Revelation 7
English Standard Version
The 144,000 of Israel Sealed
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back (A)the four winds of the earth, (B)that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending (C)from the rising of the sun, with (D)the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, (E)“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God (F)on their foreheads.” 4 And (G)I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
A Great Multitude from Every Nation
9 After this I looked, and behold, (H)a great multitude that no one could number, (I)from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, (J)clothed in white robes, with (K)palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, (L)“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and (M)the four living creatures, and they (N)fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 (O)saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, (P)clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of (Q)the great tribulation. (R)They have washed their robes and (S)made them white (T)in the blood of the Lamb.
15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and (U)serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne (V)will shelter them with his presence.
16 (W)They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
(X)the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne (Y)will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of (Z)living water,
and (AA)God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Revelation 7
Expanded Bible
The 144,000 People of Israel
7 After ·the vision of these things [L this] I saw four angels standing at the four corners [C from every direction] of the earth. The angels were ·holding [restraining] the four winds [Dan. 7:2; 8:8; 11:4] of the earth to keep them from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the ·east [L rising of the sun] who had the seal [5:1] of the living God. And he ·called out [cried out; shouted] in a loud voice to the four angels to whom God had given power to ·harm [damage] the earth and the sea. 3 He said to them, “Do not ·harm [damage] the land or the sea or the trees until we ·mark with a sign [place a seal upon] the foreheads [C to spare them from harm; Ezek. 9:4–6] of the ·people who serve [L the slaves/servants of] our God.” 4 Then I heard how many people were ·marked with the sign [sealed]. There were one hundred forty-four thousand [C the square of 12 multiplied by 1000; a symbolic number indicating completeness] from every tribe of the ·people [children; sons] of Israel.
5 From the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were ·marked with the sign [sealed],
from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,
6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Manasseh [C one of the two sons of Joseph; he replaces Dan in the list, perhaps because the tribe of Dan fell into idolatry; Judg. 18] twelve thousand,
7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand [C in OT lists Manasseh and Ephraim are named instead of their father Joseph; here Joseph replaces Ephraim, perhaps because of Ephraim’s bad reputation],
and from the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were ·marked with the sign [sealed].
The Great Crowd Worships God
9 After ·the vision of these things [L these things] I looked, and ·there was a great number of people [L behold a great crowd/multitude], so many that no one could count them. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language of the earth. They were all standing before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes [C signifying high status and purity] and holding palm branches [C used to celebrate a festive occasion, specifically a victory] in their hands. 10 They were ·shouting [crying out] in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 [L And] All the angels were standing around the throne and the elders [4:4] and the four living creatures. They all ·bowed [fell] down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen [C Hebrew for “so be it”]! ·Praise [Blessing], glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and ·strength [might] belong to our God forever and ever. Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people dressed in white robes? Where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “You know, ·sir [or my lord].”
And the elder said to me, “These are the people who have come out of the great ·distress [persecution; tribulation]. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb [C having believed in Jesus, their sins are forgiven through Christ’s death and resurrection]. 15 Because of this, they are before the throne of God. They worship him day and night in his temple. And the One who sits on the throne will ·be present with [dwell with; or shelter; spread his tent over] them. 16 Those people will never be hungry again, and they will never be thirsty again. The sun will not ·hurt [strike; beat on; Is. 49:10] them, and no [scorching] heat will burn them, 17 because the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd [Ps. 23; John 10]. He will ·lead [guide] them to springs of ·water that give life [living water; the water of life; John 4:14]. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes [21:4; Is. 25:8].”
Revelation 7
New King James Version
The Sealed of Israel
7 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, (A)holding the four winds of the earth, (B)that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, (C)“Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God (D)on their foreheads.” 4 (E)And I heard the number of those who were sealed. (F)One hundred and forty-four thousand (G)of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were [a]sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
A Multitude from the Great Tribulation
9 After these things I looked, and behold, (H)a great multitude which no one could number, (I)of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, (J)clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, (K)“Salvation belongs to our God (L)who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 (M)All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and (N)worshiped God, 12 (O)saying:
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in (P)white robes, and where did they come from?”
14 And I said to him, [b]“Sir, you know.”
So he said to me, (Q)“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and (R)washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will (S)dwell among them. 16 (T)They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; (U)the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne (V)will shepherd them and lead them to [c]living fountains of waters. (W)And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Footnotes
- Revelation 7:5 NU, M omit sealed in vv. 5b–8b.
- Revelation 7:14 NU, M My lord
- Revelation 7:17 NU, M fountains of the waters of life
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
