people and to conquer them. \add It was\add* allowed {\add God\add* allowed it} to have authority  \add to rule\add* over every tribe, over every people-  \add group\add*, over  \add speakers of\add* every language [MTY], and over every nation.
\v 8 Most of [HYP] the  \add people\add* living on earth worshipped it. They were people whose names were not written in a book by the  \add one who is like a\add* lamb, the one who had been killed. Since the beginning of the world  \add he wrote in it the names of the people who\add* will have  \add eternal\add* life.
\v 9 Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to  \add this message from God\add*: 
\v 10 If  \add God has determined\add* that some people will be captured by their  \add enemies\add*, they will be captured. If  \add God has determined that\add* some people will be killed with a sword, they will be killed with the sword. So God's people  \add must be\add* steadfast, and be faithful  \add to him\add*.
\s1 Another beast appeared, having the same authority to rule people that the first beast had, and it caused people on earth to worship the first beast. People made an image of the first beast, and the beast had everyone killed who refused to worship the image. It caused all people to be marked with the name of the first beast. The number of the beast's name is 666.
\sr Revelation 13:11-18
\p
\v 11 I saw another beast, which was coming up from the earth. It had two small horns  \add on its head\add* like a sheep has. But it spoke  \add things to deceive people\add*, like the dragon does.
\v 12 While the first beast watched, it used all the  \add same\add* authority  \add to rule people that the first beast had\add*. It forced the people who live on the earth [MTY, DOU] to worship the first beast, that is, the one who was healed of the wound that had caused it to almost die.
\v 13 The second beast performed awesome miracles, even causing fire from the sky to fall to earth while people watched.
\v 14 He performed miracles ◄on behalf of/with the authority of► the  \add first\add* beast. By doing that he deceived the  \add unbelieving\add* people on the earth so that they  \add believed that they should worship the first beast. But this happened only because God\add* allowed  \add it to happen\add*. The second beast told the people living on earth to make an image of the  \add first\add* beast, the one that  \add people\add* had killed with a sword and that then came back to life again.
\v 15 The image of the  \add first\add* beast was allowed to breathe, in order that it might speak and in order that  \add it might command that\add* whoever refused to worship its image should be killed {that  \add people\add* should kill whoever refused to worship its image}.
\v 16 \add The second beast\add* required also that  \add the first beast's name\add* be marked {\add its agents\add* mark  \add the first beast's name\add*} on the right hand or on the forehead of everyone, those of little  \add social importance\add* and of great  \add social importance\add*, the rich and the poor, free  \add people\add* and slaves. \add Everyone!\add*
\v 17 They did this in order that people could not buy  \add anything\add* or sell  \add anything\add* if they did not have the mark, which represents the name of the beast or the number of its name, \add on their foreheads\add*.
\v 18 You must  \add think\add* wisely to understand  \add the meaning of the mark\add*. Anyone who thinks wisely should calculate from the number of the beast what the man's name is. That number is six hundred and sixty-six.
\c 14
\s1 John saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with 144,000 redeemed people, who were marked with God's seal. They were singing a new song that only the redeemed could sing.
\sr Revelation 14:1-5
\p
\v 1 But then I saw the  \add one who is like a\add* lamb standing on Zion Hill  \add in Jerusalem\add*. With him were 144,000 \add people\add*. His name and his Father's name had been written {\add He\add* had written his name and his Father's name} on their foreheads.
\v 2 I heard a sound from heaven, which was as  \add loud\add* [SIM] as the sound of a huge waterfall (OR, a great/wide  \add river of rushing\add* water) and which was  \add as loud as\add* [SIM] mighty thunder. The sound that I heard was like  \add the sound that\add* people make when they are playing their harps.
\v 3 The 144,000 people were singing a new song  \add while they stood\add* in front of the throne, in front of the four living  \add creatures\add*, and in front of the elders. Only the 144,000 \add people\add*, the ones who have been {whom  \add the one who is like a lamb\add* has} redeemed/bought from among the people on the earth, could learn that song. No one else could learn the song  \add that they sang\add*.
\v 4 Those 144,000 are the people who are  \add spiritually\add* pure, \add  like\add* virgins  \add are morally pure\add*. They have not ◄defiled themselves/made themselves impure► [MET] \add by worshipping any false god\add*. They are the ones who accompany Jesus, the  \add one who is like a\add* lamb, wherever he goes. They  \add represent all those whom he has\add* redeemed/bought for God from among the people  \add of earth, in order that he might offer\add* them to God and to  \add himself\add*.
\v 5 \add Those people\add* never lie when they speak [MTY], and they never act immorally.
\s1 An angel announced that God's judgment had destroyed the wicked cities symbolized as Babylon. Another angel declared individual judgment on worshipers of the beast, who symbolizes the head of this world power. The saints are called to remain steadfast.
\sr Revelation 14:6-13
\p
\v 6 I saw another angel that was flying between the sky and heaven. He was bringing  \add God's\add* eternal good message  \add to earth\add*, in order that he might proclaim it to people who live on the earth. He will proclaim it to every nation, \add to every\add* tribe, \add to speakers of every\add* language [MTY], and  \add to every\add* people-  \add group\add*.
\v 7 He said in a loud voice, “Reverence God and honor him, because it is now time for him to judge  \add people!\add* Worship  \add God, because he is\add* the one who created the heaven, the earth, the ocean, and the springs of water.”
\v 8 Another angel, the second one, came after him saying, “The very evil  \add cities\add* (OR, \add  city\add*) \add represented by\add* Babylon are completely destroyed! \add God\add* has punished  \add their people because\add* they  \add have persuaded people of\add* all the nations  \add to forsake God, just like a prostitute\add* [MET] persuades  \add men\add* to drink  \add strong\add* wine and  \add as a result\add* commit sexual immorality.”
\v 9 Another angel, the third one, came afterward, saying in a loud voice, “If people worship the beast and its image and  \add allow\add* its mark to be put {its  \add agent to\add* put its mark} on their foreheads or on their hands,
\v 10 God will be angry with them and punish them very severely [MET]. They will be tormented {\add God\add* will torment them} in burning sulfur in the presence of his holy angels and in the presence of the  \add one who is like a\add* lamb.
\v 11 The smoke  \add from the fire\add* that torments them will rise forever. \add They will\add* be tormented {\add God will\add* torment them} continually, day and night. \add That is what will happen to\add* the people who worship the beast and its image and who allow its name to be marked on them {allow  \add its agent\add* to mark them with its name}.”
\v 12 So God's people, those who obey what God commands and who trust in Jesus, must faithfully continue  \add obeying and trusting him\add*.
