An angel came up from the east and commanded the four angels stationed in four directions to continue restraining the destructive winds until angels had sealed God’s servants.

1After this I saw four angels. One was standing at the north, one at the east, one at the south, and one at the west. They were restraining the winds that blew from all directions [MTY] to keep them from blowing destructively on the earth or on the ocean or even on any tree.

2I saw another angel come up from the east. He was carrying God’s seal. With this seal God, who is all-powerful, marks his own people to protect them. The angel called out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom he had given power to harm the earth and the ocean. He said

3to them, “Do not harm the earth or the ocean or the trees until we (exc) have marked the servants of our (inc) God on their foreheads.”

4Then the angel and his fellow angels marked all God’s servants. I heard the number of people who were marked {whom the angels marked} because of their being God’s servants. The number was 144,000. They were from all the tribes of Israel. They symbolized the complete number of people whom God would protect.

5The angels marked 12,000 people from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,

612,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,

712,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12.000 from the tribe of Issachar,

812,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, and 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin.

The triumphant crowd stood before the throne in heaven and acknowledged that God and the Lamb had rescued them. Then the angels, the elders, the living creatures, and a huge crowd of people worshipped God and praised him.

9After these things I saw a huge crowd. There were so many people that no one would be able to count them. They were from every nation, every tribe, every people-group, and every language [MTY]. They were standing before the throne and before Jesus, the one who is like a lamb. They were wearing white robes and held palm branches to wave them in order to celebrate.

10They shouted loudly, “O our (exc) God, you who sit on the throne, and Jesus, you who are like a lamb, you two have delivered us(exc) from Satan’s power!”

11All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They all bowed down before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshipped God.

12They said, “May it be so! We(exc) praise, thank, and honor you, our (exc) God, forever! We(exc) acknowledge that you are completely wise, the powerful one, who is forever able to accomplish everything he wants to. ◄May everyone acknowlege that it is so!/Amen!►”

One of the elders explained to John about the saints who are dressed in white robes.

13Then one of the elders asked me, “These people who are wearing white robes, do you know who they are, and where they come from?”

14I answered him, “Sir, I do not know. Surely you know who they are!” He said to me, “These are the people ◄whom others have caused to suffer greatly/who have been persecuted►. Because they believed that Jesus, the one who is like a sacrificial lamb, atoned for our sin when his blood flowed from his body when he died, it is as though [MET] they have washed their robes and have made them clean and white.

15Because of this, they are in front of God’s throne, and they serve him day and night in his heavenly temple. God, the one who sits on the throne, will shelter/protect them [MTY].

16As a result, they will never again be hungry. They will never again be thirsty. The sun will never again ◄beat on/burn► them, nor will any heat scorch them.

17This is because the one who is like a lamb who is at the throne will take care of them, just like a shepherd takes care of his sheep [MET]. He will guide them to the source of eternal life, just like a shepherd leads his sheep to springs of water, which enable the sheep to live [MET]. God will cause them to no longer be sad. It will be as if he were wiping away all tears from their eyes [MTY].”