Revelation 7

The Church on Earth

The Calm Before the Storm

¹After this I saw four angels, who stood at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth so that the wind could not blow on the earth, the sea, or any tree.

²And I saw another angel coming up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He called out with a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to harm the earth and the sea. He said,

³“Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have placed a seal on the foreheads of God's servants.”

⁴And I heard the number of those sealed:

144,000 sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel:

⁵from the tribe of Judah, 12,000, who were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000,

from the tribe of Gad, 12,000,

⁶from the tribe of Asher, 12,000,

from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000,

from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000,

⁷from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000,

from the tribe of Levi, 12,000,

from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000,

⁸from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000,

from the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000, who were sealed.

The Church in Heaven

⁹After these things I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing in front of the throne and of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palm branches in their hands.

¹⁰They called out with a loud voice and said:

¹¹All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God,

¹²saying:

¹³One of the elders spoke to me and said, “These people dressed in white robes, who are they and where did they come from?”

¹⁴And I answered him, “Sir, you know.”

And he said to me: