Angels Mark 144,000 People With the Seal of the Living God

¹After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth and keeping them from blowing on the land or the sea or on any tree.

²Then I saw another angel coming up from the east. He brought the official seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who’d been allowed to harm the land and the sea,

³“Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we use this seal to mark the foreheads of those who serve our God.”

⁴Then I heard how many people were marked with the seal: It was 144,000 people, from all the tribes of Israel.

⁵From the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were marked with the seal.

From the tribe of Reuben, there were 12,000.

From the tribe of Gad, there were 12,000.

⁶From the tribe of Asher, there were 12,000.

From the tribe of Naphtali, there were 12,000.

From the tribe of Manasseh, there were 12,000.

⁷From the tribe of Simeon, there were 12,000.

From the tribe of Levi, there were 12,000.

From the tribe of Issachar, there were 12,000.

⁸From the tribe of Zebulun, there were 12,000.

From the tribe of Joseph, there were 12,000.

From the tribe of Benjamin, there were 12,000.

The Huge Crowd Wearing White Robes

⁹After this I looked, and I saw a huge crowd of people in front of me. They stood in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb. There were so many that no one could count them. They came from every nation, tribe, race, and language. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

¹⁰They cried out in a loud voice,

“Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb.”

¹¹All the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces in front of the throne and worshiped God.

¹²They said,

“Amen!

May praise and glory and wisdom and thanks

and honor and power and strength

be given to our God for ever and ever.

Amen!”

¹³Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people dressed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴I answered, “Sir, you know.”

He said, “They’re the ones who’ve come out of the time of terrible suffering. They’ve washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵Therefore,

“they stand in front of the throne of God

and serve him day and night in his temple.

The one who sits on the throne

will be with them to protect them.

¹⁶‘They won’t ever be hungry again,

and they won’t ever be thirsty again.

The sun won’t beat down on them,’

and the heat of the desert won’t harm them.

¹⁷The Lamb in the center of the area around the throne

will be their shepherd.

‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’

‘and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ ”