Revelation 16 Cross References - Moffatt

¹ Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, "Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on earth." ² So the first went off and poured his bowl upon the land; and noisome, painful ulcers broke out on those who bore the mark of the Beast and worshipped his statue. ³ The second poured out his bowl upon the sea; it turned blood like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing within the sea perished. ⁴ The third poured out his bowl upon the rivers and fountains of water, and they turned blood. ⁵ Then I heard the angel of the waters cry, "O holy One, who art and wast, just art thou in this thy sentence. ⁶ They poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink! They deserve it!" ⁷ And I heard the altar cry, "Even so, Lord God almighty: true and just are thy sentences of doom." ⁸ The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and the sun was allowed to scorch men with fire, ⁹ till men, scorched by the fierce heat, blasphemed the name of the God who had control of these plagues; yet they would not repent and give him glory. ¹⁰ The fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the Beast; his realm was darkened, and men gnawed their tongues in anguish, ¹¹ blaspheming the God of heaven for their pains and their ulcers, but refusing to repent of their doings. ¹² The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its waters were dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. ¹³ Then I saw issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the Beast and from the mouth of the false Prophet, three foul spirits like frogs — ¹⁴ demon-spirits performing miracles, who come out to muster the kings of the whole world for battle on the great Day of almighty God. ¹⁵ (Lo, I am coming like a thief; blessed be he who keeps awake and holds his raiment fast, not to go naked and have the shame of exposure!) ¹⁶ And they were mustered at the spot called (in Hebrew) Harmagedon. ¹⁷ The seventh angel poured out his bowl in the air; then came a loud voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne, crying, "All is over!" ¹⁸ followed by flashes of lightning, loud blasts, peals of thunder, and a mighty earthquake, the like of which never was since man lived on earth, such a mighty earthquake it was; ¹⁹ the great City was shattered in three parts, the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered to give Babylon the great the cup of the wine of the passion of his anger. ²⁰ Every island fled away, the mountains disappeared, ²¹ and huge hailstones fell from heaven on men, till men blasphemed God for the plague of the hail — for the plague of it was fearful.

⁴¹ the Son of man will despatch his angels, and they will gather out of his Realm all who are hindrances and who practise iniquity, ⁴² and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will wail and gnash their teeth.

⁹ They were followed by another, a third angel, crying aloud, "Whoever worships the Beast and his statue, and lets his forehead or hand be marked, ¹⁰ he shall drink the wine of God's passion, poured out untempered in the cup of his anger, and shall be tortured with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb: ¹¹ the smoke of their torture rises for ever and ever, and they get no rest from it, day and night, these worshippers of the Beast and his statue, and all who are marked with his name."

¹⁵ And another angel came out of the temple, shouting aloud to him who sat upon the cloud, "Thrust your sickle in and reap, the time has come to reap, the harvest of earth is ripe and ready."

¹⁸ and another angel came from the altar — he who has power over fire — and called loudly to the one who had the sharp sickle, "Thrust your sharp sickle in, cull the clusters from the Vine of earth, for its grapes are fully ripe."

¹ Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and marvellous: seven angels with seven plagues — the last plagues, for they complete the wrath of God.

⁵ After that I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was thrown open, ⁶ and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure dazzling linen, their breasts encircled with golden belts. ⁷ Then one of the four living Creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever; ⁸ and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his might, nor could anyone enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were over.

² So the first went off and poured his bowl upon the land; and noisome, painful ulcers broke out on those who bore the mark of the Beast and worshipped his statue. ³ The second poured out his bowl upon the sea; it turned blood like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing within the sea perished. ⁴ The third poured out his bowl upon the rivers and fountains of water, and they turned blood. ⁵ Then I heard the angel of the waters cry, "O holy One, who art and wast, just art thou in this thy sentence. ⁶ They poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink! They deserve it!" ⁷ And I heard the altar cry, "Even so, Lord God almighty: true and just are thy sentences of doom." ⁸ The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and the sun was allowed to scorch men with fire, ⁹ till men, scorched by the fierce heat, blasphemed the name of the God who had control of these plagues; yet they would not repent and give him glory. ¹⁰ The fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the Beast; his realm was darkened, and men gnawed their tongues in anguish, ¹¹ blaspheming the God of heaven for their pains and their ulcers, but refusing to repent of their doings. ¹² The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its waters were dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east.

