Dual Panel1After that I saw four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind should blow on land or sea or on any tree.
2I saw another angel rising from the east, bearing the seal of the living God. To the four angels who had been given the power to ravage land and sea, he cried out:
3“Do no damage to land or sea or to the trees until we have set the seal of our God upon the foreheads of his servants.”
4I heard how many had been marked with the seal -- a hundred and forty-four thousand from all the tribes of Israel:
5twelve thousand from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad,
6twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh,
7twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar,
8twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, and twelve thousand from the tribe of Benjamin.
9After that I looked and saw a vast throng, which no one could count, from all races and tribes, nations and languages, standing before the throne and the Lamb. They were robed in white and had palm branches in their hands,
10and they shouted aloud: “Victory to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
11All the angels who stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures prostrated themselves before the throne and worshipped God,
12crying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honour, power and might, be to our God for ever! Amen.”
13One of the elders turned to me and asked, “Who are these all robed in white, and where do they come from?”
14I answered, “My lord, it is you who know.” He said to me, “They are those who have passed through the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15That is why they stand before the throne of God and worship him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will protect them with his presence.
16Never again shall they feel hunger or thirst; never again shall the sun beat on them or any scorching heat,
17because the Lamb who is at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”