1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree.2And I saw another angel ascending from the east, with the seal of the living God. And he called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:3“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.”4And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel:5From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,from the tribe of Gad 12,000,6from the tribe of Asher 12,000,from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,7from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,from the tribe of Levi 12,000,from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,8from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.9After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.10And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation to our God,who sits on the throne,and to the Lamb!”11And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God,12saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”13Then one of the elders addressed me: “These in white robes,” he asked, “who are they, and where have they come from?” 14“Sir,” I answered, “you know.”

So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.15For this reason,

they are before the throne of Godand serve Him day and night in His temple;and the One seated on the thronewill spread His tabernacle over them.16‘Never again will they hunger,and never will they thirst;nor will the sun beat down upon them,nor any scorching heat.’17For the Lamb in the center of the thronewill be their shepherd.‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”