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Fifth Vision: The Lampstand and Olive Trees
4 The angel who spoke with me came again and wakened me, as one is wakened from sleep.(A) 2 He said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it; there are seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it.(B) 3 And by it there are two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”(C) 4 I said to the angel who spoke with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who spoke with me answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 He said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.(D) 7 What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain, and he shall bring out the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”(E)
8 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.(F) 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.
“These seven are the eyes of the Lord that range through the whole earth.”(G) 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees that pour out the oil[a] through the two golden pipes?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”(H)
Sixth Vision: The Flying Scroll
5 Again I looked up and saw a flying scroll.(I) 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.” 3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land, for everyone who has stolen, as is forbidden on one side, has gone unpunished, and everyone who has sworn falsely,[b] as is forbidden on the other side, has gone unpunished.(J) 4 I have sent it out, says the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name, and it shall abide in that house and consume it, both timber and stones.”(K)
Seventh Vision: The Woman in a Basket
5 Then the angel who spoke with me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what this is that is coming out.” 6 I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is a basket[c] coming out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity[d] in the whole land.” 7 Then a leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket![e] 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” So he thrust her back into the basket[f] and pressed the leaden weight down on its mouth.(L) 9 Then I looked up and saw two women coming forward. The wind was in their wings; they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket[g] between earth and sky. 10 Then I said to the angel who spoke with me, “Where are they taking the basket?”[h] 11 He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it, and when this is prepared, they will set it down there on its base.”(M)
The Lamb and the 144,000
14 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.(A) 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps,(B) 3 and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb,(C) 5 and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.(D)
The Messages of the Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live[a] on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people.(E) 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”(F)
8 Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her prostitution.”(G)
9 Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, “Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the brand on their foreheads or on their hands,(H) 10 they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.(I) 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the brand of its name.”(J)
12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of[b] Jesus.(K)
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.” “Yes,”[c] says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”(L)
Reaping the Earth’s Harvest
14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand!(M) 15 Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”(N) 16 So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he, too, had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.”(O) 19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about one thousand six hundred stadia.(P)
Psalm 142
Prayer for Deliverance from Persecutors
A Maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A Prayer.
1 With my voice I cry to the Lord;
with my voice I make supplication to the Lord.(A)
2 I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.(B)
3 When my spirit is faint,
you know my way.
In the path where I walk,
they have hidden a trap for me.(C)
4 Look on my right hand and see:
there is no one who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for me.(D)
5 I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”(E)
6 Listen to my cry,
for I am brought very low.
21 Under three things the earth trembles;
under four it cannot bear up:
22 a slave when he becomes king
and a fool when glutted with food,(A)
23 a contemptible woman when she gets a husband
and a maid when she supplants her mistress.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.