1Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. (诗2:6; 來12:22; 启3:12; 启5:6; 启7:3; 启7:4)2And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, (启1:15; 启5:8; 启6:1; 启15:2; 启19:6)3and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. (启2:17; 启5:9; 启19:12)4It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, (林后11:2; 雅1:18; 启3:4; 启17:14)5and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. (诗32:2; 赛63:8; 番3:13; 约1:47; 犹1:24)
The Messages of the Three Angels
6Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. (启3:10; 启8:13)7And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (尼9:6; 启4:11; 启8:10; 启11:13; 启15:4; 启16:4)8Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion[1] of her sexual immorality.” (赛21:9; 耶51:7; 耶51:8; 但4:30; 启16:19; 启17:5; 启18:2; 启18:3; 启18:10)9And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, (启13:15; 启13:16)10he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. (伯21:20; 赛1:22; 启16:19; 启18:6; 启20:10)11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” (创19:28; 赛34:10; 启4:8; 启14:9; 启18:18; 启19:3)12Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.[2] (启12:17; 启13:10)13And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” (传4:2; 林前15:18; 帖前4:16; 启6:11; 启20:6)
The Harvest of the Earth
14Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. (启1:13; 启6:2)15And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” (耶51:33; 珥3:13; 太13:39; 可4:29; 启14:18; 启15:6; 启16:17)16So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.17Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.18And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” (珥3:13; 启16:8)19So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. (启19:15)20And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.[3] (赛63:3; 哀1:15; 來13:12; 启19:14)