The 144,000 People of Israel
1After this happened I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. The angels were holding the four winds of the earth. They were stopping the wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.
2Then I saw another angel coming from the east. This angel had the seal of the living God. The angel called out with a loud voice to the four angels. These were the four angels that God had given the power to hurt the earth and the sea. The angel said to the four angels,
3“Don’t hurt the land or the sea or the trees before we put the sign on the people who serve our God. We must put the sign on their foreheads.”
4Then I heard how many people were marked with the sign. There were 144,000. They were from every family group of the people of Israel.
5From Judah’s family group 12,000 from Reuben’s family group 12,000 from Gad’s family group 12,000
6from Asher’s family group 12,000 from Naphtali’s family group 12,000 from Manasseh’s family group 12,000
7from Simeon’s family group 12,000 from Levi’s family group 12,000 from Issachar’s family group 12,000
8from Zebulun’s family group 12,000 from Joseph’s family group 12,000 from Benjamin’s family group 12,000 The Great Crowd
9Then I looked, and there were many, many people. There were so many people that a person could not count them all. They were from every nation, tribe, race of people, and language of the earth. These people were standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Jesus). They all wore white robes and had palm branches in their hands.
10They shouted with a loud voice, “Victory belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
11The elders
12They said, “Amen
13Then one of the elders
14I answered, “You know who they are, sir.” And the elder
15So now these people are before the throne of God. They worship God day and night in his temple.
16They will never be hungry again. They will never be thirsty again. The sun will not hurt them. No heat will burn them.
17The Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of water that give life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
<< Revelation 7 >>