\v 13 I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write  \add this: God will\add* now  \add abundantly\add* bless the people who have a close relationship with the Lord  \add Jesus\add* for the rest of  \add their lives\add*.” \add God's\add* Spirit says, “Yes, \add after they die\add* they will no longer have to work hard. Instead, they will rest, and  \add the record of the good deeds\add* [MTY] that they have done will go with them (OR, \add God\add* will  \add reward them\add* for the good deeds that they have done).”
\s1 One like the Son of Man sat on a cloud, holding a sharp sickle. An angel from the sanctuary commanded him to harvest the earth. Another angel was commanded to reap the fruit of the vine of the earth. He threw the fruit that he harvested into the winepress of God's anger. When the winepress was trodden, the flow was like a flood of blood on the earth.
\sr Revelation 14:14-20
\p
\v 14 Then I was surprised to see a white cloud, and on the cloud  \add someone\add* was sitting who looked like the one who came from heaven. He  \add was wearing\add* a golden crown on his head. In his hand  \add he held\add* a sharp sickle.
\v 15 Another angel came out of the temple  \add in heaven\add*. In a loud voice, \add speaking figuratively about gathering people for God to judge them\add*, he said to the one who was sitting on the cloud, “The time has come to reap  \add the grain on the earth\add*, so with your sickle  \add reap\add* the  \add grain\add*, because the grain on the earth is ripe.”
\v 16 The one who was sitting on the cloud forcefully gathered together  \add all the people\add* on earth, \add as\add* [MET] \add a farmer\add* reaps grain with his sickle.
\v 17 Another angel came out of the sanctuary in heaven. He also held a sharp sickle.
\v 18 From the altar came another angel. He is the one who takes care of the fire  \add of the altar. Also speaking figuratively about gathering the wicked people for God to judge and punish them\add*, he said in a loud voice to the angel who held the sharp sickle, “With your sharp sickle cut off the clusters of grapes in the vineyards on the earth! Then gather the clusters of grapes together, because its grapes are ripe!”
\v 19 So, \add just like a man would\add* cut off with his sickle the clusters of grapes in his vineyard [MET], an angel forcefully  \add gathered the wicked people\add* on the earth. Then he threw them into the huge place where God will angrily punish them.
\v 20 \add The wicked people\add* were trampled on {\add God's agent\add* trod on  \add the wicked people\add*} \add in\add* the winepress outside the city. The blood that came out from the winepress flowed  \add in a stream so deep that it reached\add* to the bridles of the horses, \add and extended\add* ◄180 miles/300 kilometers►.
\c 15
\s1 John saw in the sky a marvelous sign of the seven angels who were responsible to inflict the seven last plagues.
\sr Revelation 15:1
\p
\v 1 Something else very unusual  \add appeared\add* in the sky. I saw seven angels, whose duty it was to  \add punish\add* (OR, inflict hardship upon) \add rebellious people\add* with seven different plagues (OR, in seven different ways). God is so angry  \add with rebellious people that\add* this is the last  \add time that he will punish them with the purpose of giving them an opportunity to turn away from their sinful behavior\add*.
\s1 John saw those who had been victorious over the beast respond to God's judgment of rebellious people on earth by singing God's praise for his mighty deliverance and righteous judgment.
\sr Revelation 15:2-4
\p
\v 2 I saw what looked like an ocean  \add that was made of\add* glass and mixed with fire. And I saw the people who overcame the beast  \add by not worshipping it\add* or its image, or  \add allowing its agent to mark them with\add* the number that corresponds to the beast's name [PRS]. They were standing by the ocean  \add that looked like it was made\add* of glass. They had harps  \add for praising\add* God.
\v 3 They were singing a song  \add like\add* God's servant Moses  \add sang long ago\add*. They sang  \add like this to praise Jesus, the one who is like\add* a lamb:
\q1 Lord God Almighty,
\q1 whatever you do is powerful and marvelous!
\q1 You always act righteously and truthfully.
\q1 You are king forever!
\q1
\v 4 O Lord, you alone are holy!
\q1 People of [MTY] all nations will come and worship you,
\q1 because you show everyone that you have judged everyone righteously.
\q1 So, ◄everyone will fear you and honor you!/who would not fear and honor you?► [RHQ].
\s1 John saw angels being given the seven bowls of judgment in the heavenly sanctuary, which became filled with the smoke of God's unapproachable glory.
\sr Revelation 15:5-8
\p
\v 5 After this I saw in heaven the temple  \add that ◄corresponds to/was represented by\add*► the tent  \add that the Israelites pitched in the desert. That was the tent that contained\add* the  \add Ten Commandments. The temple door\add* was opened {was open}.
\v 6 The seven angels  \add who had the bowls containing\add* the seven plagues came out of the temple. The angels were dressed in clean, white linen  \add garments\add*, and they wore gold bands around their chests.
\v 7 One of the four living  \add creatures\add* gave  \add each of\add* the seven angels a golden bowl, filled with  \add wine/liquid. That wine/liquid symbolized\add* that God, who lives forever, would severely punish  \add rebellious people\add*.
\v 8 The temple was filled with smoke  \add that symbolized\add* the presence of the glorious and all-powerful God. No one was able to enter the temple until the seven angels finished  \add pouring out\add* the seven plagues.
\c 16
\s1 Four angels emptied their judgment bowls.
\sr Revelation 16:1-9
\p
\v 1 \add In the vision\add* I heard \add someone\add* in the temple speak in a loud voice to the angels \add who had the seven bowls\add*. He said, “Go \add from here\add* and pour out on the earth \add the wine/liquid in\add* [MTY] the seven bowls. \add This will show that\add* God is angry with \add rebellious people and will punish them\add*.”
\v 2 So the first angel went and poured out on the earth \add the wine/liquid that was in\add* [MTY] his bowl. \add As a result\add*, horrible and painful sores broke out on his enemies who had allowed the beast's \add agents\add* to mark them and who worshipped the image of the beast.
\v 3 The second angel poured out on the ocean \add the wine/liquid that was in\add* [MTY] his bowl. \add As a result\add*, the \add water in the ocean stank like the blood\add* of a person who has died. \add And\add* [MTY] every living creature that was in the ocean died.
\v 4 The third angel poured out on the rivers and water springs \add the wine/liquid\add* [MTY] \add that was in\add* his bowl. \add As a result, the water in the rivers and springs\add* turned into blood.
\v 5 I heard the angel \add who has authority over\add* the waters say \add to God\add*, “\add O God\add*, you exist and have always existed. You are the holy one. You judge people justly.
\v 6 \add The rebellious people\add* murdered your holy people and prophets. So you are just in punishing them by giving them blood to drink. This is what they deserve!”