¹⁷ The seventh angel poured out his bowl in the air; then came a loud voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne, crying, "All is over!"

²⁰ Outside his door lay a poor man called Lazarus; he was a mass of ulcers, ²¹ and fain to eat up the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. (The very dogs used to come and lick his ulcers.) ²² Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man died too, and was buried.

²³ and in a moment an angel of the Lord struck him, because he had not given due glory to God; he was eaten up by worms and so expired.

⁷ The first blew, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, falling on the earth; a third of the earth was burnt up, a third of the trees were burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up.

¹⁵ and to this statue of the Beast he was allowed to impart the breath of life, so that the statue of the Beast should actually speak. He has everyone put to death who will not worship the statue of the Beast, ¹⁶ and he obliges all men, low and high, rich and poor, freemen and slaves alike, to have a mark put upon their right hand or their forehead, ¹⁷ so that no one can buy or sell unless he bears the mark, that is, the name of the Beast or the cipher of his name. ¹⁸ Now for the gift of interpretation! Let the discerning calculate the cipher of the Beast; it is the cipher of a man, and the figures are six hundred and sixty-six.

¹⁶ So he who sat upon the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹¹ blaspheming the God of heaven for their pains and their ulcers, but refusing to repent of their doings.

⁸ The second angel blew, and what looked like a huge mountain on fire was hurled into the sea; a third of the sea turned blood, ⁹ a third of the creatures in the sea — the living creatures — perished, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

² and a small scroll open in his hand. He set his right foot on the sea, his left upon the earth,

⁶ They have power to shut up the sky, so that no rain falls during the days when they are prophesying; and they have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and also to smite the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they choose.

¹ Then I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a Beast rising out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, ten diadems on his horns, and blasphemous titles on his heads.

¹⁰ The third angel blew, and a huge star blazing like a torch dropped out of the sky, dropped on a third of the rivers and on the fountains ¹¹ (the name of the star is Wormwood); a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died of the waters, because they had turned bitter.

⁷ he cried aloud, "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water."

⁵ Then I heard the angel of the waters cry, "O holy One, who art and wast, just art thou in this thy sentence.

²⁵ O just Father, though the world has not known thee, I have known thee, and they have known that thou hast sent me;

⁵ In your stubbornness and impenitence of heart you are simply storing up anger for yourself on the Day of anger, when the just doom of God is revealed.

⁵ But if our iniquity thus serves to bring out the justice of God, what are we to infer? That it is unfair of God to inflict his anger on us? (I speak in a merely human way.)

⁵ They are proof positive of God's equity; you are suffering for the realm of God, and he means to make you worthy of it — ⁶ since God considers it but just to repay with trouble those who trouble you,

⁴ John to the seven churches in Asia: grace be to you and peace from HE WHO IS AND WAS AND IS COMING, and from the seven Spirits before his throne,

⁸ "I am the alpha and the omega," saith the Lord God, who is and was and is coming, the almighty.

⁸ The four living Creatures, each with six wings apiece, are full of eyes all over their bodies and under their wings, and day and night they never cease the chant, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God almighty, who was and is and is coming."

¹⁷ saying, "We thank thee, Lord God almighty, who art and wast, that thou hast assumed thy great power and begun to reign;

³ and they were singing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb — "Great and marvellous are thy deeds, Lord God almighty! Just and true thy ways, O King of nations! ⁴ Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou alone art holy. Yea, all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are disclosed."

⁴ The third poured out his bowl upon the rivers and fountains of water, and they turned blood.

⁷ And I heard the altar cry, "Even so, Lord God almighty: true and just are thy sentences of doom."

² True and just are his sentences of doom; he has doomed the great Harlot who destroyed earth with her vice, he has avenged on her the blood of his servants."

² for as you judge so you will be judged, and the measure you deal out to others will be dealt out to yourselves.

³⁵ but the vinedressers took his servants and flogged one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Once more he sent some other servants, more than he had sent at first, and they did the same to them. ³⁷ Afterwards he sent them his son; 'They will respect my son,' he said. ³⁸ But when the vinedressers saw his son they said to themselves, 'Here is the heir; come on, let us kill him and seize his inheritance!' ³⁹ So they took and threw him outside the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to these vinedressers?" ⁴¹ They replied, "He will utterly destroy the wretches and lease the vineyard to other vinedressers who will give him the fruits in their season."

