After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. 2I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God1. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, 3saying,
“Do not harm the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the slaves of our God on their foreheads!”
4I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000. They were sealed out of every tribe of Bani-Israel:
512,000 of the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 of the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 of the tribe of Gad,
612,000 of the tribe of Asher,
12,000 of the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 of the tribe of Manasseh,
712,000 of the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 of the tribe of Levi,
12,000 of the tribe of Issachar,
812,000 of the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 of the tribe of Yusuf,
12,000 of the tribe of Binyamin were sealed.
9After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. 10They cried with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
11All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God, 12saying,
“Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honour, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13One of the elders answered, saying to me,
“These who are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and from where did they come?”
14I told him, “My lord, you know.”
He said to me,
“These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. 15Therefore they are before the throne of God, they worship him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat; 17for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. ‘And GOD2 will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'” 3
- 7:2 God, English translation of theos. It is the Greek equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew) which are related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
- 7:17 GOD, the use of all capital letters means that the original Hebrew text quoted here uses God’s Name, YAHWEH, which God-fearing Jews to this day do not say out of respect. YAHWEH is the Name God revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.” ↩︎
- 7:17 Quoting the Taurat, Shaya 25:8 which says: “He has swallowed up death forever; and the Lord YAHWEH will wipe away every tear from their faces; and the reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth: for YAHWEH has spoken it.” ↩︎