\v 7 Then I heard \add an angel\add* respond \add from\add* the altar [PRS], “Yes, Lord God, you who are almighty, you punish \add people\add* rightly and justly!”
\v 8 Then the fourth angel poured out on the sun \add the wine/liquid that was in\add* [MTY] his bowl. \add He\add* enabled the sun to scorch \add people\add* with fiery \add heat\add*.
\v 9 Because people were severely burned by the intense heat {the intense heat severely burned people}, they said evil things about God [MTY], \add because\add* he had the power \add to strike people with\add* plagues like those. But they refused to turn away from their evil behavior and refused to honor him.
\s1 Two more angels emptied their judgment bowls on the earth. Demons gathered armies to fight against God. But Jesus warned his people to watch faithfully for his imminent coming. The battle was ready to begin at Armageddon.
\sr Revelation 16:10-16
\p
\v 10 When the fifth angel poured out on the throne of the beast \add the wine/liquid that was in\add* [MTY] his bowl, it became dark in the kingdom that the beast \add ruled. As a result, the beast and the people whom it ruled\add* were biting their tongues because \add they were suffering intense\add* pain.
\v 11 They insulted God \add who rules in\add* heaven, because their sores were so painful. But they refused to stop doing the \add evil\add* things that they were doing.
\v 12 The sixth angel poured out on the huge river Euphrates \add the wine/liquid that was in\add* [MTY] his bowl. \add As a result, the\add* water \add in the river\add* was dried up so that the rulers from the eastern [MTY] \add countries could cross it with their armies\add* [SYN].
\v 13 I saw evil spirits that looked like frogs. One came out of the mouth of the dragon, one from the mouth of the beast, and one from the mouth of the false prophet.
\v 14 Those spirits were demons who were \add able to\add* perform miracles. They went out to the rulers of the whole world, in order to gather their \add armies\add* [SYN] together to the battle that \add they will fight\add* on the great day when Almighty God \add punishes his enemies\add* [MTY].
\v 15-16 The evil spirits will gather the rulers at a place that is called in the Hebrew \add language\add* Armageddon.
\p \add I heard the Lord Jesus say\add*, “\add You must\add* listen carefully to \add me\add*:  I am coming unexpectedly [SIM], like a thief. \add  So\add*, I will be happy with those who stay alert and \add keep on living righteously so that they will not be ashamed\add*, just like [MET] a person keeps his clothes \add on\add* so that he will not be ashamed \add like a person who is\add* naked.”
\s1 After the seventh angel emptied his bowl, God punished the very evil city symbolized by Babylon, and destroyed other cities, and great disasters followed.
\sr Revelation 16:17-21
\p
\v 17 The seventh angel poured out into the air \add the wine/liquid that was in\add* [MTY] his bowl. \add As a result, someone\add* said with a loud voice from the throne in the temple, “\add The time for God to punish rebellious people\add* is \add about to be\add* finished.”
\v 18 \add When the angel emptied his bowl\add*, lightning flashed, there were rumblings and thunder, and the earth shook. It shook more violently than it has ever shaken since people first \add lived\add* on earth.
\v 19 And \add as a result\add*, the very evil city \add that is symbolized by Babylon\add* split into three parts. \add God also\add* destroyed cities in \add other\add* nations. God did not forget that \add the people of\add* [MTY] the very evil \add city symbolized by\add* Babylon \add had sinned very much\add*. So he \add caused the people with whom\add* he was furiously angry [MET] \add to drink\add* a cup of very \add poisonous wine/liquid that represented his punishment\add*.
\v 20 Also \add as a result of the earthquake\add*, every island disappeared, and the mountains became flat land.
\v 21 Also \add as a result of the angel's emptying his bowl\add*, huge hailstones, each weighing about 100 pounds, fell from the sky onto the people. Then people insulted God because \add he had caused\add* the terrible plague of destructive hail to fall on them.
\c 17
\s1 One of the seven angels offered to show John how God will punish the very evil city represented by a prostitute, with whom the rulers of people on earth have been seduced to act immorally and idolatrously.
\sr Revelation 17:1-2
\p
\v 1 One of the seven angels, who had \add one of\add* the seven bowls, came to me. He said to me, “Come \add with me\add* and I will show you how \add God\add* will punish the very evil \add city that is represented by\add* [SYM] a prostitute, a city in which there are many canals \add of\add* water.
\v 2 \add It is as though\add* the rulers of earth have acted immorally \add and idolatrously\add* with the people of that city [MET], and they \add have persuaded people\add* who live on the earth to act immorally \add and idolatrously\add* with them [MET], \add just like a prostitute persuades men to drink\add* the \add strong\add* wine \add she gives them, resulting in their\add* becoming drunk \add and\add* committing immorality.”
\s1 When the angel took John to a wilderness, he saw an immoral woman who was drunk with the blood of God's people. The sight caused John to react with great bewilderment.
\sr Revelation 17:3-6
\p
\v 3 Then, as \add God's\add* Spirit \add controlled me\add*, the angel carried me away to a desolate area. There I saw a woman who was sitting on a red beast. The beast had \add written\add* names all over itself. They were names that ◄insulted/spoke evil against► \add God\add*. It had seven heads and ten horns.
\v 4 The woman \add that I saw\add* was wearing purple and red \add clothes\add*; and gold, precious stones, and pearls were fastened to her \add clothes and her body\add*. She held in her hand a golden cup. The cup was full of \add a liquid that represents\add* [SYM] the detestable/disgusting, idolatrous things and filthy immoral things that she \add does\add*.
\v 5 This name, that has a hidden/secret \add meaning\add*, was written on her forehead\add :\add* “\add This woman is\add* Babylon, the very evil \add city! She acts like\add* the mother of the prostitutes on the earth. She teaches them to \add act\add* immorally and to worship idols.”
\v 6 I saw that the woman had become drunk as a result of drinking the blood of God's people, those who had told others about Jesus. When I saw her, I was very bewildered/perplexed.
\s1 The angel revealed the meaning of what John had seen, identifying as ruling entities both the beast which amazed people and his seven heads and ten horns, and the angel declared that they would be overcome by the Lamb and defeated. The angel identified the prostitute as representing the very evil city that dominates people, and he declared that it would be destroyed.
\sr Revelation 17:7-18
\p
\v 7 The angel said to me, “Do not be bewildered!/Why are you bewildered [RHQ]? I will explain to you the hidden/secret meaning of the woman and of the beast on which she rides, the beast that has the seven heads and the ten horns.