³⁰ and you say 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' ³¹ So you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are sons of those who killed the prophets! ³² And you will fill up the measure that your fathers filled. ³³ You serpents! you brood of vipers! how can you escape being sentenced to Gehenna? ³⁴ This is why I will send you prophets, wise men, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, some of whom you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town; ³⁵ it is that on you may fall the punishment for all the just blood shed on earth from the blood of Abel the just down to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶ I tell you truly, it will all come upon this generation. ³⁷ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not have it!

⁴⁹ This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some they will kill and some they will persecute'; ⁵⁰ it was that the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world might be charged upon this generation,

⁴⁸ whereas he who was ignorant and did what deserves a beating, will receive few lashes. He who has much given him will have much required from him, and he who has much entrusted to him will have all the more demanded of him.

²⁹ How much heavier, do you suppose, will be the punishment assigned to him who has spurned the Son of God, who has profaned the covenant-blood with which he was sanctified, who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

¹⁰ and they cried aloud, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long wilt thou refrain from charging and avenging our blood upon those who dwell on earth?" ¹¹ But they were each given a white robe, and told to remain quiet for a little longer, until their number was completed by their fellow-servants and their brothers who were to be killed like themselves.

¹⁸ the nations were enraged, but thine anger has come; the time has come for the dead to be judged, the time for rewarding thy servants the prophets, and the saints who reverence thy name, both low and high, the time for destroying the destroyers of the earth."

¹⁰ Whoever is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes: whoever kills with the sword, by the sword must he be killed. This is what shows the patience and the faith of the saints.

¹⁵ and to this statue of the Beast he was allowed to impart the breath of life, so that the statue of the Beast should actually speak. He has everyone put to death who will not worship the statue of the Beast,

⁶ Then I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus; and as I looked at her I marvelled greatly. ⁷ But the angel said to me, "Why marvel? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman, and of the Beast with the seven heads and the ten horns who carries her.

²⁰ O heaven, rejoice over her! Saints, apostles, prophets, rejoice! For God has avenged you on her now."

²⁴ And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, of all who were slain upon earth."

⁹ And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain for adhering to God's word and to the testimony which they bore;

³ And another angel went and stood at the altar with a golden censer; he was given abundant incense, to be laid with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar in front of the throne; ⁴ and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of all the saints rose up from the angel's hand before God. ⁵ And the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and poured it on the earth; then followed peals of thunder, loud blasts, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

¹⁰ he shall drink the wine of God's passion, poured out untempered in the cup of his anger, and shall be tortured with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb:

⁶ but when the sun rose they got scorched and withered away because they had no root.

²⁵ And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, while on earth the nations will be in dismay with bewilderment at the roar of sea and waves,

²⁰ the sun shall be changed into darkness and the moon into blood, ere the great, open Day of the Lord arrives.

¹² And when he opened the sixth seal, I looked; and a great earthquake took place, the sun turned black as sackcloth, the full moon turned like blood,

¹⁶ Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst, never shall the sun strike them, nor any scorching heat;"

¹² The fourth angel blew; and a stroke fell on a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so as to darken one third of them, withdrawing light from a third of the day and likewise of the night.

² and he opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke poured out of the pit, like the smoke of a huge furnace, till the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit.

¹⁷ And this is how the horses and their riders looked in my vision: they wore coats of mail red as fire, dark-blue as jacinth and yellow as smoke; the horses' heads were like lions' heads, and from their mouths poured fire and smoke and brimstone. ¹⁸ By these three plagues the third of men were killed, by the fire, the smoke, and the brimstone, that poured out of their mouths;

³ I tell you, no; unless you repent you will all perish as they did.

⁵ I tell you, no; unless you repent you will all perish as they did."

²¹ afraid that when I come back to you, my God may humiliate me before you, and I may have to mourn for many who sinned some time ago and yet have never repented of the impurity, the sexual vice, and the sensuality which they have practised.

²¹ I have given her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual vice.

²⁰ But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands and give up worshipping daemons and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which cannot either see or hear or stir;

¹³ At that hour a great earthquake took place, a tenth of the City was destroyed, and seven thousand souls perished in the earthquake: the rest were awestruck, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁰ The fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the Beast; his realm was darkened, and men gnawed their tongues in anguish, ¹¹ blaspheming the God of heaven for their pains and their ulcers, but refusing to repent of their doings.

²¹ and huge hailstones fell from heaven on men, till men blasphemed God for the plague of the hail — for the plague of it was fearful.

