(Revelation)

From The New Covenant Commonly Called the New Testament
Volume 1, The Four Gospels and Apocalypse
translated by Willis Barnstone
Published in 2002 by Riverhead Books.
Available from your local bookstore or online from Amazon.com or bn.com

Apocalypse Contents

 
Apocalypse is the alternate title of Revelation,
and in 1.1 appears the word “Apocalypse” from
Greek (apokalypsis), meaning “revelation,”
“disclosure,” and literally an “uncovering.”1
The title conveys the visionary and apocalyptic
nature of the book.
 

  Footnotes:

1Revelatory writing, as in Isaiah and Daniel, is conveyed in the Hebrew (galah), to reveal or uncover.

Visionary writing is a habit of the Hebrew Bible, found in Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, and in the Book of Daniel, which contains four formal apocalypses. The apocalyptic form is found in virtually all religions of the world, be it as murals in a Tibetan monastery or in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. These allegorical works, usually prompted by some historical conflict, have enormous spatial dimensions. In Apocalypse, characters float between earth, heaven, and hell, and, with Christ’s help, the good, on defeating the wicked, enter the fulfillment of a New Age. God declares himself the Alpha and the Omega, and he appears with the mystery of the seven stars in his hand. The four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride by. A woman gives birth in midair. The angel Michael fights the dragons. Christ and his army throw the beasts of evil into a lake of fire, whereupon a heavenly Jerusalem descends to replace the earthly city, and the millennium arrives.

In the second century Bishop Irenaeus ascribed the Book of Apocalypse to the evangelist John son of Zebedee, one of the twelve apostles, who is also credited with writing the Gospel of John and the three Letters of John. Modern scholars, however, find the style, language, thought, and historic circumstance of Apocalypse so different from the Gospel of John as to obviate the notion of single authorship. John does identify himself as “John” in 1.9, “I Yohanan your brother,” and there is good reason to suppose that the author was a Christian Jew named Yohanan, which is anglicized as John. On the basis of the Greek style, which has elements of Hebrew syntax and vision, it is speculated that the author was a native of Israel who emigrated to Asia Minor, perhaps in the diaspora after the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73 C.E.) when many had to flee from Jerusalem. One may wonder why one should have falsely ascribed Apocalypse to the Evangelist John. It should be remembered that books of the Hebrew Bible and New Covenant as well as scripture of the Intercovenant period were regularly ascribed to great figures in order that such scripture might be taken into the canon. So we have works attributed to Enoch and Moses well into the first and second centuries C.E. in order to give those religious texts major significance. Five of the thirteen letters ascribed to Paul are thought not to be by Paul. Similarly, the attachment of the evangelist’s name John to Apocalypse gave great authority to the book and surely helped it find its way into the canon.

There is a crypt in a monastery on Patmos, the Greek island to which John was exiled for two years, and in a small cave room at the edge of this crypt John is said to have composed Apocalypse. Since the speaker in the book says that the risen Christ appeared to him on the island of Patmos, then part of a Roman province, and ordered him to write the book, there is good reason to suppose that Apocalypse might have been written there. Efesos is given as an alternative place of composition. The date is uncertain. Because of the scarcely disguised anger against the Romans who were persecuting Jews and Christians, some suggest that the book was composed during the rule of the Roman emperor Nero (54-68 C.E.), who massacred both Christian Jews and Christian gentiles, or during the rule of Domitian (81 to 96 C.E.).

During the Intercovenant period when Revelation was written, the apocalypse form was a common, indeed a popular, form, and there are significant extant examples, such as the Book of Enoch (Jewish), the Apocalypse of Peter (Christian), and the Apocalypse of Thomas (Christian). To the apocalyptic mind, a visionary experience yields a revelation of the future, of a holy city of redemption, or a terrible hell of punishment. Apocalypse is peopled by angels, monsters, four-headed beasts, who may represent Satan or a Roman emperor, a woman clothed with the sun, representing the faithful people of God, or the great whore of Babylon, representing nefarious Rome. God in his glorious city of gold and precious stones remains the blessing in wait for the pious reader. Though bestial and chaotic creatures of evil battle against heavenly forces, the heavens will triumph through the intervention of Christ as the Christian message will triumph over the hostility of Rome.

Clearly, between the writing of the gospels and their papal canonization in 401 C.E., many hands shaped the words and theology. Apocalypse, which was probably composed in early draft at the end of the first century and the first decades of the second, was one of many apocalypses and, obscure and uncertain in doctrine as it is, barely made it into the final canon, which is perhaps why it may have been less tampered with. This visionary book of the future and of heaven and hell is not only anti-Roman, the Roman soldiers are symbolized as demon monsters of hell, Rome is Babylon, and the beast, whose code name is 666 (13.18), is probably not the Babylonian Captivity of Israel in the sixth century B.C.E, but primarily the wicked Nero. Under Nero and Domitian, Christians and Jews were slaughtered, and there was every reason to feel unfriendly toward Rome the oppressor. When Rome became the seat of Christianity, the politics in the Bible’s texts was reshaped and re-interpreted, but little of that apparently in Revelation.

As a genre of revelatory and visionary works, Apocalypse is narrated by a prophet in the first person, and contains great disasters and heavenly salvation. The main source is Daniel. The beasts and surreal dream atmosphere of this late mythical book historically reflect two periods of oppression: the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews, and its mirror the Roman occupation and oppression that colors John’s Apocalypse. As a single poem, Apocalypse is the great epic work of the New Covenant, with epic length, high conflict, and elevated speech. It was not the custom to lineate either the Hebrew Bible or the New Covenant Greek in verse. After the nineteenth-century Revised Edition, large sections of the Hebrew Bible—the Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Job, long passages in Isaiah and the other prophets–were uniformly rendered in verse. But not until the mid-century French La Bible de Jérusalem were even Hebrew Bible verse passages quoted in the New Covenant rendered into verse. Apocalypse, like the Book of Job, is an extended poem, as densely poetic as Blake’s Jerusalem, Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, or Gerard Manley Hopkins’ The Wreck of the Deutschland. Here it is rendered in loose blank verse. The language is richly symbolic, obscure, allusive; the work is highly structured yet, like the Song of Songs, it is a collage of recapitulations. Apocalypse is a prophecy of doom and salvation, ending with a description of the walls and streets burning in the bejewelled city of heaven.

As an epic poem, Apocalypse takes its place with Gilgamesh (Babylonian c. 2000 B.C.), Beowulf (8th century), and John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) as one of the world’s critical visionary poems. As a single, unified work, Apocalypse may be seen as the literary masterpiece of the New Covenant. The symbolism is complex and obscure, a vision blindingly fearful and beautiful. Although an intensely luminous book, it suggests more mysteries than it discloses. For that reason, the book is unfinished, as great books are, and its open ending permits the reader endless meditation. There is a circular phenomenon in the fact that the Apocalypse, composed probably on a Pagan Greek island, stands as the last work in the Asian New Covenant, which returns, as no other volume in Christian scriptures, to the speech, vision, and hopes of salvation of the Jewish Bible visionaries.

Chapter 1

Prologue

The Apocalypse2 of Yeshua the Messiah,3 which God gave him to show his slaves what must soon happen. And he signified it by sending it through his angel to his slave Yohanan,4 who bore witness to the word of God and the testimony of Yeshua the Messiah of everything he saw. 3Blessed is the one who reads and blessed are they who hear the words of this prophecy and who keep what is written in it. For the time is near.

Alpha and Omega
4Yohanan said to the seven churches in Asia,
    Grace be with you and peace from one who is,
    and one who was, and one who is to come,
    and from the seven spirits before his throne,
    5and from Yeshua the Messiah, faithful
    witness who is the firstborn of the dead
    and is the ruler of the kings of the earth.
    To him who loves us and freed us from our sins
    by his own blood, 6and who made us a kingdom,
    and made priests labor for the God and father,
    to him glory and dominion forevermore.
                    Amen.
    7Look he is coming with the clouds and every eye
        will see him
    and even they who stabbed him,
    and all the tribes of the earth will mourn him.5
                    Amen.
8"I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the lord,
“who is and who was and who is coming,
who is the ruler of all, the pantokrator.”6

Yohanan’s vision
9I Yohanan your brother, who through Yeshua
share with you suffering and kingdom and endurance,
was on the island called Patmos for the word
of God and testimony of Yeshua.
10I was fixed in the spirit on the lord’s day
and I heard behind me a great voice like a ram’s horn7
11saying: “What you have seen, write in a book
and send it off to the seven churches,
to Efesos,8 Smyrna, Pergamos9 and Thyatira,
to Sardis and Philadelphia and Laodikeia.10”

Yeshua amid seven gold lamps
12And I turned to see the voice speaking to me,
and when I turned I saw seven gold lamps
13and in the midst of the lamps was one like
the earthly son11 clothed in a robe down to his feet,
and girt around his breasts12 with a gold belt.
14His head and his hair were white like white wool
like snow and his eyes like a flame of fire,
15his feet like fine bronze as if fired in a furnace
and his voice like the sound of many waters.
16And in his right hand he held seven stars
and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword
and his face was like the sun shining in its power.
17When I saw him I fell at his feet like a dead man
and he placed his right hand on me and said,
"Don’t be afraid. 18I am the first and last
and the living one, and I have been dead,
and look, I am alive forevermore
and I have the keys of death and of hell.
19So write what you have seen and what you see
and after this what is about to happen.
20The mystery of the seven stars you saw
in my right hand, and seven golden lamps.
Seven stars are angels for the seven churches
and seven golden lamps are the seven churches.

Note: The printed version includes Greek and Hebrew alphabet characters that have been omited from this online version.
 
Footnotes:

2Apocalypse from (apokalypsis) revelation or disclosure of secrets (literal meaning), or apocalypse in referential sense of a vision of heaven, hell, and the end of the world.

3Jesus Christ. Jesus is from Greek (Iesous) and Hebrew (Yeshua), traditionally translated Joshua, a later form of Yehoshua. Christ is from Greek (Hristos), “the anointed,” an attribute of the messiah; in New Testament Greek, Cristovis used almost synonymously with Messiva (Messiah), a Hellenized transliteration of Hebrew (mashiah).

4John from Greek (Ioannes) from Hebrew (yohanan).

5Dan 12.10; Zech 12.10,14.

6Pantokrator from Greek (pantokrator), from Hebrew (tsvaot) the Almighty, all powerful, or ruler of all, “of hosts.” In the Greek Orthodox Church “pantokrator,” meaning “all powerful,” from pan, all, and kratos, strong, is regularly used in the Greek liturgy to signify “Almighty.” Here it is chosen to reflect the Greek usage. However, since these first two verses come from Isa 6.3, “Almighty” better reflects the tradition of translation from the Hebrew Bible. In Isaiah 6.5, we find the origin of pantokrator (or “pantocrator” romanized) in the set phrase (hamelech yaweh tsvaot), the king, lord all powerful (all powerful, almighty, of hosts, etc.).

7The trumpet (meaning horn) in Apocalypse is not the modern brass instrument but the shofar, a ram’s horn, sounded as a battle signal.

8Ephesus from Greek (Efesos).

9Pergamum from Greek (Pergamos).

10Laodicea from Greek (Laodikeia).

11Son of Man or son of man is the usual translation of Greek (tou anthropou), which literally means son of a person or son of people. Greek is not man but without gender, like person. In the Hebrew Bible son of people was an idiomatic way of saying human being. In the gospels it may also suggest the son on earth rather than the son in heaven, the earthly son rather than the heavenly son. Hence, earthly son, rather than son of man, son of people or human being may work better poetically and theologically.

12Although the Greek mastois means breasts, it is commonly translated as chest or waist or sometimes breast singular.

Chapter 2

Efesos13
“To the angel of the church in Efesos write:
‘So speaks one holding seven stars in his right hand,
one walking amid the seven gold lamps:
2“'I know your work and labor and endurance
and that you cannot tolerate bad men.
You have tried those who say they are apostles
and yet are not, and you have found them false.
3You have patience and for the sake of my name
you have persevered and not grown weary.
4But I blame you for abandoning your first love.
5Remember the height from which you have fallen
and repent and return to your first works.
If not, I’ll come to you and take your lamp
from its place unless you repent. 6But you
have this in your favor: You hate the deeds
of the church of Nikolaos,14 which I also hate.
7Who has ears, hear the spirit speaking to
the churches. To the victor I will give food
to eat which comes from the tree of life
and which stands in the paradise of God.’

Smyrna15
8"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
‘So speaks he who is the first and the last,
who was dead and came back into life:
9“‘I know your suffering and your poverty,
but you are rich, and I know the blasphemy
of those who say they are Jews and are not
but come out of a synagogue of Satan.16
10Do not fear what you are about to suffer.
See, the devil will throw some of you in prison
to test you and you will suffer for ten days,
and I will give to you the crown of life.
11Who has ears, hear the spirit speaking to
the churches. And the victor won’t be harmed
by the second death.’

Pergamos17
12"To the angel of the church in Pergamos write:
‘So speaks one who has the sharp two-edged sword,
13“‘I know where you live, where Satan’s throne is,
and you keep my name, even in the days of Antipas18
my witness, my faithful one, who was killed
among you in the place where Satan lives.
14But I have a few things I hold against you,
for there you keep the teachings of Bilaam,19
who taught Balak20 to snare the sons of Yisrael,
to eat food sacrificed to idols and go with whores.”21
15So you also hold to the teachings of Nikolaos.
16Repent then or soon I will come to you
and battle them with the sword of my mouth.
17Who has ears, hear the spirit speaking to
the churches. To the victor I’ll give hidden manna
and I will give a white stone, and on the stone
will be written a new name no one knows
except the one who will receive it.’

Thyatira22
18“To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
‘These are the words of the son of God
whose eyes are like the flame of fire
and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
19“‘I know your works—your love, faith, your service
and endurance—last longer than the first.
20But I blame you that you forgive Izevel,23
who calls herself prophet and teaches and tricks
my slaves to go with whores and consume food
sacrificed to idols. 21And I gave her time
in which to repent, but she would not repent
her harlotry. 22See, I will cast her on a bed
and will hurl those who copulate with her
into great suffering if they don’t repent
of going with her. 23And I’ll kill her children
with death. And all the churches will know
that I am the one who searches their minds
and hearts. And I will give to each of you
according to your works. 24To the rest of you
in Thyatira who do not hold this teaching,
who have not known the depths of Satan,
I will not lay another weight on you.
25But hold to what you have until I come.
26To one who conquers and keeps my works
until the end, and as it says in the Psalms,24
  I will extend power over the nations
  27and will shepherd them with a staff of iron
      as pottery is broken.
28And as I have received from my father
I will give away the morning star. 29Who has ears,
hear the spirit speaking to the churches.’

13Efesos (Ephesus), an important early Christian center and largest city of the Roman province of Asia. These next parts, commonly called “letters,” are messages or edicts to the seven churches of Asia.

14The heretical Nicolaitians were antimonian sects associated with Efesos and Pergamum, accused of compromising with pagan idolatry and of being libertine gnostics. Most scholars now doubt these specific references, and think Nicolaus, from Greek (Nikolaos), meaning “conqueror of people,” is a wordplay parallel to Balaam (Rev 2.14-15), from Hebrew (bilam), meaning “he destroyed people.”

15A harbor city north of Efesos.

16Satan from Greek satavn (satan) or (satanas), from Hebrew (satan). The demonization of the Jews in the gospels persists in Apocalypse.

17Important Roman city with imperial cult and major Hellenistic culture.

18Antipas was, according to tradition, roasted to death in a bronze kettle by those worshiping the Roman emperor at the Asian capital city of Pergamos (“Pergamum” in Latin). Pergamos, meaning “citadel,” also held one of the great libraries of antiquity, before Alexandria, and our word “parchment” derives from Greek pergamenos. Parchment was first achieved in Pergamos.

19Balaam from Greek (Balaam), from Hebrew (bilam).

20Balak from Greek (Balak), from Hebrew (balak), was king of Moab. Fearful after the Jews defeated the Amorites, Balak summoned Balaam to curse them (Nb 22-24). Balaam, in turn, urged Balak to persuade Israel to idiolatry with the help of the women of Moab (Nb 25.1-3).

21to go with whores from (porneuo), to practice prostitution. The colorful “commit fornication” used in earlier translations does not refer specifically to prostitutes.

22Inland, between Pergamos and Efesos.

23Jezebel from Greek (Iezabel), from Hebrew (izevel). The Canaanite queen of king Ahab of Israel (1 Kings 18-19;2 Kings 9) who induced Ahab to worship Canaanite deities. John gave this name to a Christian sect, probably the Nicolaitians, who were leading Christians astray.