\v 8 The beast that you saw \add lived\add* previously. Eventually God will destroy him, but now he is dead. He is \add about to\add* come up ◄from the underworld/from the deep dark pit►. \add When\add* the beast who had previously lived, and who then had died, reappears, the people who live on the earth will be amazed. \add They are people whose\add* names were not in the book in which are written the names of people \add who will\add* have eternal life. \add The angels have been writing those names in a list\add* ◄from the beginning of the world/from the time when the world began►.
\v 9 Those who \add think\add* wisely \add can understand\add* this: The seven heads \add of the beast\add* on which the woman sits \add symbolize\add* the seven hills \add of the city that the woman represents\add*. They also \add symbolize\add* seven rulers.
\v 10 Five \add of those rulers\add* have died. One is \add still alive\add*. The seventh \add ruler\add* has not yet come. When he comes, he must remain for \add only\add* a short \add time\add*.
\v 11 The beast that \add lived\add* before and then was not \add alive\add* will be the eighth \add ruler\add*. He will be \add evil like\add* the seven \add rulers were, but God\add* will surely destroy him.
\v 12 The ten horns that you saw \add represent\add* ten rulers who have not yet begun to rule. They will receive authority in order to rule \add people\add* together with the beast \add for only a short time, as if it were\add* [MET] for one hour.
\v 13 Those \add rulers\add* will all agree to do the same thing. \add As a result\add* they will give to the beast their right \add to rule people\add* and their authority \add to rule people\add* [DOU].
\v 14 The rulers and the beast will fight against \add Jesus\add*, the \add one who is like a\add* lamb. He will defeat them, because he is Lord \add who rules over all other\add* lords and the King \add who rules over all other\add* kings. Those \add people\add* who are with him \add and helping him\add* are the ones whom \add God\add* has chosen, and who keep \add serving him\add* faithfully.”
\v 15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw in the city where the prostitute sits represent people- \add groups\add*, multitudes \add of people\add*, nations, and \add speakers of many languages\add* [MTY].
\v 16 The ten horns that you saw \add represent rulers\add* [SYM]. They and the beast will hate \add the people in the city\add* [MTY] that the prostitute \add represents\add*. As a result, they will \add take away everything that is in the city, as if\add* they were [MET] leaving it naked. They will \add destroy it as if\add* [MET] devouring flesh/meat, and they will burn it with fire.
\v 17 They will do that because God has caused them to decide to do what he wants them to do. As a result, they will let the beast have their power to rule until what God has said is fulfilled {until \add they\add* fulfill what God has said} [MTY].
\v 18 The prostitute that you saw \add represents\add* the very evil city \add whose leaders\add* [MTY] rule over the kings of the earth.”
\c 18
\s1 A powerful angel descended from heaven and announced that the cities represented by Babylon were about to be completely destroyed because of their immorality and idolatry.
\sr Revelation 18:1-3
\p
\v 1 After this I saw another angel, who had great authority, coming down from heaven. The earth became bright \add because\add* he was shining so intensely/brightly.
\v 2 He shouted with a very loud voice, “\add God is about to\add* completely destroy [DOU] all the very \add evil\add* cities (OR, the very evil \add city\add*) \add that\add* Babylon \add represents\add*. As a result, all \add kinds of\add* evil spirits [DOU] will live there, and all \add kinds of\add* foul and detestable [DOU] birds will live there.
\v 3 \add God will destroy those cities\add* because \add their rulers have persuaded\add* the people of [MTY] all nations to act very immorally \add and idolatrously with the people of\add* [MET] \add those cities, just like\add* a prostitute persuades men to drink \add strong\add* wine and then commit fornication with her. The rulers of the earth have also acted immorally \add and idolatrously\add* with the people of [MTY] those cities. The merchants of the earth have become rich \add because the people of those cities\add* strongly desired \add and bought from the merchants\add* many ◄luxuries/expensive things►.”
\s1 John heard Jesus tell God's people to flee out of those cities.
\sr Revelation 18:4-5
\p
\v 4 I heard \add Jesus\add* speak from heaven. He said, “My people, flee from \add those cities\add*, in order that you do not sin as the people \add of those cities do. If you sin as they do\add*, I will punish you as I will punish them.
\v 5 \add It is as though\add* their sins have been piled {have piled} up to heaven, and God remembers them [DOU], \add so now he will punish them\add* [MTY].”
\s1 Jesus sentenced the cities represented by Babylon to destruction.
\sr Revelation 18:6-8
\p
\v 6 \add To the angels whom God assigned to punish those cities, Jesus said\add*, “Pay back/Punish the people of those cities to the same extent that they harmed \add other people\add*. Cause them to suffer twice as much \add as they caused other people to suffer\add* [DOU, MET].
\v 7 To the same extent that they have honored themselves and done the things that they wanted to do, to that extent torment them and cause them to grieve. \add Do that because\add* in their minds they think, ‘We rule as queens! We are not widows, and we will never mourn \add as widows do!\add*’
\v 8 So in one day terrible calamities/troubles will come upon them. \add The people in those cities\add* will die, others will mourn for them, people will be hungry \add because there will be no food\add*, and \add their cities\add* will be burned up. The Lord God is able to punish those cities \add like that\add*, because he is mighty.”
\s1 Earth's kings, merchants, and maritime traders mourned the loss of those cities.
\sr Revelation 18:9-19
\p
\v 9 “The kings of the earth who have acted immorally \add with people of those cities\add* and have lived with the people of those cities, doing just what they wanted to do, will weep and mourn [DOU] for them when they see the smoke of the fire that is burning them.
\v 10 They will stand far away \add from those cities\add*, because they will be afraid \add that they will suffer just like the people of those cities\add* are suffering. They will say, ‘Terrible things will happen to the awesome and mighty cities \add represented by\add* Babylon! \add God\add* will punish them suddenly and swiftly [MTY]!’
\v 11 The merchants of the earth will weep and will mourn [DOU] \add for those cities\add*, because no one will ever again buy the things that they have \add to sell to the people in those cities\add*.
\v 12-13 \add They sell ornaments made\add* of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls. They sell \add expensive cloth made of\add* fine linen and silk, \add expensive cloth that is dyed\add* purple and crimson. They sell all kinds of \add rare\add* wood, all kinds of items \add made of\add* ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble. They sell cinnamon, spice, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, and grain. They sell cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots. They even sell human beings [SYN, DOU] to become slaves.
\v 14 \add The merchants will say\add*, ‘The good things you people longed to have are gone! All your luxurious and splendid [DOU] \add possessions have vanished!\add* They will be gone forever/You will never have them again [LIT]!’
