The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (293 page)

  
that was clothed in fine linen, in
purple and scarlet
,

  
adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!

¹⁷
In one hour all this wealth has been laid waste."

And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off
¹⁸
and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,

  
"What city was like the great city?"

¹⁹
And they threw dust on their heads, as they
 
wept and mourned, crying out,

  
"Alas, alas, for the great city

  
where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth!

  
In one hour she has been laid waste.

²⁰
Rejoice over her, O heaven,

  
O saints and apostles and prophets,

  
for God has given judgment for you against her!"

21
 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like
a great millstone
and threw it into the sea, saying,

  
"So shall Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence,

  
  and shall be found no more;

²²
and the sound of harpists and minstrels, of flute players and trumpeters,

  
  shall be heard in you no more;

  
and a craftsman of any craft

  
  shall be found in you no more;

  
and the sound of the
millstone

  
  shall be heard in you no more;

²³
and the light of a lamp

  
  shall shine in you no more;

  
and the voice of bridegroom and bride

  
  shall be heard in you no more;

  
for your merchants were the great men of the earth,

  
  and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.

²⁴
And in her was found the
blood of prophets and of saints
,

  
  and of all who have been slain on earth."

The Rejoicing in Heaven

19
  
After this I heard what seemed to be the mighty voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying,

  
"
Hallelujah
! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

 
²
for his judgments are true and just;

  
he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication,

  
and he has
avenged on her the blood
of his servants."

³
Once more they cried,

  
"Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever."

⁴
And the
twenty-four elders
and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!"
⁵
And from the throne came a voice crying,

  
"Praise our God, all you his servants,

  
you who fear him, small and great."

⁶
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying,

  
"Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.

 
⁷
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory,

  
for
the marriage of the Lamb
 
* has come,

  
and his Bride has made herself ready;

 ⁸
it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure"—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

9
 And the angel said
^l
to me, "Write this:
Blessed are those
who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God."
¹⁰
Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus.
Worship God
." For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on the White Horse

11
 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse!
He who sat upon it
is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
¹²
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are
many diadems
; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself.
¹³
He is clothed in a robe dipped in
^m
blood, and the name by which he is called is
The Word of God
.
¹⁴
And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses.
¹⁵
From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to strike the nations, and he will rule them with
a rod of iron
; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
¹⁶
On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords.

The Beast and Its Armies Defeated

17
 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in midheaven, "
Come, gather for the great supper of God
,
¹⁸
to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great."
¹⁹
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who sits upon the horse and against his army.
²⁰
And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had worked the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into
the lake of fire
that burns with brimstone.
²¹
And the rest were slain by the sword of him who sits upon the horse, the sword that issues from his mouth; and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

The Thousand Years

20
  
Then I saw
an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of
the bottomless pit
and a great chain.
²
And he seized the dragon,
that ancient serpent
, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
³
and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended.
 
*
After that he must be let out for a little while.

4
 Then
I saw thrones
, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
⁵
The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is
the first resurrection
.
⁶
Blessed
and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him a thousand years.

Satan's Doom

7
 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison
⁸
and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is,
Gog and Ma'gog
, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.
⁹
And they marched up over the broad earth and surrounded the
camp of the saints
and the beloved city; but fire came down from heaven
ⁿ
and consumed them,
¹⁰
and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into
the lake of fire
and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The Dead Are Judged

11
 
Then I saw
a
great white throne
and him who sat upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
¹²
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is
the book of life
. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.
¹³
And the sea gave up the dead in it,
Death and Hades
gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done.
¹⁴
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is
the second death
, the lake of fire;
¹⁵
and if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The New Heaven and the New Earth

21
 
Then I saw
a
new heaven and a new earth
; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
 
*
²
And I saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem
, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband;
³
and I heard
a great voice from the throne saying, "Behold,
the dwelling
of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
^o
and God himself will be with them;
^p
4
he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."

5
 And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."
⁶
And he said to me, "It is done! I am
the Alpha and the Omega
, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water without price from the fountain of the water of life.
⁷
He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and
he shall be my son
.
⁸
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is
the second death
."
 
*