24Ps 2.8-9.

Chapter 3

Sardis25
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
‘These words are from one holding seven spirits
of God and seven stars: “‘I know your works,
in name you are alive yet you are dead.
2Come and awake and strengthen what is left
and which is soon to die, for I have found
your works were not enacted before God.
3Remember then the things you have received
and heard, and hold on to it and repent.
If you don’t wake I’ll come in as a thief
and you won’t know what hour I’ll come to you.
4But you have the names of a few in Sardis
and they have not defiled their garments.
They will walk with me in white because
they’re worthy. 5The victorious like them
will be clothed in white clothing. I will never
obliterate your name from the book of life,
and I will confess your name before my father
and before his angels. 6Who has an ear,
hear what the spirit is saying to the churches.’

Philadelphia26
7“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write.
These are the words of the saint, the true one,
and as Yeshayahu27 says,
    Who holds the key of David,
    who opens and none will close,
    who closes and none will open.28
8“I know your works, look, I have set before you
an open door and no one can shut it,
since you have little strength and kept my word
and you did not deny my name. 9Look, I give you
those who are from the synagogue of Satan,
who say they are Jews and are not. They lie.
Look, I will make them come and worship
before your feet and know I gave you my love.
10Since you have kept my word of my patience,
I too will keep you from the hour of trial
about to come upon the entire world
to test the inhabitants of the earth.
11I’m coming soon. Hold fast to what you have
so none can take your crown away from you.
12If you conquer I’ll make you a pillar in the temple
of my God and you will never leave it,
and on you I will write the name of my God
and the name of the city of my God,
the new Yerushalayim descending from
the sky, and will record my own new name.
13Who has an ear, hear what the spirit
is saying to the churches.’

Laodikeia29
14"To the angel of the church in Laodikeia write:
‘These are the words of the Amen,30 the faithful
and true witness, the origin of God’s creation:
15“‘I know your works, that you are neither cold
nor hot, 16and since you are lukewarm, not hot
nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
17Because you say I am rich and prospered
and need nothing, and you do not know
that you are the wretched and the pitiful
and the poor and the blind and the naked,
18I counsel you to buy from me a gold
made pure in fire so that you may be rich,
and have white clothes to wear on your body
so the shame of your nakedness not appear,
and salve to rub on your eyes so you can see.
19And those I love I rebuke and discipline.
So strive relentlessly and then repent.
20Look, I’m standing at the door and knock.
If you can hear my voice, open the door,
and I’ll come in to you and eat with you
and you with me. The victor I will ask
to sit with me on my throne as I too
was victorious and sat with my father
on his throne. Who has an ear, hear
what the spirit is saying to the churches.’”

25Ancient capital of Lydia, then a Seleucid kingdom. It had a temple to Artemis, and along with Laodikeia, received harsh criticism in Apocalypse for its spiritual “soiled clothes.”

26Near Sardis, Philadelphia appears in Apocalypse as a place of rivalry between Christianity and the Jewish community (Rev 3.9).

27Isaiah from Greek (Esaias), from Hebrew (yeshayahu) or (yeshayah).

28Is 6.3g; 22.22.

29A commercial center one hundred miles east of Ephesos, during Paul’s Ephesian ministry, its church was led by a woman named Nympha (Col 4.15).

30Not Amen of liturgical response, but a transliteration from Hebrew of “master workman,” here signifying Yeshua. The term is also found in Proverbs 8.30, “then I was beside him like a master worker.”

Chapter 4

An emerald rainbow around a throne in heaven
After this I looked, and there a door opened
in the sky, and the voice of the first I heard
was a ram’s horn speaking with me saying:
“Come up here and I will show you what
must happen after this.” 2At once I was enveloped
in the spirit and saw a throne standing in the sky
and one seated on the throne. 3The one seated
looked like stone of jasper and carnelian,
and around the throne was a rainbow like an emerald.
4And around the throne were twenty-four thrones
and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders
clothed in white garments, and on their heads
were gold crowns. 5From the throne poured out
lightning flashes and voices and booming thunder,
and before the throne were seven lamps of fire
burning, which are the seven spirits of God,
6and before the throne a sea of glass like crystal.

And in the middle and around the throne
were four live animals teeming with eyes
in front and in back.31 7The first was like a lion
and the second animal was like a calf32
and the third animal had a human face,
8the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.
And each of the live animals had six wings
and were full of eyes around them and inside,
and day and night they never ceased saying:
    Holy, holy, holy,
    lord God the pantokrator,
    the one who was and is
    and is to come.33
9And when the animals gave glory and honor
and thanks to the one seated on the throne
and to the one who lives forevermore,
10the twenty-four elders cast their crowns
before the throne, and said:
    Our lord and God,
    you are worthy to receive this glory, honor,
        and power,
    for you made all things,
    and by your will they were and were created.

31The description of the four animals or “living creatures” is derived from Ezekiel 1:5-10. Since Airiness these four animals were used as symbols oceanographical for the four evangelists.

32calf in earlier translations rendered as “ox.”

33Is 6.2-3.

Chapter 5

The scroll and the lamb
And I saw in the right hand of him sitting
on the throne a scroll written on the inside
and on the back, and sealed with seven seals.
2And I saw a strong angel who cried out
in a great voice, “Who is worthy to open
the book scroll and break its seven seals?”
3And no one in the sky or on the earth
or under the earth could open the book
or look at it, 4and I wept much since no one
was found worthy to open the book
or look at it. 5And one of the elders said to me,
“Don’t weep, see, the lion from the tribe
of Yehuda, the scion of David, has conquered
and will open the book and its seven seals.”

6I saw, between the throne and the four animals
and elders, a lamb standing as if slaughtered,
with seven horns and seven eyes which are
the seven spirits of God sent all over the earth.
7And he came and took it from the right hand
of the one seated on the throne. 8And when he took
the book the four animals and twenty-four elders
fell before the lamb, each holding a harp and gold bowls
filled with incense, which are the prayers of saints.
9And they sang a new song, saying:34
    You are worthy to take up the book scroll
        and to open the seals upon it
    since you were slaughtered and by your blood
        you bought35 people for God
    from every tribe and language and nation,
        10and for our God
    you made them be a kingdom and priests
        and they will reign over the earth.

11I looked and heard the voices of many angels
around the throne and animals and the elders,
and they numbered myriads of myriads
and thousands and thousands, 12saying in a great voice:
    Worthy is the lamb who was slaughtered
        to receive the power and riches
    and wisdom and strength and honor
        and glory and blessing.”
And every creature which is in the sky,
on the earth and under the earth and on the sea,
and everything in these, 13I heard them saying,
    To the one seated on the throne
        and to the lamb,
    blessings and honor and glory and dominion
        forevermore.
14And the four animals said, “Amen,”
and the elders fell down and worshiped.

34a new song. From Ps 33.3; 96:1 and Is 42.10, “Sing to the lord a new song.”

35Bought from (agorazo) to buy. Buy is the immediate common meaning of agorazo, which may in context take on a religious level of “redemption” (also a financial word) but remains an explanation of a metaphor, not the financial metaphor itself.

Chapter 6

Seven seals
And I saw the lamb open one of the seals
and I heard one of the four animals saying
in a voice that seemed like thunder, “Come!”
2and I saw, and look, a white horse
and its rider had a bow and was given a crown
and he went out conquering and to conquer.

3And when the lamb opened the second seal,
I heard the second animal saying, “Come!”
4Another horse of fire red came out.
Its rider was ordered to take peace away
from earth so men might kill each other,
and he was given a great sword.

5And when the lamb opened the third seal,
I heard the third animal saying, “Come!”
And I saw, and look, a black horse,
and its rider held a pair of scales in his hand.
6And I heard what seemed to be a voice
in the midst of the four animals, saying,
“A measure of wheat for a denar
and three measures of barley for a denar,
and do not damage the olive oil with wine.”

7And when the lamb opened the fourth seal,
I heard the voice of the fourth animal saying,
“Come!” 8and I saw, and look, a pale green horse,
and the name of his rider was Death, and Hell
was following him. Power was given them
over a quarter of the globe to kill
by sword and by hunger and by death
and by the wild beasts of the earth.

9And when the lamb opened the fifth seal,
I saw under the altar the souls of those
who were slaughtered for the word of God
and the testimony which they held.
10And they cried out in a great voice saying,
“How long, O absolute ruler, holy and true,
will you wait to judge and avenge our blood
from those who live upon the earth?
11They were each given a white robe and told
to rest a little time until the number was reached
of their fellow slaves, brothers and sisters
who are to be killed as they were killed.