\v 15 The merchants \add who sold\add* these things and who had become rich by \add supplying them\add* for those \add cities\add* will stand far away, because they will be afraid \add that they will suffer just like\add* the people \add of those cities\add* are suffering. They will weep and mourn [DOU],
\v 16 and they will say, ‘Terrible things [DOU] have happened to the awesome/great [MET] cities! \add They were like queens\add* who dressed themselves in \add clothes made of\add* [MTY] fine linen \add cloth\add* and expensive cloth dyed purple and crimson, and who were adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls.
\v 17 But suddenly and swiftly [MTY] \add God\add* has destroyed these expensive things.’ Every ship captain, all people who travel by ship, all ◄sailors/those who work on ships►, and all others who earn their living \add by traveling on\add* the ocean will stand far away \add from those cities\add*.
\v 18 When they see the smoke of the fire that is burning those cities, they will shout, ‘◄No \add other\add* cities have ever been so awesome!/Was there ever any other city that was as awesome as those cities?►’ [RHQ]
\v 19 They will throw dust on their heads \add to show that they are sad\add*, and they will shout, weep, and mourn [DOU]. They will say, ‘Terrible things have happened to the awesome/great cities, the cities that made all people who own ships \add that sail\add* on the ocean become rich by \add carrying\add* their costly ◄things to sell/merchandise►! \add God\add* has suddenly and swiftly destroyed [MTY] those cities!’”
\s1 All of God's people who belong to heaven are called to rejoice because God has pronounced judgment on the cities represented by Babylon.
\sr Revelation 18:20-24
\p
\v 20 Then someone spoke from heaven saying, “You who live in heaven, rejoice over what has happened to \add the cities represented by\add* Babylon! You who are God's people, including you apostles, you ◄prophets/who speak messages that come directly from God►, rejoice, because God has justly punished the people of those cities because they acted evilly toward you!”
\p
\v 21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large stone for grinding grain, and he threw it into the ocean. Then he said, “O you people in [APO] the awesome/great cities \add represented by\add* Babylon, your cities will be destroyed so that they will disappear just like that stone disappeared in the ocean! Your cities will be gone forever [LIT]!
\v 22 In your cities there will never again be \add anyone\add* playing harps, singing, playing flutes, and blowing trumpets. There will no longer be any ◄skilled workers/craftsmen► making things. There will never again be people grinding \add grain at\add* [MTY] the mills.
\v 23 No lamplight will ever again shine. There will never again be the \add happy\add* voices of a bridegroom and his bride. \add God will destroy your cities\add* because your merchants were the most \add deceiving\add* men in the world. You persuaded them to deceive \add people of\add* [MTY] all nations.
\v 24 You are also \add responsible for killing\add* [MTY] \add the\add* prophets and \add others\add* of God's people. Indeed, you are the ones who are guilty for the deaths of all those who have been {whom \add others\add* have} killed on the earth!”
\c 19
\s1 After the destruction of Babylon, John heard a huge crowd praising God for saving his people and announcing the marriage of the one who is like a lamb.
\sr Revelation 19:1-8
\p
\v 1 After these things I heard \add what sounded\add* like a huge crowd in heaven. They were shouting things like,
\q1 “◄Hallelujah!/Praise our God!►” “He has saved us!”
\q1 “He is glorious and mighty!”
\q1
\v 2 “Praise him because he judges truly and justly!”
\q1 “He has punished the very evil cities that are like a prostitute,
\q1 because their people persuaded the other people of earth [MTY] to act immorally and idolatrously like they do.”
\q1 “Praise him because he has punished them for murdering his servants [MTY]!”
\q1
\v 3 \add The crowd\add* shouted a second time saying:
\q1 ◄Hallelujah!/Praise God!► The smoke of the fire that is burning the cities will rise forever!
\q1
\v 4 The twenty-four elders and the four living \add creatures\add* ◄prostrated themselves/knelt down► and worshipped God, who sits on the throne. Then they said, “\add It\add* is true! ◄Hallelujah!/Praise God!►”
\v 5 Someone spoke from the throne and said, “All you who are his servants, praise our God! All you who reverence him, \add whether you are socially\add* significant or insignificant, praise him! \add Everyone!\add*”
\v 6 I heard something like the noise of a huge crowd \add of people\add*, like the sound of a huge waterfall (OR, a great/wide river of rushing water), and like the sound of loud thunder. They were shouting:
\q1 ◄Hallelujah!/Praise God!► Because the Lord God, the Almighty One, reigns!
\q1
\v 7 We should rejoice, we should be extremely glad, and we should honor him,
\q1 because it is now time for Jesus, the one who is like a lamb, to be united
\q1 permanently with his people, which will be like a man [MET] marrying his bride, and
\q1 because those who belong to him have prepared themselves to be united with him.
\q1
\v 8 God has permitted them to be completely pure, like a bride who [MET] dresses in fine linen that is bright and clean.
\p Fine \add bright and clean\add* linen represents the righteous acts of God's people.
\s1 God will abundantly bless the people who have been invited to celebrate the marriage of the Lamb. Only God should be worshipped. All his servants are on an equal basis.
\sr Revelation 19:9-10
\p
\v 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write \add this: God will abundantly\add* bless the people who are {whom \add he\add* has} invited to the feast \add that celebrates Jesus, the one who is like a\add* lamb, \add permanently uniting with his people, like someone\add* [MET] \add marrying a wife\add*.” He also said \add to me\add*: “These words that God \add declares\add* are true!”
\v 10 I \add immediately\add* ◄prostrated myself/knelt down► at his feet in order to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not \add worship me!\add* I am \add just\add* your \add (sg)\add* fellow servant and the fellow servant of your \add (sg)\add* fellow believers who tell people about Jesus. God is the one whom you should worship, because it is the Spirit of God who gives people the power to tell others about Jesus (OR, \add those who tell others about\add* Jesus are \add truly\add* declaring \add the words that the Spirit of God has given them\add*)!”
\s1 John saw heaven open and saw the one whom he described as King of kings and Lord of lords mounted on a white horse.
\sr Revelation 19:11-16
\p
\v 11 I saw heaven opened {open}, and I was surprised to see a white horse. \add Jesus\add*, the one who was riding on the horse, is called ❛Trustworthy and Genuine/True❜. He judges \add all people according to\add* what is right, and fights righteously \add against his enemies\add*.
\v 12 His eyes \add shone like\add* [MET] a flame of fire. There were many royal crowns on his head. A name had been written \add on him\add*. Only he knows \add the meaning of that name\add*.
\v 13 The cloak he was wearing was drenched with blood. His name is \add also\add* “◄The one who expresses what God is like/The Word of God►.”
\v 14 The armies of heaven were following him. \add They were\add* riding on white horses. They were wearing clothes \add made of\add* clean white linen.