¹² while the sons of the Realm will pass outside, into the darkness; there men will wail and gnash their teeth."

⁴² and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will wail and gnash their teeth.

⁵⁰ and fling them into the furnace of fire; there men will wail and gnash their teeth.

¹³ Then said the king to his servants, 'Take him hand and foot, and throw him outside, out into the darkness; there men will wail and gnash their teeth.

⁵¹ he will cut him in two and assign him the fate of the impious. There men will wail and gnash their teeth.

²⁸ There you will wail and gnash your teeth, to see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the prophets inside the Realm of God and yourselves put outside.

¹⁷ Do honour to all, love the brotherhood, reverence God, honour the emperor.

² but omit the court outside the temple, do not measure that, for it has been given over to the Gentiles; and the city will be under their heel for two and forty months.

⁸ and their corpses will lie in the streets of that great City whose mystical name is Sodom and Egypt — where their Lord also was crucified.

¹⁰ and the dwellers on earth will gloat over them and rejoice, sending presents to congratulate one another — for these two prophets were a torment to the dwellers on earth.

² The Beast I saw resembled a leopard, his feet were like a bear's, and his mouth like a lion's. To him the dragon gave his own power and his own throne and great authority. ³ One of his heads looked as if it had been slain and killed, but the deadly wound was healed, and the whole earth went after him in wonder, ⁴ worshipping the dragon for having given authority to the Beast, and worshipping the Beast with the cry, "Who is like the Beast? Who can fight with him?"

⁹ Now for the interpretation of the discerning mind! The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman is seated:

¹⁷ for God has put it into their hearts to execute his purpose, by having one mind and by conferring their royal power upon the Beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

² and he shouted aloud with a strong voice, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, now she is a haunt of demons, the den of all foul spirits, a cage for every foul and loathsome bird:

¹¹ And the traders of earth shall weep and wail over her; for now there is none to buy their freights, ¹² freights of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purples, silk, scarlet stuff, all sorts of citron wood and ivory wares, all articles of costly wood, of bronze, of iron and of marble, ¹³ with cinnamon, balsam, spices, myrrh, frankincense, wines, olive-oil, fine flour and wheat, with cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, slaves, and the souls of men. ¹⁴ [Relocated to between vss 22 & 23] Vanished the ripe fruit of thy soul's desire! Perished thy luxury and splendour! Never again to be seen. ¹⁵ The traders in these wares, who made rich profits from her, will stand far off for fear of her torture, weeping and wailing: ¹⁶ 'Woe and alas, for the great city, robed in linen, in purple and scarlet, her ornaments of gold, of jewels and pearl! ¹⁷ And all this splendour gone in one brief hour!' And all shipmasters and sea-faring folk, sailors and all whose business lies upon the sea, stood far off ¹⁸ as they watched the smoke of her burning, crying, 'What city was like the great City?' ¹⁹ They threw dust on their heads and cried, as they wept and wailed, 'Woe and alas for the great City, where all shipmen made rich profit by her treasures! Gone, gone in one brief hour!'

²¹ Then a strong angel lifted a boulder like a huge millstone and flung it into the sea, crying, "So shall the great city, Babylon, be hurled down, hurtling, and never be seen any more:

²³ For the magnates of earth were thy traders; all nations were seduced by thy magic spells.

¹³ Bad characters and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves;

² So the first went off and poured his bowl upon the land; and noisome, painful ulcers broke out on those who bore the mark of the Beast and worshipped his statue.

⁹ till men, scorched by the fierce heat, blasphemed the name of the God who had control of these plagues; yet they would not repent and give him glory.

² And I saw another angel rise up from the east, with the seal of the living God; he shouted aloud to the four angels who were allowed to injure the earth and sea,

¹⁴ telling the sixth angel with the trumpet, "Let loose the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."

¹⁴ The second woe has passed: the third woe soon is coming.

¹⁵ He also told me, "The waters you saw, on which the woman is seated, are peoples and hosts, nations and tongues.

⁹ that One whose arrival is due to Satan's activity, with the full power, the miracles and portents, of falsehood, ¹⁰ and with the full deceitfulness of evil for those who are doomed to perish, since they refuse to love the Truth that would save them. ¹¹ Therefore God visits them with an active delusion, till they put faith in falsehood,

¹ But in later days, the Spirit distinctly declares, certain people will rebel against the faith; they will listen to spirits of error and to the doctrines that daemons teach ² through plausible sophists who are seared in conscience — ³ men who prohibit marriage and insist on abstinence from foods which God created for believing men, who understand the Truth, to partake of with thanksgiving.