12When the lamb opened the sixth seal I looked
and there took place a great earthquake
and the sun became black like sackcloth of hair
and the full moon became like blood,
13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth
as the fig tree drops its unripe fruit
shaken by a great wind. 14And the sky
vanished like a scroll rolling up
and every mountain and island of the earth
was torn up from its place and moved.
15And the kings of the earth and the great men
and commanders of thousands and every slave
and the free hid in caves and mountain rocks,
16and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us
and hide us from the face of him who is sitting
on the throne and from the anger of the lamb
17because the great day of his anger has come,
and before him who has the force to stand?”

Chapter 7

144,000 sealed from the tribes of Yisrael
After that I saw four angels standing on
the four farthest corners of the earth,
holding back the four winds of the earth
so that no wind might blow upon the earth
or upon the sea or upon any tree.
2And I saw another angel going up
the sky from the rising place of the sun,
carrying the seal of the living God,
and he cried in a great voice to the angels
granted power to harm the earth and sea,
3“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees
until we have marked the slaves of our God
with a seal on their foreheads.”
                                4And I heard
the number of those who were marked, a hundred
forty-four thousand were marked from every tribe
    of the children of Yisrael:36
5From the tribe of Yehuda twelve thousand sealed,
from the tribe of Reuven37 twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,
6from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Naftali38 twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Menashe39 twelve thousand,
7from the tribe of Shimon twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Yisahar40 twelve thousand,
8from the tribe of Zvulun41 twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Yosef twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Binyamin42 twelve thousand
    marked with the seal.

9After that I looked, and suddenly a multitude
whose number no one could count, from every
nation and tribe and people and tongue,
standing before the throne and before the lamb,
wearing white robes, holding palms in their hands.
10And they cried out in a great voice saying:43
    Salvation to our God who is sitting
    on the throne and to the lamb.
11And all the angels stood around the throne
and around the elders and the four animals,
who fell down before the throne on their faces
and they worshiped God, 12with these words:
    Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom
    and thanksgiving and honor and power
    and strength to our God forevermore.
                            Amen.

13Then one of the elders asked me, saying,
“These people who are clothed in robes of white,
do you know who they are, where they are from?”
14And I replied to him, “My lord, you know.”
And he said to me, “These people came from
great suffering and they have washed their robes
and whitened them in the blood of the lamb.
15So they stand before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple.
Seated on his throne he’ll spread his tent over them.44 16They’ll not be hungry or thirsty any more,
no sun will fall on them and scorch their skin,45
17because the lamb in the middle of the throne
will shepherd them and lead them to the springs
of the waters of life,46 and from their faces
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

36Israel.

37Reuben from Greek (Rouben), from Hebrew (reuven),

38Naphtali from Greek (Nefthalim), from Hebrew (neftali).

39Manasseh from Greek(Manassis), from Hebrew (menashe).

40Issachar from Greek (Issahar), from Hebrew (yisahar).

41Zebulun from Greek (Zaboulon), from Hebrew (zvulun).

42Benjamin from Greek (Beniamin), from Hebrew (binyamin).

43Psalms 8:3.

44See Lev 26.11; Eze 37.27.

45An allusion to the idyllic conditions described in Isa 49.10. See also Rev 21.4.

46For shepherd metaphor for king (and Yeshua), see 2 Sam 7.7; Isa 44.28; Jer 3.15. For living springs, see Isa 49.10.

Chapter 8

Angel and censer of fire
And when the lamb opened the seventh seal,
there was a half hour of silence in the sky.
2I saw the seven angels standing before God
and they were given seven ram’s horns.
3And another angel came and stood by the altar,
with a gold censer, and was given much incense
to offer with the prayers of all the saints
on the gold altar which was before the throne.
And coming with the prayers of the saints,
4then the smoke of varied incense arose
out of the hand of the angel before God.
5And the angel took the censer and filled it
with fire from the altar and threw it down to earth,
and there came thunders and voices and lightning
flashes and earthquake. 6The seven angels
holding the ram’s horns prepared to blow them.

7The first angel blew the ram’s horn. There came hail
and fire mingled with blood and it was thrown
to the earth, and a third of the earth burned up,
and a third of the trees burned up and all green grass
caught fire.

8And the second angel blew the ram’s horn
and something like a great mountain on fire
was cast into the sea. A third of the sea was blood
9and a third of the creatures in the sea died,
who had been alive. A third of the ships sank.

10And the third angel blew the ram’s horn.
From the sky a great star fell, a blazing torch,
and the star fell on a third of the rivers
and across the springs of the waters,
11and the name of the star is called Wormwood,
and a third of the waters became wormwood
and many people died from the waters
because they were made bitter.

12And the fourth angel blew the ram’s horn
and a third of the sun was struck by it,
and a third of the moon, a third of the stars,
and a third of their light was darkened,
and the day lost a third of its brilliance
and likewise the night.

13And I looked and I heard an eagle flying
in mid-sky, crying out in a great voice:
“Despair despair despair to the inhabitants
of the earth at the blasts of more ram’s horns
that the three angels are about to blow.”

Chapter 9

A star fell from the sky
And the fifth angel blew his ram’s horn
and I saw a star fall out of the sky
and down to the earth, and the angel was given
the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
2He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit
and smoke rose from the shaft like fumes
from a great furnace. And the sun was darkened
and the air was darkened from the smoke
of the shaft. 3And out of the smoke came locusts
upon the earth, and they were given powers
like the powers of scorpions of the earth.
4They were told not to damage the earth’s grass,
or any green thing, or any tree, but only people
who don’t wear the seal of God on their foreheads.
5They were told not to kill them but to torture them
for five months, and their torture should equal
the scorpion’s torture when it strikes a person.
6And in such days the people will seek death,
but not find it, and they will desire to die
but death will escape from them.

7The locusts looked like horses prepared for war.
On their heads it was like the crowns of gold
and their faces were like the faces of people,
8and they had hair like the hair of women,
and the teeth in their jaws resembled lions.
9Their breastplates seemed to be made of iron,
and the noise of their wings was like the noise
of many horse chariots galloping into battle.
10And they have tails like scorpions and stings,
and in their tails the power to harm people.
11They have a king over them who is the angel
of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon
and in Greek he has the name of Apollyon.47
12The first despair is over. After the first,
look, there are still two more despairs to come.

13And the sixth angel blew his ram’s horn,
and I heard a voice coming from the four horns
of the gold altar standing before God,
14telling the sixth angel who held the ram’s horn:
“Release the four angels who are bound
at the great river Euphrates.” 15The four angels
were freed, prepared for the hour and day
and month and year to kill a third of the people.
16And the number of cavalry of their armies
is two hundred million. I heard their number.
17And so I saw the horses in the vision
and the riders on them were wearing breastplates
of fire red and hyacinth blue and yellow sulfur
and the heads of horses were like heads of lions
and fire, smoke and sulfur48 came from their mouths.
18From these three plagues a third of humankind
was killed by the fire and smoke and sulfur
spewing from their mouths. 19The power of the horses
resides in their mouths and in their tails
because the tails are like serpents with heads
and with them they do harm.

20The rest of the people who had not been killed
in the plagues did not repent of the work
of their hands so they might go on worshiping
the demons and the idols of gold and silver
and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot
see or hear or walk. 21And they did not repent
of their murders or their poison sorceries
or their dirty copulations or their thefts.

47Abbadon is the realm of the dead, and Apollyon means “destroyer,” an attribute of Apollo.

48sulphur from (theion) is also translated “brimstone.”

Chapter 10

An angel clothed in cloud
I saw another strong angel coming down from
the sky, clothed in cloud, and the rainbow
was on his head, and his face was the sun,
and his feet like pillars of fire. 2In his hand
he held a little book open. He planted his right foot
on the sea and his left foot on the land
3and cried out in a great voice like a roaring lion.
When he cried out, the seven thunders spoke
in their own voices. 4When the seven thunders spoke,
I was about to write, but heard a voice in the sky,
saying, “Seal what the seven thunders have spoken
and do not write them down.” 5Then the angel,
whom I saw standing on the sea and on the earth,
lifted his right hand to the sky 6and he swore
by him who is alive forevermore,
who created the sky and what lives in it,
and the sea and what lives in it, and he said
that time will be no more. 7But in the days
of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he
is about to blow his ram’s horn, right then
the mystery of God will be fulfilled
as he informed his slaves who were the prophets.