\v 15 \add The words\add* that he speaks \add are like\add* [MTY] a sharp sword with which he will strike \add the rebellious people of\add* the nations. He himself will rule them \add powerfully, as though he had\add* [MET] an iron rod. He will crush \add his enemies just like\add* [MET] \add a person crushes grapes in a\add* winepress. \add He will do this for\add* God Almighty, who is furiously angry \add with them because of their sins\add*.
\v 16 On his cloak close to his thigh a name had been written {\add he\add* had written a name}, which is “King who \add rules over all other\add* kings and Lord who \add rules over all other\add* lords.”
\s1 An angel invited all flesh-eating birds to feast on the flesh of people who would be killed by the Rider on the white horse. When the beast and the false prophet gathered kings with their armies against the Rider and his army, the beast and the false prophet were thrown into the lake of fire. The sword of the Rider killed rebellious people, and the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
\sr Revelation 19:17-21
\p
\v 17 I saw an angel who was standing in \add the light of\add* [MTY] the sun. He called loudly to all the \add flesh-eating\add* birds flying high in the sky, “Come and gather for the great feast that God \add is providing for you!\add*
\v 18 \add Come\add* and eat the flesh of all \add God's enemies who are dead—\add* the flesh of kings, of army commanders, of \add people who fought\add* powerfully, of horses and of the \add soldiers\add* who rode them, \add and the flesh of all other kinds of people\add*, whether \add they were\add* free or slave, \add socially\add* insignificant or significant. \add All kinds\add*!”
\v 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of earth with their armies gathered together to fight against the rider on the horse, and against his army.
\v 20 The beast and the false prophet were captured {\add He\add* captured the beast and the false prophet}. The false prophet is the one who had performed miracles in the beast's presence. By doing that he had deceived the people who had accepted the beast's mark \add on their foreheads\add* and who worshipped its image. The beast and the false prophet were thrown {\add He\add* threw the beast and the one who falsely said that he spoke messages that came directly from God} alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
\v 21 The rider on the horse killed the rest \add of their armies\add* by \add his words\add*, \add which were like\add* [MTY] a sword that extended from his mouth. All those birds gorged themselves on the flesh of \add the people whom he had killed\add*.
\c 20
\s1 John saw an angel coming down from heaven. He seized, bound, and imprisoned the dragon for a thousand years.
\sr Revelation 20:1-3
\p
\v 1 I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had the key to the deep dark pit, and he was carrying a large chain in his hand.
\v 2 He seized the dragon. That dragon is the ancient serpent, the devil, that is, Satan. The angel bound him with the chain. That chain could not be loosed {\add No one could loose\add* that chain} for a thousand years.
\v 3 The angel threw him into the deep dark pit. He shut  \add the door of the pit\add*, locked it, and sealed it  \add to prevent anyone from opening it\add*. He did that in order that Satan might no longer deceive  \add the people of the\add* nations [MTY], until those thousand years are ended. After that  \add time\add*, Satan must be released {\add God/God's angel\add* must release Satan} for a short time  \add in order that he can do what God has planned\add*.
\s1 John saw the thrones of the martyrs who lived again and had authority to judge people. Those martyrs are the first people whom God will cause to live again. They will reign with Christ during the thousand years.
\sr Revelation 20:4-6
\p
\v 4 I saw thrones on which people were sitting. \add They were given\add* {\add God\add* gave those people} \add authority\add* to judge  \add other people\add*. I also saw the souls  \add of people\add* whose heads had been {whose heads  \add others\add* had} cut off because of  \add their telling people about\add* Jesus and declaring God's message. They were people who refused to worship the beast or its image, and who did not allow  \add the beast's agents\add* to put the beast's mark on them, either on their foreheads or on their hands. They became alive again, and they ruled with Christ  \add during those\add* thousand years.
\v 5 They were the ones who lived again the first time  \add that God caused dead people\add* to live again. The rest of  \add the believers who\add* had died did not live again until after those thousand years.
\v 6 ◄\add God\add* will be pleased with/\add How\add* happy will be► those who live again this first time. God will  \add consider\add* them holy. They will not die [PRS] a second time. Instead, they will be priests  \add who serve\add* God and Christ, and they will rule with  \add Christ\add* during those thousand years.
\s1 When Satan is released, he will deceive the nations in order to assemble them to fight against God and his people. God will send fire to burn up the rebellious nations. He will cause Satan to be thrown into the lake of fire for everlasting punishment.
\sr Revelation 20:7-15
\p
\v 7 When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released {\add God's angel\add* will release Satan} from his prison.
\v 8 He will go out to deceive the  \add rebellious\add* people in nations [IDM] all over the earth. \add These are the nations that the prophet Ezekiel called\add* Gog and Magog. Satan will gather them to fight against  \add God's people\add*. There will be  \add so many of them fighting against God's people that no one will be able to count them\add* [SIM], just like  \add no one can count the grains of\add* sand on the ocean shore.
\v 9 They will march over the whole earth and will surround the camp of God's people  \add in Jerusalem\add*, the city that  \add God\add* loves. Then  \add God will send\add* fire down from heaven, and it will burn them up.
\v 10 The devil, who had deceived those people, will be thrown {\add God's angel\add* will throw the devil, who had deceived those people} into the lake of burning sulfur. \add This is the same lake\add* into which both the beast and the false prophet had been  \add thrown\add* {\add he\add* had  \add thrown\add* both the beast and the false prophet}. \add As a result\add*, they will continually suffer severely forever.
\p
\v 11 Then I saw a huge white throne on which  \add God\add* was sitting. He  \add was so awesome that\add* the earth and the sky disappeared from his presence completely; they were completely destroyed {\add God\add* completely destroyed them}.
\v 12 I saw that the people who had died  \add but now lived again\add* were standing in front of the throne. \add They included people of\add* every social status! The books  \add in which God records what people do\add* were opened {\add God/God's angel\add* opened the books  \add in which God records what people do\add*}. Another book was opened {\add He\add* opened another book}, which is  \add called the Book\add* of Life, \add in which God has written the names of people who have eternal life\add*. \add God\add* judged the people who had died  \add and now lived again\add* according to what they had done, just like  \add he\add* had recorded it in the books.
\v 13 \add The people whose bodies were buried in the\add* sea  \add became alive again in order to stand before God's throne\add*. Everyone who had been buried on the land (OR, Every person who was waiting in the place where dead people stay) \add became alive again, in order to stand before the throne\add*. \add God\add* judged each one of them according to what each one had done.
\v 14 All the unbelievers [PRS, MTY] —those who had been in the place where they waited after they died—  \add were thrown into the burning lake\add*. The burning lake is  \add the place in which people\add* die the second time.
