Revelation 14

The Lamb and the one hundred and forty-four thousand

¹And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.^•

²And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters and like the voice of loud thunder; and the voice that I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.^•³They sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand, those who had been purchased from the earth.^•⁴These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were purchased from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,^•⁵and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.^•

The messages of the three angels

⁶And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who sit on the earth, and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people,^•⁷saying with a loud voice:^•

Fear God and give Him glory,^•because the hour of His judgment has come;^•and worship Him who made heaven, and earth,^•and the sea, and the springs of waters.^•

⁸And another angel, a second, followed, saying:^•

Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great,^•which made all the nations drink^•of the wine of the fury of her prostitution.^•

⁹And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice: If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives the mark on his forehead or on his hand,^•¹⁰he too will drink of the wine of the fury of God, prepared undiluted in the cup of His wrath; and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur before holy angels and before the Lamb.^•¹¹And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest, day and night, those who worship the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.^•¹²Here is the perseverance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.^•

¹³And I heard a voice from heaven, saying: Write:^•

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.^•Yes, says the Spirit, so that they may rest from their labors,^•for their works follow them.^•

The harvest of the earth

¹⁴And I saw, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud One seated, like a Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown and in His hand a sharp sickle.^•¹⁵And another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud: Thrust in Your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.^•¹⁶Then He who sat on the cloud cast His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹⁷And another angel came out of the sanctuary that is in heaven, he too having a sharp sickle.^•¹⁸And another angel, the one who had authority over the fire, came out from the altar and called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, saying: Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, because its grapes are ripe.^•¹⁹Then the angel cast his sickle to the earth, gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the fury of God.^•²⁰The winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress up to the bridles of the horses, for one thousand six hundred stadia.^•