8And the voice I heard from the sky again
spoke to me, saying, “Go take the open scroll
in the hand of the angel standing on the sea
and on the earth.” 9And I went to the angel,
telling him to give me the little book.
And he said to me, “Take it and eat it
and it will make your stomach bitter,
but in your mouth it will be like sweet honey.”
10And I took the book from the angel’s hand
and ate it and in my mouth it was as sweet
as honey but it made my stomach bitter.
11Then they said to me, “You must prophecy
again about many peoples and their tongues,
and about many nations and their kings.”

Chapter 11

Two witnesses in sackcloth
The angel gave me a reed like a staff. He said:
“Stand up and measure the temple of God
and the altar and those who worship there.
2But omit the courtyard outside the temple
and do not measure it, since it has been given
to the gentiles. They will trample the holy city
for forty-two months. 3I will give power to
two of my witnesses and they will prophesy
for a thousand two hundred days, wearing sackcloth.”
4These are the two olive trees and the two lamps
that stand before the lord of the earth.
5And if anyone wants to harm them, then fire
comes out of their mouths and eats their enemies;
and if anyone wants to harm them,
in this way that person must be killed.
6These have the power to close the sky
so no rain will drench their days of prophesy,
and they have a power over the waters
to turn them into blood and strike the earth
with every plague as often as they want.

7And when they finish their testimony,
the beast rising from the bottomless pit
will make war with them and conquer them
and kill them. 8Their dead bodies will lie
in the square of the great city,49 which is called
spiritually Sodom, and Egypt where their lord
was also crucified. 9For three days and a half,
members of the tribes and tongues and nations
will stare at their corpses and not let them be placed
in graves. 10And those who dwell on the earth
will be happy over them and be cheerful
and send each other gifts, since these two prophets
tormented those who dwell upon the earth.”

11But after three days and a half, the breath
of life from God went into them, and they
stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon
those who saw them. 12They heard a great voice out
of the sky, saying to them, “Come up here.”
And they went up into the sky in a cloud.
Their enemies saw them. 13And in that hour
there was a great earthquake and a tenth of
the city fell. And in the earthquake were killed
seven thousand of the inhabitants,
and the rest were terrified and gave glory
to the God of the sky. 14The second despair
is over. Look, the third despair comes soon.

The seventh ram’s horn
15And the seventh angel blew his ram’s horn
and there were great voices in the sky, saying:
    The kingdom of the world is now the kingdom
        of our lord and his messiah,
        and he will reign forevermore.50
16And the twenty-four elders, sitting on their thrones
before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17saying,
    We thank you, lord God the pantokrator,
        the one who is and was,
    because you have taken your great power
        and become king.
    18The gentile nations raged51
        and your anger came
    and also the time for judging the dead
    and giving wages to your slaves, the prophets
    and your saints, and to all who fear your name,
        the small and the great,
    and to destroy the destroyers of the earth.

19Then the temple of God in the sky was opened
and the ark of his covenant52 was seen in his temple
and there came lightning flashes and voices
and thunders and an earthquake and great hail.

49The great city in Apocalypse is normally Babylon, but also identified as Rome, Jerusalem, Egypt, and Sodom, all condemned for crimes against prophets, God’s messengers, and Yeshua.

50Ps 2.22;29.

51Ps 2.1.

52“The ark of his covenant” was an acacia wood chest (Deut 10.1-2), symbolizing the presence of God among his people, kept in the Temple in Jerusalem probably until the Temple’s destruction in the early sixth century B.C.E. by the Babylonian king Nebuzaradan.

Chapter 12

Woman, child, and the dragon
Then there was a great portent in the sky,
a woman clothed in the sun, and the moon
under her feet, and on her head a crown
of seven stars. 2In her womb she had a child
and screamed in labor pains, aching to give birth.
3And another portent was seen in the sky,
look, a great fire-red dragon with seven heads
and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.
4His tail dragged a third of the stars of heaven
and hurled them to the earth. The dragon stood
before the woman about to give birth
so when she bore her child he might devour it.
5She bore a son, a male, who will shepherd
all nations with a rod of iron,
and her child was snatched away to God
and to his throne. 6And the woman fled
into the desert where she has a place
made ready by God that they might nourish
her one thousand two hundred sixty days.

7And in the sky were Mihael53 and his angels
battling with the dragon. 8The dragon and his angels
fought back, but they were not strong enough.
No longer was there place for them in the sky.
9The great dragon, the ancient snake, who is called
Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole
inhabited world, was flung down to earth
and his angels were flung down with him.
10And I heard a great voice in the sky, saying,
“Now has come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God and the authority
of his messiah, for the accuser of our brothers
and sisters has been cast down, and the accuser
abused them day and night before our God.
11They defeated him through the blood of the lamb
and by the word to which they testified
and did not cling to life while facing death.
12Be happy, skies, and those who set their tents
on you. Earth and sky, you will know grief,
because the devil has come down to you
in great rage, knowing he has little time.”

13When the dragon saw that he had been cast
down on the earth, he pursued the woman
who had borne the male child. 14And she was given
two wings of the great eagle that she might fly
into the desert to her place where she is nourished
for a time, and times, and half a time away
from the face of the snake. 15But from his mouth
the snake cast water, a flood behind the woman,
so he might sweep her away on the river.
16But the earth helped the woman, and the earth
opened its mouth and swallowed the river
which the dragon had cast out of his mouth.
17The dragon was enraged at the woman and left
to battle against her remaining seed,
those who keep the commandments of God
and keep the testimony of Yeshua.

18Then the dragon stood on the sand of the sea.54

53Michael from Greek (Micahvl), from Hebrew (Mihael) in Daniel 12.1, “the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise.” From Michael as the special protector of Israel came the Covenant meaning of the protecting archangel.

54Other ancient texts have this line at beginning of chapter 13.

Chapter 13

Beast from the sea
Then I saw a beast coming up from the sea,55
with ten horns and seven heads and on his horns
ten diadems, and on his heads were the names
of blasphemy. 2The beast I saw was like a leopard,
his feet like a bear and his mouth like the mouth
of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power
and his throne and fierce power of dominion.
3One of his heads seemed to be stricken to death
but the wound causing his death was healed
and the whole world marveled after the beast.
4They worshiped the dragon since he had given
dominion to the beast, and they worshiped the beast,
saying, “Who is like the beast and can battle him?”
5He was given a mouth to speak great things
and blasphemies. And he was given dominion
to act for forty-two months. 6Then he opened
his mouth to utter blasphemies against God,
blaspheming his name and his tenting place,
and those who have set their tent in the sky.
7He was given powers to battle the saints
and to overcome them, and was given powers
over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.
8All who dwell on the earth will worship him,
each one whose name has not been written since
the foundation of the world in the book of life
of the slaughtered lamb. 9Who has an ear, hear
Yirmiyah:56
    10He who leads into captivity goes into captivity.
    He who kills with the sword will be killed
        by the sword.57
Such is the endurance and faith of the saints.

Beast from the earth
11Then I saw another beast rising from the earth
and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke
like a dragon. 12He exercises all the dominion
of the first beast before him, and makes the earth
and its inhabitants worship the first beast,
whose wound of death was healed.
    13He does great portents,
even making a fire plunge from the sky
down to the earth in the sight of the people.
14He fools the inhabitants on the earth
by means of the portents he contrives to make
on behalf of the beast, creating an image
to show the beast as wounded by the sword
yet coming out alive. 15And he had the power
to give breath58 to the image of the beast
and the image of the beast could even speak
and cause all who would not worship the beast
to be killed. 16He causes all, the small and great,
the rich and poor, the free and the slaves,
to be marked on the hand and the forehead
17so that no one can buy or sell without the mark,
the name of the beast or number of his name.
18Here is wisdom. Who has a mind, calculate
the number of the beast, which is the number
for a human. And the number is 666.59

55Rome and its emperors are represented as the sea monster Leviathan (Ezek 29.3; 2 Esd 6.47-52.

56Jeremiah from Greek (Ieremias), from Hebrew (yirmiyah).

57Jer 15:2, 14:11.

58Breath (pneuma) is breath and by extension spirit, and sometimes, as in the prologue of John, means both.

59The number of the beast corresponds in Hebrew to a code, which may be the name of Nero Caesar.