¹ Mark this, there are hard times coming in the last days. ² For men will be selfish, fond of money, boastful, haughty, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, irreverent, ³ callous, relentless, scurrilous, dissolute, and savage; they will hate goodness, ⁴ they will be treacherous, reckless and conceited, preferring pleasure to God — ⁵ for though they keep up a form of religion, they will have nothing to do with it as a force. Avoid all such. ⁶ Some of them worm their way into families and get hold of the women-folk who feel crushed by the burden of their sins — wayward creatures of impulse,

¹ Still, false prophets did appear among the People, as among you also there will be false teachers, men who will insinuate destructive heresies, even disowning the Lord who ransomed them; they bring rapid destruction on themselves, ² and many will follow their immorality (thanks to them the true Way will be maligned); ³ in their lust they will exploit you with cunning arguments — men whose doom comes apace from of old, and destruction is awake upon their trail.

¹ Do not believe every spirit, beloved, but test the spirits to see if they come from God; for many false prophets have emerged in the world. ² You can recognize the Spirit of God by this: every spirit which confesses Jesus as the Christ incarnate comes from God, ³ and every spirit which does not confess Jesus [incarnate] does not come from God. This latter is the spirit of antichrist; you were told it was coming, and here it is already in the world.

³ Then another portent was seen in heaven! There was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and seven horns and seven diadems upon his heads; ⁴ his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and flung them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was on the point of being delivered, to devour her child as soon as it was born.

⁹ So the huge dragon was thrown down — that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, the seducer of the whole world — thrown down to the earth, and his angels thrown down along with him. ¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now it has come, the salvation and power, the reign of our God and the authority of his Christ! — for the Accuser of our brothers is thrown down, who accused them before God day and night. ¹¹ But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they had to die for it, but they did not cling to life. ¹² Rejoice for this, O heavens and ye that dwell in them! But woe to earth and sea! The devil has descended to you in fierce anger, knowing that his time is short." ¹³ And when the dragon found himself thrown down to earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child;

¹ Then I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a Beast rising out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, ten diadems on his horns, and blasphemous titles on his heads. ² The Beast I saw resembled a leopard, his feet were like a bear's, and his mouth like a lion's. To him the dragon gave his own power and his own throne and great authority. ³ One of his heads looked as if it had been slain and killed, but the deadly wound was healed, and the whole earth went after him in wonder, ⁴ worshipping the dragon for having given authority to the Beast, and worshipping the Beast with the cry, "Who is like the Beast? Who can fight with him?" ⁵ He was allowed to utter loud and blasphemous vaunts, and allowed to exert authority for two and forty months; ⁶ so he opened his mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his dwelling (that is, the dwellers in heaven). ⁷ He was allowed to wage war on the saints and to conquer them, and given authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation;

¹¹ Then I saw another Beast rising from the land; he had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. ¹² He exerts the full authority of the first Beast in his presence, causing the earth and its inhabitants to worship the first Beast, whose deadly wound was healed. ¹³ He performs amazing miracles, even making fire descend from heaven on earth in the sight of men, ¹⁴ and by dint of the miracles he is allowed to perform in presence of the Beast, he seduces the dwellers on earth; he bids the dwellers on earth erect a statue to the Beast who lived after being wounded by the sword,

¹⁴ demon-spirits performing miracles, who come out to muster the kings of the whole world for battle on the great Day of almighty God.

²⁰ But the Beast was seized, together with the false Prophet who had performed in his presence the miracles by means of which he seduced those who received the mark of the Beast and worshipped his statue; both of them were flung alive into the lake of fire that blazes with brimstone,

¹⁰ and their seducer, the devil, was flung into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the Beast and the false Prophet also lie, to be tortured day and night for ever and ever.

²⁴ for false Christs and false prophets will rise and bring forward great signs and wonders, so as to mislead the very elect, — if that were possible.

²² for false Christs and false prophets will rise and perform signs and wonders to mislead the elect if they can.

¹ Now in those days an edict was issued by Caesar Augustus for a census of the whole world.