Notes

14:1 “Mount Zion”: cf. Ps 2:6; Isa 24:23; Joel 2:32 (Heb. 3:5); Heb 12:22. “His name and the name of His Father”: cf. 3:12; 7:3; 22:4; the Textus Receptus omits “His name and”. Variant: the Byzantine text reads “a number of one hundred and forty-four thousand”; the Textus Receptus reads “a Lamb”. ↩
14:2 “Voice of many waters”: cf. 1:15; 19:6; Ezek 43:2. “Harpists playing their harps”: Gr. κιθαρῳδῶν κιθαριζόντων ἐν ταῖς κιθάραις (cf. 5:8; 15:2). ↩
14:3 “As it were a new song”: Gr. ὡς ᾠδὴν καινήν (cf. 5:9; 15:3); the Byzantine text omits “as it were”. “Purchased”: Gr. ἀγοράζω (cf. 5:9). ↩
14:4 “Virgins”: Gr. παρθένοι, here applied to men (οὗτοι) (cf. 2 Cor 11:2). “Follow the Lamb”: cf. John 10:4, 27. “Firstfruits”: Gr. ἀπαρχή (cf. Jer 2:3; Jas 1:18). Variant: the Byzantine text reads “these were purchased by Jesus”. ↩
14:5 “Lie”: Gr. ψεῦδος; the Textus Receptus reads “deceit” and adds “before the throne of God”. Cf. Zeph 3:13; Isa 53:9. “Blameless”: Gr. ἄμωμοι, “without blemish” (cf. Ex 29:1; 1 Pet 1:19); the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “for they are blameless”. ↩
14:6 “Flying in midheaven”: cf. 8:13. “The eternal gospel”: Gr. εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον, without the article in the Greek. “Proclaim”: Gr. εὐαγγελίσαι, “announce the good news” (cf. 10:7), here with “gospel” as its object. “Sit”: Gr. καθημένους, lit. “seated”; Papyrus 115, Codex Alexandrinus and the Textus Receptus read “dwell”. “Every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people”: cf. 5:9; 13:7. Variant: the Byzantine text omits “another”. ↩
14:7 “Fear God and give Him glory”: cf. 11:13; 15:4; Eccl 12:13; Jer 13:16; the Byzantine text reads “Fear the Lord”. “Judgment”: Gr. κρίσις (cf. 16:7; 18:10; 19:2; Dan 7:10, 22, 26). “Him who made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the springs of waters”: cf. Ex 20:11; Ps 146:6 [LXX 145:6]; Acts 14:15; Rev 10:6; the SBLGNT has no article before “sea” and “springs”; the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “the sea”. ↩
14:8 “Another angel, a second”: Gr. ἄλλος δεύτερος ἄγγελος. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great”: cf. 18:2; Isa 21:9; Jer 51:7–8 [LXX 28:7–8]; Dan 4:30 (Heb. 4:27). “Fury”: Gr. θυμός, also “passion” (cf. 12:12; 18:3). “Made… drink”: Gr. πεπότικεν, perfect. Variants: the Textus Receptus omits “a second” and reads “Babylon the city, the great, because she made… drink”; the Byzantine text has “fallen” only once. ↩
14:9 “Worships… receives”: presents in the Greek. “The mark”: Gr. χάραγμα, without the article in the Greek; it is the mark of the beast (cf. 13:16–17; 14:11). ↩
14:10 “Prepared undiluted”: Gr. κεκερασμένου ἀκράτου, lit. “mixed unmixed”. “Holy angels”: without the article; the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “the holy angels”. “Cup of His wrath”: cf. 16:19; Ps 75:8 (Heb. 75:9) [LXX 74:9]; Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15 [LXX 32:1]. “Fire and sulfur”: cf. 19:20; 20:10; 21:8; Gen 19:24. ↩
14:11 “Forever and ever”: Gr. εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων, without articles (cf. 1:6). Cf. Isa 34:9–10; Jude 7. “Rest”: Gr. ἀνάπαυσις (cf. 4:8). ↩
14:12 “Perseverance”: Gr. ὑπομονή (cf. 1:9; 13:10). “Those who keep the commandments of God”: cf. 12:17. “The faith of Jesus”: Gr. τὴν πίστιν Ἰησοῦ; alternative reading: “faith in Jesus” (cf. 2:13). Variant: the Textus Receptus repeats “here”: “here are those who keep”. ↩
14:13 “Write”: cf. 1:11, 19; 19:9; 21:5. “Blessed”: cf. 1:3; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14. “From now on”: Gr. ἀπ’ ἄρτι; alternative reading: it goes with what follows, “From now on, yes, says the Spirit”. “Rest”: Gr. ἀναπαήσονται (cf. 6:11). “Labors”: Gr. κόποι (cf. 2:2). “For their works follow them”: lit. “follow with them”. Variants: the Textus Receptus reads “saying to me”; the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “and their works”. ↩
14:14 “White cloud”: cf. 1:7; Matt 24:30. “One… like a Son of Man”: Gr. ὅμοιον υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου (cf. 1:13; Dan 7:13). The capital identifies the figure with the One “like a Son of Man” of 1:13, who comes “with the clouds” (1:7); here He also wears a golden crown. Another reading sees here an angel, since the order to reap comes from “another angel” (14:15). “Crown”: Gr. στέφανος. “Sickle”: Gr. δρέπανον. ↩
14:15 “Sanctuary”: Gr. ναός (cf. 11:19). “Thrust in”: Gr. πέμψον, lit. “send”. “The harvest… is ripe”: Gr. ἐξηράνθη, lit. “has dried”. Cf. Joel 3:13 (Heb. 4:13); Matt 13:30, 39; Mark 4:29. Variant: the Textus Receptus reads “the hour has come for You”. ↩
14:17 “He too”: Gr. καὶ αὐτός. ↩
14:18 “Came out from the altar”: the verb is implied in the SBLGNT (cf. 14:17); the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus have ἐξῆλθεν and read “with a loud cry”. “Authority over the fire”: cf. 8:3–5. “Gather”: Gr. τρύγησον, “harvest grapes”. Cf. Joel 3:13 (Heb. 4:13). ↩
14:19 “Winepress of the fury of God”: cf. 19:15; Isa 63:1–6; Lam 1:15. ↩
14:20 Cf. Joel 3:12–14 (Heb. 4:12–14). “One thousand six hundred stadia”: about 300 kilometers (about 185 miles); one stadion, about 185 meters (607 feet). ↩