Chapter 14

Lamb on Mount Zion
Then I saw, and look, the lamb standing on
Mount Zion and with him one hundred forty-four
thousand who had his name and the name of
his father written on their foreheads. 2And
I heard a voice out of the sky like the voice
of many waters, like the voice of great thunder,
and the voice I heard was like the voice of harpists
playing on their harps. 3They sing a new song
before the throne and before the four animals
and the elders, and no one could learn the song
except the hundred and forty-four thousand
who have been bought60 from the earth. 4These are
the men who were not defiled by women,
since they are virgins. They follow the lamb
wherever he goes. These were bought from men
as a first fruit for God and the lamb. 5And in
their mouths no lie was found. They are blameless.

6Then I saw another angel flying in midair
with an eternal gospel to proclaim
to those inhabiting the earth and each nation,
and tribe and tongue and people, 7saying
in a great voice:
        Fear God and give him glory.
        The hour of his judgment is come,
    and worship him who made the sky and earth,
        the sea and the springs of water.
8Another angel, a second, followed, saying:
        Great Babylon is fallen, is fallen61.
    She made all nations drink her wine of passion
        and her filthy copulations.
9Another angel, a third, followed them, saying
in a great voice, “All those who worship the beast
and his image and receive a mark on the forehead
or on the hand, 10even those humans will drink
the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured
undiluted into the cup of the anger
of their God, and they will be tormented
in fire and in sulfur before the holy angels
and before the lamb. 11The smoke of their torment
will rise forevermore, and there’s no rest
day and night for any who worship the beast
and his image or wears the mark of his name.”
12Such is the endurance of the saints, who keep
the commandments of God and faith in Yeshua.

13And I heard a voice out of the sky, saying,
“Write. Blessed are the dead who from now on
die in the lord.” “Yes,” the spirit says, “so they
may rest from their labors. Their works
will follow after them.”

Earthly son on a white cloud and angels with harvest sickles
14Then I looked and there was a white cloud,
and seated on the cloud was one who seemed
to be the Earthly Son, wearing a gold crown
on his head, and he was carrying in his hand
a sharp sickle. 15Another angel came out
of the temple, crying in a great voice
to the one sitting on the cloud, “Take out
your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap
has come, because the harvest of the earth
is ripe.” 16And the one sitting on the cloud
swung his sickle on the earth, and reaped the earth.
17Another angel came out of his temple
in the sky, and he carried a sharp sickle.
18Another angel came out of the altar,
who is in charge of fire, and he called
in a great voice to him with the sharp sickle:
“Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather up
the clusters of the vine upon the earth,
because her grapes are ripe.” 19And the angel
thrust his sickle into the ground and gathered
the vintage from the earth and threw it into
the great winepress of the anger of God.
20And the winepress was trodden outside the city
and blood came from the press up to the bridles
of horses for a distance of four hundred furlongs.62

60See note 1.9 on bought and redeemed.

61Isa 21.9. Babylon may be a code name for Rome.

62Furlong from Greek (stadion). The Greek says 1600 stadia. A stade is 606 feet. 1600 stadia is about two hundred miles. “Stade” is commonly translated as “furlong,” 220 feet; hence 400 furlongs.

Chapter 15

Sea of glass mingled with fire
And I saw another great portent in the sky,
great and wonderful, seven angels with seven plagues,
the last ones, since the anger of God is fulfilled
in them. 2I saw what seemed a sea of glass
mingled with fire, and victors over the beast
and his image and the number of his name,
standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.
3They sang the song of Moshe the slave of God
and the song of the lamb:
    Great and wonderful are your works,
        lord God the pantokrator.
    Just and true are your ways,
        O king of nations!
    4Who will not fear you, lord,
        and glorify your name?
    Because you alone are holy,
        because all nations come
        and worship before you,
    because your judgments are revealed.63

Seven gold bowls with the anger of God
5After this I looked. The temple of the tent64
of testimony was opened in the sky,
6and the seven angels with the seven plagues
came out of the temple. They were robed in linen
clean and bright, and gold belts girding their breasts.
7One of the four animals gave the seven angels
seven gold bowls filled with the anger of God
who lives forevermore. 8The temple was filled
with smoke from the glory of God and from
his power, and none could enter the temple until
the seven plagues of the seven angels were done.

63The song of Moses, from Deut 32.1-47 and Ex 15.1-18, was sung on Sabbath evenings in the synagogues to celebrate Israel’s deliverance from Egypt.

64 tent from Greek (skeni), tent, from Hebrew (sukah), shelter, tent.

Chapter 16

Angels emptying bowls of God’s wrath on the earth
Then I heard a great voice out of the temple,
saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out
the seven bowls of the anger of God
onto the earth.” 2So the first went, and poured
the bowl out onto the earth, and a sore
and painful wound came on those with the mark
of the beast and those worshiping his image.

3Then the second poured his bowl on the sea
and it turned into blood like a dead man’s,
and every living soul died in the sea.
4And the third poured his bowl on the rivers
and springs of waters, and it turned into blood.
5I heard the angel of the waters saying:
    You are just, the one who was,
        the holy one,
    for you have judged these things.
    6Because they shed the blood of saints
        and prophets,
    you gave them blood to drink.
        as they deserve.
7And I heard the altar respond:
    Yes, lord God, the pantokrator,
    your judgments are true and right.

8And the fourth poured his bowl onto the sun
and he was able to burn people with great fire.
9And the people were burned in a great blaze
and they blasphemed the name of his God,
who holds dominion over these plagues,
and they failed to repent and give him glory.

10And the fifth poured out his bowl on the throne
of the beast, and his kingdom turned dark,
and they chewed their tongues from pain.
11They blasphemed the God in the sky because
of their pains and their sores and did not repent
from their works.

12And the sixth poured out his bowl
on the great Euphrates river. Its water dried up
so as to make ready the way for the kings
from the rising sun. 13I saw coming out
of the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth
of the beast, from the mouth of the false prophet
three unclean breaths like frogs. 14For these are breaths
of demons performing portents that go out
to the kings of the whole inhabited world,
to poise them for the battle of the great day
of God the pantokrator. 15("Look, I’m coming
like a thief! Blessed is the one who watches
and cares for his clothes so he doesn’t walk
about naked and his shame become seen.”)65
16And they brought them together in a place
which is called in Hebrew Har Megiddo.66

17The seventh poured out his bowl upon the air,
and a great voice came out of the temple
from the throne, saying: “It happened!” 18There were
the lightning flashes, voices and the thunders.
There was an earthquake greater than any since
people inhabited the earth, it was so violent.
19The city was sundered into three parts
and the cities of the nations fell. Then Babylon
the great was remembered before God,
who gave her the wine cup of the fury of his wrath.
20Every island fled and mountains were not found.
21Huge hail, heavy as talents, fell from the sky
upon the people, and they blasphemed God
for bringing plague with this enormous hail,
because the plague was exceedingly great.

65This unforeseen parenthetical voice, “I’m coming like a thief!,” gives the common metaphor for the unexpected arrival of Yeshua as in Matt 24.42-44; Lk 12.39-40.

66Armageddon or Har Magedon from (Armagedon), from Hebrew (har megiddo), meaning, “Mountain or Hill of Megiddo,” an ancient archeological site and city in central Israel of decisive battles, by Megiddo, a major Canaanite city in Manasseh. The site has taken on a mystical quality about which there is much fuss and uncertainty.

Chapter 17

The great whore on a scarlet beast
Then came one of the seven angels who held
the seven bowls and he spoke with me, saying:
“Come, I’ll show you the judgment on the great whore
sitting on the many waters, 2with whom the kings
of the earth have copulated, and with the wine
of her copulations the dwellers of the earth
have got drunk.” 3He took me off to a desert
in the spirit. I saw a woman sitting
on a scarlet beast who was filled with the names
of blasphemy, with seven heads and ten horns.
4The woman was wearing purple and scarlet
and was adorned with gold and precious stones
and pearls. She held a gold cup in her hand,
full of the abominations and filth
of her harlotry. 5On her forehead a name
was written:
        MYSTERY
        BABYLON THE GREAT
        THE MOTHER OF THE WHORES
        AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH67

6And I saw the woman drunk on the blood of saints
and from the blood of the witnesses of Yeshua.
I was amazed, looking at her with wonder.
7The angel said to me, “Why do you marvel?
I will tell you the mystery of the woman
and the beast with seven heads and ten horns
who carries her. 8The beast you saw was
and is not and is about to come up out of
the bottomless abyss and go to his perdition.
And the inhabitants of earth will be stunned,
whose names have not been written in the book
of life from the foundation of the world,
when they see the beast that is and is not
and is to come. 9Here is the mind with wisdom:
the seven heads are seven mountains where
the woman sits on them. They are seven kings.
10Five have fallen, one is, the other has not
yet come, and when he comes, short is the time
he must stay. 11The beast who was and is not,
he too is the eighth and comes from the seven
and goes to his perdition. 12The ten horns
you saw are ten kings who did not yet take
a kingdom, but they will have their kingdom
as kings for one hour along with the beast.
13These are of one mind and render the power
and dominion to the claws of the beast.
14They will make war with the lamb and the lamb
will conquer them, because he is the lord
of lords and king of kings. Those on his side
are the called and the chosen and the faithful.”

15Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw
where the whore sits, there are peoples and crowds
and nations and tongues. 16The ten horns you saw
and the beast, they will all hate the whore
and will make her desolate and naked,
and eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.
17For God put in their hearts to do his will
and act with one mind to give their kingship
until the words of God will be fulfilled.
18And the woman you saw is the great city
with dominion over the kings of the earth.”68

67The great whore is often a metaphor for a godless city as in Isa 1.21; 23.16-17.

68The great city is Babylon, but may signify Rome, or hell, or all three.

Chapter 18

All nations have drunk the wine of copulation with fallen Babylon
After this I saw another angel coming down
out of the sky and with great authority
and the earth was lighted with his glory.
2And he cried out in a powerful voice, saying:
    Fallen fallen is Babylon the great.69
    She has become a home for demons
    and a prison of every foul spirit
    and a prison of every foul bird
    and a prison of every foul and
    detested beast, 3since all the nations
    have drunk the wine of passion
    of her copulation, and the kings
    of the earth have copulated with her,
    and the merchants of the earth
    have grown rich on her lechery.70

Of merchants, captains, and seafarers who mourn and now cry out
4Then I heard another voice out of the sky, saying:
    Come out of her, my people,
    so you will not join in her sins,
    so you won’t take on her plagues,
    5because her sins are piled up
        and reach the sky.
    God has remembered her iniquities.
    6Render to her as she has rendered,
        mix her a double portion
        in the cup she has mixed.
    7As she gloried in the luxury of the flesh,
    give her equal torment and sorrow.
        In her heart she says,
            ‘I sit, a queen,
            I am not a widow
                and will never know grief.’
    8But soon the plagues will come to her,
    death and sorrow and famine,
        and in fire she will burn,
    for powerful is the lord God who has
        judged her.

9The kings of the earth, who have copulated
with her and lived in lechery, will weep
and beat themselves over her when they see
the smoke of her burning. 10Standing far off
because they fear the torment, they say:
    Despair despair is the great city
        Babylon, the strong city,
    for in an hour your judgment came.
11The merchants of the earth cry out and mourn
over her, since no one buys their cargo now,
12cargo of gold and silver and precious stones
and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth
and silk and scarlet and every cedar wood
and every ivory vessel and every vessel
of precious wood and bronze and iron and marble
13and cinnamon and spice and incense and myrrh
and frankincense and wine and olive oil
and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep,
and horses and chariots and bodies and souls.
    14And the autumn fruit your soul longed for
        has gone from you,
    and all the luxurious and the brilliant
        are lost to you
        and never will be found.
15The merchants of these things, who became rich
from her, will stand far off because they fear
her torment, her weeping and her mourning,
16which say:
    Despair despair is the great city
    who was clothed in fine linen
    and purple cloth and scarlet
    and decorated with gold
    and precious stone and pearl.
    17In an hour that wealth was desert.
And all captains and seafarers on the ship
and sailors and all those who work the sea
stood far off 18and cried out as as they saw
the smoke of her conflagration, saying,
    What city was like this great city?
19And they threw dust upon their heads
and they cried out with tears and groans:
    Despair despair is the city,
    where all who owned ships on the sea
    grew rich from her prosperity.
    In an hour came only desolation.
20Heaven and saints, celebrate her downfall,
and apostles and prophets, for God has judged
against her for you. 21Then one strong angel
picked up a boulder like a great millstone
and hurled it down into the sea, saying:
    With such violence Babylon will be cast down
        and will be found no more.
    22And the voices of harp players and singers,
        the pipers and ram-horn blowers
        will be heard no more in you,
        and the artisan of any trade
        will be found no more in you,
        and the sound of the mill
        will be heard no more in you,
        23and the light of a lamp
        will shine no more in you,
        the voice of the groom and bride
        will be heard no more in you.
Your merchants were the great men of the earth
and all nations were fooled by your sorcery.
24In her was the blood of prophets and saints
and all those who were slaughtered on the earth.

69Again a reference to Isa 21.9; Jer 51.8, foreseeing Rome’s fall. These many references to Rome as the terrible enemy reflect how Apocalypse remained outside the redaction process that fashioned the gospels so as to favor Rome (despite its crucifixion of Yeshua), to justify her destruction of “sinful” Jerusalem of the Jews, and, by implication, to speak for Rome’s later church. Although the gospels are replete with references to the Hebrew Bible, each page of Apocalypse draws deeply from the Jewish scriptures. Written while the division between Jews and Christian Jews was still a blur of rivalry and not a schism, it is, after Daniel, the other great apocalypse of which we have several Jewish and Christian Jewish texts from the Intertestmental period. See James Charlesworth. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983-1985, 2 v., and Barnstone. The Other Bible. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1984.

70Lechery or sensuality from (strenos), which may also be translated “luxury.”

Chapter 19

A great voice in the heaven crying Halleluyah!71
After this I heard a great voice in the sky,
like a huge crowd shouting:
                    Halleluyah!
    Salvation and glory and honor and power
        to our God,
    2True and just are his judgments,
    He judged the great whore
    who has corrupted the earth with her harlotry.
    He avenged the blood of his own slaves
        against her hand.

3A second time they said:
                    Halleluyah!
    And her smoke ascends forever and ever.

4Then the twenty-four elders and four animals
fell down and worshiped God, who was seated
on the throne, and said,
                    Amen Halleluyah!
5And a voice came from the throne, saying:
                    Praise our God
    and all his slaves and those who fear him
        the small and the great.

6And I heard the voice of a huge crowd
like the voice of many waters and thunders,
saying:
                    Halleluyah!
    Because the lord God and pantokrator reigns.
    7Let us be happy and exult and give him glory,
    for the wedding of the lamb has come,
        and his bride got ready
    8and she had to clothe herself in fine linen
        bright and clean,
a linen of the good acts of the saints.
9The angel said to me, “Write. Blessed are
those called to the supper of the wedding
of the lamb.” And the angel said, “These words
are the true words of God.” 10I fell before
his feet to worship him. He said to me,
“You must not do that! I am your fellow slave
and of your brothers and sisters who keep
the testimony of Yeshua. Worship God.
To witness Yeshua is the spirit of prophecy.”

Rider on a white horse
11I saw the sky open, and look, a white horse
and the rider on him called Faithful and True,
and in the right he judges and makes war.
12His eyes are flame of fire, and on his head
many diadems, with names written known
alone by him. 13And he wore a mantle
dipped in blood and his name is called the word
of God. 14The armies in the sky followed him
on white horses, clothed in fine linen white
and clean. 15And from his mouth goes a sharp sword
to smite the nations. He will shepherd them
with a rod of iron. He will trample the wine press
of the fury of the anger of God, the pantokrator.
16He wears on his mantle and on his thigh
a name written,
        KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

Into the lake of fire
17I saw an angel standing in the sun
and he cried out in a great voice, saying:
“To all the birds flying in the middle air,
Come, gather for the great supper of God
18to eat the flesh of kings and flesh of captains
and flesh of strongmen and flesh of horses
and of their riders and flesh of both the free
and slaves and small and great.” 19I saw the beast
and kings of the earth and their armies poised
to make war against the rider on his horse
and against his armies. 20Then the beast
was captured and with him the false prophet
who had worked miracles on the beast’s behalf
and so deceived those who received the mark
of the beast and those who worshiped the image
of the monster. The two of them were cast alive
into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.
21The rest were killed by the sword of the rider
on the horse, the sword that came from his mouth;
and all the flying birds gorged on their flesh.