⁴⁴ You belong to your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires; he was a slayer of men from the very beginning, and he has no place in the truth because there is no truth in him: when he tells a lie, he is expressing his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

⁸ But the sorcerer Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) tried to divert the proconsul from the faith. ⁹ So Saul (who is also called Paul), filled with the holy Spirit, looked steadily at him ¹⁰ and said, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all good, full of all craft and all cunning, will you never stop diverting the straight paths of the Lord?

⁸ First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because the report of your faith is over all the world.

¹³ 'Apostles'? They are spurious apostles, false workmen — they are masquerading as 'apostles of Christ.' ¹⁴ No wonder they do, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is no surprise if his ministers also masquerade as ministers of righteousness. Their doom will answer to their deeds.

⁹ that One whose arrival is due to Satan's activity, with the full power, the miracles and portents, of falsehood,

¹ But in later days, the Spirit distinctly declares, certain people will rebel against the faith; they will listen to spirits of error and to the doctrines that daemons teach

¹⁵ That is not the wisdom which comes down from above, it is an earthly wisdom, sensuous, devilish;

¹⁹ We know that we belong to God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil One.

¹⁰ Because you have kept the word of my patient endurance, I will keep you safe through the hour of trial which is coming upon the whole world to test the dwellers on earth.

¹⁷ for the great Day of their anger has come, and who can stand it?"

⁹ So the huge dragon was thrown down — that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, the seducer of the whole world — thrown down to the earth, and his angels thrown down along with him.

³ One of his heads looked as if it had been slain and killed, but the deadly wound was healed, and the whole earth went after him in wonder,

¹³ He performs amazing miracles, even making fire descend from heaven on earth in the sight of men, ¹⁴ and by dint of the miracles he is allowed to perform in presence of the Beast, he seduces the dwellers on earth; he bids the dwellers on earth erect a statue to the Beast who lived after being wounded by the sword,

¹⁶ And they were mustered at the spot called (in Hebrew) Harmagedon.

¹⁴ They will wage war on the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings — the Lamb and the elect, the chosen, the faithful who are with him."

¹⁹ And I saw the Beast and the kings of earth and their troops mustered to wage war on him who was seated on the horse and on his troops. ²⁰ But the Beast was seized, together with the false Prophet who had performed in his presence the miracles by means of which he seduced those who received the mark of the Beast and worshipped his statue; both of them were flung alive into the lake of fire that blazes with brimstone,

⁸ and he will emerge to seduce the nations at the four corners of the earth, even Gog and Magog, mustering them for the fray. Their number was like the sand of the sea,

⁴² Keep on the watch then, for you never know what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But be sure of this, that if the householder had known at what watch in the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

¹³ Keep on the watch then, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

⁴¹ Watch and pray, all of you, so that you may not slip into temptation. The spirit is eager but the flesh is weak."

³³ Take care, keep awake and pray; you never know the time. ³⁴ It is like a man leaving his house to go abroad; he puts his servants in charge, each with his work to do, and he orders the porter to keep watch. ³⁵ Watch then, for you never know when the Lord of the House will come, in the late evening or at midnight or at cock-crow or in the morning. ³⁶ Watch, in case he comes suddenly and finds you asleep. ³⁷ Watch: I say it to you, and I say it to all."

³⁸ Watch and pray, all of you, so that you may not slip into temptation. The spirit is eager but the flesh is weak."

³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the lord and master finds awake when he comes! I tell you truly, he will gird himself, make them recline at table, and come forward to wait on them. ³⁸ Whether he comes in the second or the third watch of the night and finds them thus alert, blessed are they! ³⁹ Be sure that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ So be ready yourselves, for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect." ⁴¹ Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us, or is it for all and sundry?" ⁴² The Lord said, "Well, where is the trusty, thoughtful steward whom the lord and master will set over his establishment to give out supplies at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that servant if his lord and master finds him so doing when he arrives!

³⁶ From hour to hour keep awake, praying that you may succeed in escaping all these dangers to come and in standing before the Son of man."

³¹ So be on the alert, remember how for three whole years I never ceased night and day to watch over each one of you with tears.

³ since I am sure that once so covered I shall not be 'naked' at the hour of death.

² You know perfectly well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night; ³ when 'all's well' and 'all is safe' are on the lips of men, then all of a sudden Destruction is upon them, like pangs on a pregnant woman — escape there is none.

⁶ Well then, we must not sleep like the rest of men, but be wakeful and sober;

⁷ Now the end of all is near. Steady then, keep cool and pray!

¹⁰ The day of the Lord will come like a thief, when the heavens will vanish with crackling roar, the stars will be set ablaze and melt, the earth and all its works will disappear.