\v 15 The people whose  \add names\add* [MTY] are not in the book, the one  \add where God\add* has written  \add the names of people who\add* have  \add eternal\add* life, \add were also thrown\add* {◄\add God/God's angel\add*► threw them also} \add into the lake\add* of fire.
\c 21
\s1 John saw a new heaven, a new earth, and a New Jerusalem, where God will dwell permanently with his people.
\sr Revelation 21:1-4
\p
\v 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and the oceans no longer existed.
\v 2 I saw \add God's\add* holy city, which is the new \add city of\add* Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. \add The city\add* had been prepared \add and decorated\add* {\add God\add* had prepared \add and decorated the city\add*} as [SIM] a bride is decorated {decorates herself} \add beautifully in order to marry\add* her husband.
\v 3 I heard a loud voice that spoke from the throne \add of God\add*. It said, “Listen to this! Now God will live with people. He will live \add right in the midst of\add* them [DOU]! They will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.
\v 4 \add As a result\add*, he will \add cause them to no longer be sad. It will be as though he will\add* [MTY] wipe every tear from their eyes. \add None of them\add* will ever again die or mourn or cry [DOU] or suffer pain, because the former things \add that make us sad\add* will have passed away.”
\s1 God declares that he has made everything new and that everything has been accomplished. He declares himself to be the beginning and the end, and so he will provide abundant eternal life to all who seek him, but punishment in the lake of fire will be the lot of all the wicked.
\sr Revelation 21:5-8
\p
\v 5 Then \add God\add*, who sits on the throne, said, “Listen to this! I am \add now\add* making everything new!” He said \add to me\add*: “Write these things \add that I have told you\add*, because you can trust \add that I will certainly cause them to happen\add*.”
\v 6 He said to me, “I have completed \add all these things\add* I am the one who began all things [MET] and the one who will cause all things to end [MET]. To everyone who is \add spiritually\add* thirsty [MET], I will ◄freely give/give as a free gift► water from the spring \add that causes people\add* to live \add forever\add*.
\v 7 I will give this to every person who is victorious over \add the evil powers\add* (OR, \add over Satan\add*). I will be their God, and they will be my children.
\v 8 But those who are cowardly, those who do not believe \add in me\add*, those \add who do\add* detestable things, those who are murderers, those who sin sexually, those who commit sorcery, those who worship idols, and every liar, will \add all suffer\add* in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. \add Anyone who suffers in that lake\add* will be dying the second time.”
\s1 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls offered to show to John the Bride of the Lamb.
\sr Revelation 21:9
\p
\v 9 One of the seven angels who had one of the seven bowls that had been full of \add the wine/liquid causing\add* [MTY] the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come \add with me\add* and I will show you \add the people who have permanently united with Christ, the one who is like a\add* lamb! They will be \add like\add* [MET] a bride \add for him\add*.”
\s1 An angel showed John the city of God, the New Jerusalem, that was coming down out of heaven from God, shining with his glory, having a huge wall with twelve gates and twelve huge foundation stones.
\sr Revelation 21:10-14
\p
\v 10 Then, while \add God's\add* Spirit \add controlled me\add*, the angel took/carried me to the top of a very high mountain. He showed me \add God's\add* holy city, \add the New\add* Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God.
\v 11 It was shining with his glory. The city was shining like a very precious jasper stone \add shines, and\add* it was clear like crystal.
\v 12 \add Around the city\add* was a very high wall. The wall had twelve gates. An angel was at each gate. The names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written {\add God\add* had written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel} over the gates. \add Each gate had the name of one tribe\add*.
\v 13 Three gates were on the east \add side\add*, three gates were on the north \add side\add*, three gates were on the south \add side\add*, and three gates were on the west \add side\add*.
\v 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundation \add stones\add*. On each foundation \add stone was\add* the name of one of the twelve apostles of \add Jesus, the one who is like a\add* lamb.
\s1 The angel guide measured the city and its wall.
\sr Revelation 21:15-17
\p
\v 15 The angel who was speaking to me carried a golden measuring rod, in order to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.
\v 16 The city was square \add in shape\add*; it was as long as it was wide. After the angel measured the city with his rod, \add he reported that it was\add* ◄1,500 miles/2,400 kilometers► long, and that its width and height were each the same as \add its length\add*.
\v 17 He measured its wall \add and reported that it was\add* ◄\add 216 ft./70 meters\add*► \add thick\add* (OR, \add high\add*). The angel used the measure that people \add normally use\add*.
\s1 John described the composition of the city, its wall, its foundations, its gates, and its street, emphasizing the extreme value of each part.
\sr Revelation 21:18-27
\p
\v 18 The \add city\add* wall was made of \add something like the green stone that we call\add* jasper. The city \add itself\add* was \add made of something like\add* pure gold \add that looked\add* like clear glass.
\v 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were beautifully made with \add wonderful stones that are like\add* precious stones \add on earth\add*. The first foundation \add stone was a crystalline stone like\add* jasper, the second \add foundation stone was a blue stone like\add* sapphire, the third \add foundation stone was a green stone like\add* agate, the fourth \add foundation stone was a green stone like\add* emerald,
\v 20 the fifth \add foundation stone was a brown and white layered stone like\add* sardonyx, the sixth \add foundation stone was a red stone like\add* carnelian, the seventh \add foundation stone was a yellow stone like\add* chrysolite, the eighth \add foundation stone was a green stone like\add* beryl, the ninth \add foundation stone was a yellow stone like\add* topaz, the tenth \add foundation stone was a green stone like\add* chrysoprase, the eleventh \add foundation stone was a blue stone like\add* hyacinth, the twelfth \add foundation stone was a purple stone like\add* amethyst.
\v 21 The twelve gates \add of the city\add* were \add something like huge\add* pearls. Each gate was like \add it was\add* a single pearl. The \add ground of\add* the main plaza of the city (OR, The streets of the city) \add appeared to be\add* pure gold \add that looked\add* like clear glass.
\p
\v 22 There was no temple in the city. The Lord God Almighty \add himself\add*, and the \add one who is like a\add* lamb, are \add there, so there was no need for\add* [MET] a temple.
\v 23 The city will not need the sun or the moon to light the city, because the glory of God will light the city, and \add Jesus, the one who is like a\add* lamb, will also be its light.
\v 24 The people of [MTY] the nations will live with the light of the city \add shining upon them\add*. And the kings of the earth will bring their wealth into the city \add to honor God and the one who is like a lamb\add*.
\v 25 The gates of the city will not be shut {No one will shut the gates of the city} \add at the end of the day as they usually are shut\add*, because there will be no night there.
\v 26 The \add people of the\add* world will also bring their wealth into the city to honor \add God and the one who is like a lamb\add*.