71Halleluyah from Greek (hallelouia), from Hebrew (haleluyah), meaning “praise Yahweh.”

Chapter 20

Angel with a great chain in his hand
I saw an angel coming down from the sky.
He was holding a great chain on his hand
and the key of the bottomless pit. 2He seized
the dragon, the ancient snake, who is the devil
and Satan; he bound him for a thousand years
3and cast him into the bottomless pit
and closed it tight and sealed it over him
so he couldn’t fool the nations any more
until the thousand years should be fulfilled.
After that he must be released a short time.
4Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them
were given the power to judge. I saw
the souls of those beheaded for their testimony
to Yeshua and for the word of God
and those who had not worshiped the beast
nor the image of him and did not take
his mark on their forehead and on their hand,
and they came to life and reigned with Yeshua
for a thousand years. 5The rest of the dead
did not come to life until the thousand years
were over. This is the first resurrection.

Devil in sulfur and fire forever
6Blessed and holy are they who take part in
the first resurrection: on these the second death
has no power. They will become priests of God
and of Yeshua and with him they will reign
a thousand years. 7And when the thousand years
should be fulfilled, Satan will be released
from his prison 8and will come out to fool
the nations in the four corners of the earth,
Gog and Magog,72 to lead them into battle,
whose number is like the sand of the sea.
9Then they climbed up and over the width
of the earth and encircled the encampment
of the saints and their beloved city,
but fire came down from the sky and consumed
the attackers. 10The devil, who had fooled them,
was cast into the lake of fire and sulfur
where both the beast and the false prophet are
and will be tormented forevermore.

Of the dead written in the book
11I saw a throne great and white, and sitting
on it was he from whose face fled the earth
and the sky, and no place was found for them.
12I saw the dead, the great and small. They stood
before the throne and there the books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book
of life. The dead were judged according to
their works as they were written in the books.
13The sea gave up the dead in it, and hell
gave up the dead in it, and they were judged,
each one according to their works. 14And death
and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15And anyone not written in the book
of life was cast into the lake of fire.

72 Eze 38-39 Gog, king of Magog, two names that represent those nations in league who will march against Jerusalem. They seem to appear after the first thousand-year reign of the messiah. In Apocalypse their defeat, meaning that of Satan and of his forces, will herald the triumph of the Lamb in the New Jerusalem. The war of Gog and Magog is commented on in the Babylonian Talmud.

Chapter 21

A new Yerushalayim descend from heaven
And I saw a new sky and a new earth,
for the first sky and the first earth were gone
and the sea was no more. 2I saw the holy
city, the new Yerushalayim, coming down
out of the sky from God who prepared her
like a bride adorned for her groom. 3And then
I heard a great voice from the throne, saying:
“Look, now the tent of God is with them. They’ll be
his people, and he God will be with them,
4and he will wipe away each tear from their eyes
and death will be no more. And grief and crying
and pain will be no more. The past has perished.”

I am the Alpha and the Omega
5And he who sat upon the throne said, “Look,
I made all new.” And he said, “Write, because
these words are true and faithful.” 6And he said
to me, “It’s done. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end. And to the thirsty
I will give a gift from the spring of the water
of life. 7The victor will inherit these things
and I will be his God and he will be
a son. 8But to the cowards and unbelieving
and abominable and murderers and copulators
and sorcerers and all who are false, their fate
will be the lake burning with fire and sulfur,
which is the second death.”

The city clear gold like clear glass
9One of the angels came with the seven bowls
full of the seven last plagues, and he spoke
with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride,
the wife of the lamb.” 10And he took me away
in spirit onto a mountain great and high,
and showed me the city of holy Yerushalayim
coming down out of the sky from God,
11wearing the glory of God, and her radiance
like a precious stone, like a jasper stone
and crystal clear. 12She has a great and high wall
with twelve gates and at the gates twelve angels,
their names inscribed on them: the twelve tribes
who are the sons and daughters of Yisrael.
13On the east three gates and on the north three gates,
on the south three gates and on the west three gates.
14The walls of the city have twelve foundations,
and on them twelve names, the twelve apostles of
    the lamb.
15The angel speaking to me had a gold
measuring rod to gage the city and her gates
and walls. 16The city lies foursquare, its length
and width the same. He gaged the city with
the reed, twelve thousand furlongs in length,73
her length and width and height the same. 17He gaged
her wall a hundred forty-four cubits,74
by human measurement like the angel’s.

18The wall is built of jasper and the city
clear gold like clear glass. 19The foundations of
the city are adorned with precious stones,
the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire,
third of agate, fourth of emerald, 20fifth of onyx,
the sixth carnelian, seventh of chrysolite,
the eighth beryl, ninth of topaz, tenth of chrysoprase,
eleventh jacinth and the twelfth amethyst.
21The twelve gates are twelves pearls, each gate
a single pearl, and the great square in the city
is clear gold like diaphanous glass.

City without need of sun or moon
22I saw no temple in her, for the temple
is lord God the pantokrator and the lamb.
23The city has no need of sun or moon
to shine on her, for the glory of God
illumined her and her lamp is the lamb.
24The gentile nations will walk around
through her light, and the kings of the earth
bring glory into her. 25Her gates will never
be shut by day, and night will not be there.
26Her people will bring the glory and honor
of nations into her. 27But no common thing75
will enter her, or anyone who stoops
to abominations and lies, but only those
written in the book of life of the lamb.

73 About 1500 miles.

74 Almost 200 feet.

75 Common from (koinos), meaning common, of little value, or communal in the sense of being shared. Here this word, as many ordinary words in New Covenant lexicons, is given a religious boost by translating it as “profane,” which suggest “in contrast to the sacred.” But its sense of “common” or “plain” contrasts in a lovely way with the luminous magnificence of the city in the sky, which is lost when common has an ecclesiastical ring.

Chapter 22

River of the water of life
The angel showed me a river of the water
of life shining like crystal and issuing
from the throne of God and of the lamb.
2Between the great plaza and the river
and on either side stands the tree of life
with her twelve fruits, yielding a special fruit
for every month, and the leaves of the tree
are for healing the nations. 3All curses
will cease to exist. The throne of God
and of the lamb will be in the city.
His slaves will serve him 4see his face. His name
will be on their foreheads. 5And night will not
be there and they’ll need no light of a lamp
or light of sun, for the lord God will glow
on them, and they will reign forevermore.

I’m coming quickly!
6Then he said to me, “These words are faithful
and true, and the lord God of the spirits of
the prophets sent his angel to show his slaves
those things which soon must take place. 7Look,
I’m coming quickly! Blessed is the one
who keeps the words of this book’s prophecy.”
8I Yohanan am the one who heard and saw
these things. And when I heard and saw I fell
and worshiped before the feet of the angel
showing me these things. 9And he said to me,
“You must not do that! I am your fellow slave
and of your brothers the prophets and those
who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
10And he tells me, “Do not seal the words
of prophecy of this book. The time is near.
11Let the unjust still be unjust, the filthy
still be filthy, the righteous still do right,
and the holy one be holy still.” 12"Look,
I’m coming quickly, and my reward is with me
to give to each according to your work.
13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first
and the last, the beginning and the end.”

To the tree of life
14Blessed are they who are washing their robes
so they will have the right to the tree of life
and can enter the city through the gates.
15Outside will be the dogs and sorcerers
and copulators and murderers and idolaters
and everyone who loves to practice lies.

I am the offspring of David the bright morning star
16"I Yeshua sent my angel to you
to testify these things for the churches.
I am the root and the offspring of David,
the bright morning star.” 17The spirit and bride
say, “Come.” Let you who hear say, “Come.”
Let you who thirst come, and let you who wish
take the water of life, which is a gift.”

Come, lord Yeshua!
18I give my testimony to all who hear
these words of the prophecy of this book.
If anyone adds to these, then God will add
to them the plagues recorded in this book.
19If anyone takes away from the words
of this book’s prophecy, God will cut off
their share of the tree of life and the holy
city, those things recorded in this book.76
20And he who is the one who testifies
to all this says, “Yes, I am coming quickly!”
Amen. Come, lord Yeshua! 21And may
the grace of lord Yeshua be with you all.

76 These last commands and warnings are from Dt 4.2 ;12.32.

The New Covenant is available from your local bookstore or online from Amazon.com or bn.com. This book usually ships within 24 hours.

         More about poet/translator Willis Barnstone including other translations,
         poetry and biblical studies.