³ Now remember what you received and heard, hold to it and repent. If you will not wake up, I shall come like a thief; you will not know at what hour I come upon you. ⁴ Still, you have a few souls at Sardis who have not soiled their raiment; they shall walk beside me in white, for they deserve to.

¹⁸ I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich, white raiment to clothe you and prevent the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to rub on your eyes, that you may see.

² Now in Jerusalem there is a bath beside the sheep-pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethzatha; it has five porticoes,

¹³ On hearing this, Pilate brought Jesus out and seated him on the tribunal at a spot called the 'mosaic pavement' — the Hebrew name is Gabbatha

¹⁷ and he went away, carrying the cross by himself, to the spot called the 'place of the skull' — the Hebrew name is Golgotha;

¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? You hurt yourself by kicking at the goad.'

¹¹ they had a king over them, the angel of the abyss — his Hebrew name is Abaddon, but in Greek he is called Apollyon.

¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, who shouted aloud to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, "Come, gather for the great banquet of God, ¹⁸ to devour the flesh of kings, the flesh of generals, the flesh of the strong, the flesh of horses and their riders, the flesh of all men, free and slaves, low and high alike." ¹⁹ And I saw the Beast and the kings of earth and their troops mustered to wage war on him who was seated on the horse and on his troops. ²⁰ But the Beast was seized, together with the false Prophet who had performed in his presence the miracles by means of which he seduced those who received the mark of the Beast and worshipped his statue; both of them were flung alive into the lake of fire that blazes with brimstone, ²¹ while the rest were killed by the sword of him who is seated on the horse, by the sword that issues from his lips. And all the birds were glutted with their flesh.

³⁰ And when Jesus took the vinegar, he said, "It is finished," bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.

² in which you moved as you followed the course of this world, under the sway of the prince of the air — the spirit which is at present active within those sons of disobedience

¹² For we have to struggle, not with blood and flesh but with the angelic Rulers, the angelic Authorities, the potentates of the dark present, the spirit-forces of evil in the heavenly sphere.

⁶ and swore by Him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, "There shall be no more delay; ⁷ in the days of the seventh angel's voice, when he now blows his blast, then shall the secret purpose of God be fulfilled, as he assured his servants the prophets."

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel blew; and loud voices followed in heaven, crying, "The rule of the world has passed to our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever."

¹⁹ Then the temple of God in heaven was thrown open, and the ark of his covenant was seen inside his temple; there were flashes of lightning, loud blasts, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a hailstorm.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple, he too with a sharp sickle;

⁵ After that I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was thrown open, ⁶ and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure dazzling linen, their breasts encircled with golden belts.

¹ Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, "Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on earth."

¹ Then I saw an angel descend from heaven with the key of the abyss and a huge chain in his hand; ² he gripped the dragon, that old serpent (who is the devil and Satan), and bound him for a thousand years, ³ flinging him into the abyss and shutting and sealing it on the top of him, to prevent him seducing the nations again until the thousand years were completed — after which he has to be released for a little while.

⁶ Then he said, "All is over! I am the alpha and the omega, the First and the Last. I will let the thirsty drink of the fountain of the water of Life without price.

²¹ for there will be sore misery then, such as never has been from the beginning of the world till now — no and never shall be.

⁵ From the throne issue flashes of lightning and loud blasts and peals of thunder. And in front of the throne seven torches of fire burn (they are the seven Spirits of God);

⁵ And the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and poured it on the earth; then followed peals of thunder, loud blasts, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

⁸ And another, a second angel followed, crying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her vice!" ⁹ They were followed by another, a third angel, crying aloud, "Whoever worships the Beast and his statue, and lets his forehead or hand be marked, ¹⁰ he shall drink the wine of God's passion, poured out untempered in the cup of his anger, and shall be tortured with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb:

⁵ and on her forehead a name was written by way of symbol, "Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of all abominations on earth."

¹⁸ As for the woman you have seen, she is the great City which reigns over the kings of the earth."

⁵ for high as heaven her sins are heaped, and God calls her misdeeds to the reckoning.

¹⁰ for fear of her torture they will stand far off, crying, 'Woe and alas, thou great city! thou strong city of Babylon! In one brief hour thy doom has come.'

¹⁴ the sky was swept aside like a scroll being folded up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne, and One who was seated thereon; from his presence earth and sky fled, no more to be found.