\v 27 No one who is morally impure, no one who does deeds \add that God considers\add* detestable, no one who tells lies, will ever enter that city. Only those people whose names are written in the book of the \add one who is like a\add* lamb {whose \add names\add* the \add one who is like a\add* lamb has written in his book}, \add the names\add* of people who have \add eternal\add* life, will be there.
\c 22
\s1 God will supply abundant life in the city, his servants will worship him face-to-face, no one will be there whom God would curse, and his servants will reign forever and ever.
\sr Revelation 22:1-5
\p
\v 1 The angel showed me the river of water \add that causes people who drink from it\add* to live \add forever\add*. The water was sparkling and clear like crystal. The river was flowing out from the throne where God and the \add one who is like a\add* lamb \add were sitting\add*.
\v 2 It flowed down through the middle of the \add main\add* street of the city. On each side of the river were trees \add having fruit that causes people who eat it\add* to live forever. \add The trees\add* bear twelve \add crops\add* (OR, twelve \add kinds\add*) of fruit; \add they\add* produce one crop each month. The \add people of the\add* nations [MTY] \add use\add* the leaves of the trees \add as medicine\add* in order that they may be strengthened.
\v 3 There will never be \add anyone or anything there that God\add* will curse. The throne of God and of the \add one who is like a\add* lamb will be in the city. And his servants will worship him there.
\v 4 They will see him face-to-face, and his name will be \add written\add* {\add he\add* will \add write\add* his name} on their foreheads.
\v 5 There will never again be night. \add God's servants\add* will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine his light upon them. And they will rule forever.
\s1 God verified the revelation of his message to his servants in which he showed them what must happen soon.
\sr Revelation 22:6-7
\p
\v 6 The angel said to me: “These words that \add God has revealed to you\add* are true, and he will certainly fulfill them. The Lord God who ◄\add inspires\add* the prophets/tells the prophets what to say► sent his angel to show the people who serve him the events that must happen soon.”
\v 7 \add Jesus says to all his people\add*, “Listen \add to\add* this! I am coming soon; \add God will abundantly\add* bless everyone who obeys the message that \add has been written\add* in this book.”
\s1 John attested that he has himself heard and seen all these things. He was told to tell others the revelation because its fulfillment was near, and everyone should be ready.
\sr Revelation 22:8-11
\p
\v 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw \add in a vision\add* these things \add that I have written down\add*. When I had heard and seen \add them\add*, I immediately knelt down at the feet of the angel who was showing them to me, in order to worship him.
\v 9 But he said to me, “Do not \add worship me\add* I am \add just\add* your fellow servant! I am also the fellow servant of your fellow believers who are ◄the prophets/the ones who tell messages that come directly from God►, and I am a fellow servant of those who obey the message in this book. \add Instead\add*, worship God!”
\v 10 He also said to me, “Do not keep secret the message about what \add God\add* has foretold in this book, because it is almost time [MTY] for him to \add fulfill this message\add*.
\v 11 \add Since that time is near, if\add* those who act in an evil manner \add want to\add* continue to act that way [IRO], \add that is up to them. God will soon\add* ◄\add pay them back/punish them\add*► \add for that. If\add* those who are vile \add want to\add* continue to be vile [IRO], \add that is up to them. God will soon\add* ◄\add pay them back/punish them\add*► \add for that\add*. Those who are \add acting\add* righteously should continue to act righteously. Those who are holy should continue to be holy.”
\s1 Jesus announced that he had sent his angel to bear witness to the congregations about all that John had seen. He authoritatively identified himself as the Descendant of King David and as the Messianic Morning Star.
\sr Revelation 22:12-16
\p
\v 12 \add Jesus says to all people\add*: “Listen! I am coming soon! And I will pay back and \add punish or\add* reward everyone according to what each one has done.
\v 13 I \add am\add* the one who began all things [MET] and the one who will cause all things to end [MET]. I am before \add all things\add* and I am at the end \add of all things\add* [DOU].
\v 14 \add God\add* is very pleased with the people who wash their robes, \add making themselves spiritually clean\add* [MET], because they will be able to \add eat the fruit of\add* [MTY] the tree \add that enables people\add* to live \add forever\add*, and because they will \add be able\add* to enter the gates into the \add holy\add* city.
\v 15 Outside \add are people who are unholy. They include\add* people who practice sorcery, people who sin sexually, murderers, idol worshipers, and all people who enjoy telling lies and are continual liars. \add They can never enter that city\add*.”
\p
\v 16 “I, Jesus, sent my angel in order that he might say to you who are in the congregations \add that all\add* these things \add are true\add*. I am the descendant of \add King\add* David \add whom the prophets promised would come\add* [MET]. I am the \add one who is like\add* the bright morning star [MET], the one \add that Moses promised would come\add*.”
\s1 God's Spirit and the Bride invite all who desire to drink the living water to come and drink, and they invite all who hear to extend the invitation to others.
\sr Revelation 22:17
\p
\v 17 \add God's\add* Spirit and \add his people, who are like\add* [MET] the bride \add of Christ\add*, say \add to each one who desires to believe\add*, “Come!” Whoever hears \add this\add* should also say \add to each one who desires to believe\add*, “Come!” The \add spiritually thirsty people should come\add* [MET]! Everyone who desires the water \add that enables people to\add* live \add forever\add* should take it as a free gift!
\s1 Jesus warned about what would happen to anyone who adds to the message of the book or who takes away any message of its revelation.
\sr Revelation 22:18-19
\p
\v 18 “I, \add Jesus, solemnly\add* warn everyone who hears the message about what \add I\add* have foretold in this book: If anyone adds anything to this message, God will cause him to experience the plagues that are {that \add I\add* have} described in this book.
\v 19 If anyone takes away any of the message about what \add I\add* have foretold in this book, God will take away that person's right \add to eat fruit from\add* [MTY] the tree \add that enables people\add* to live \add forever\add*. He \add will also take away\add* that person's right \add to enter\add* God's city. \add Both these things\add* are described {\add I\add* have described \add both these things\add*} in this book.”
\s1 Jesus declares that he is certainly coming soon.
\sr Revelation 22:20
\p
\v 20 \add Jesus\add*, who says that \add all\add* these things are true, says, “Certainly I am coming soon!” \add I, John, reply\add*, “◄May it be so!/Amen!► Lord Jesus, come!”
\s1 John closes with a prayer that Jesus will continue to bless all God's people.
\sr Revelation 22:21
\p
\v 21 \add I pray that our\add* Lord Jesus \add will continue to\add* act kindly to all \add of you who are God's people\add*. ◄Amen!/May it be so!►