God’s People will be Preserved
1 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. 2 I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads!”
144,000 Sealed
4 I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000, sealed out of every tribe of the Israelites:
5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000 were sealed.
Praise from the Great Multitude
9 After these things I looked, and saw a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and from all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation be to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”
11 All 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, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 One of the elders asked me, “These who are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?”
14 I told him, “My lord, you know.”
He said to me, “These are the ones who came out of the great suffering. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore:
They are before the throne of God.
They serve him day and night in his temple.
He who sits on the throne
will spread his tabernacle over them.
16 They will never be hungry or thirsty again.
The sun will not beat on them, nor any heat,
17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne
shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”