1  An angel gave to me a reed similar to a measuring stick. He said to me, “ Christ says this: ‘Go to the temple where people worship God, measure it and the altar in it, and count the people who worship there. 2 But do not measure the courtyard outside of the temple [DOU], because it has been given { God has given it} to the non-Jewish people. As a result, they will trample Jerusalem city for forty-two months. 3 I will appoint my two ◄witnesses/men who will tell others about me►. They will proclaim what I reveal to them for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. They will wear rough clothes made from goat's hair to show that they are sad about people's sin.’ ” 4 Those witnesses are the ones that are represented by the two olive trees and the two lampstands that are in the presence of the Lord who rules the earth [SYM]. 5 If enemies try to harm those witnesses, fire will come from the mouths of the witnesses and destroy them. If people want to harm them, the two witnesses will certainly kill them similarly. 6 Those witnesses will have authority over the sky in order to keep rain from falling during the time that they are proclaiming what God reveals to them. They also will have authority to cause water everywhere to become red like [MET] blood, and authority to send down to the earth all kinds of plagues. They will do this as often as they want to. 7 When they have finished proclaiming to people the message from God, the beast that comes up ◄from the underworld/from the deep dark pit► will attack them, overcome them, and will kill them. 8 The dead bodies of the two witnesses will lie in the street of the great city where their Lord was crucified, the city that is symbolically named Sodom or Egypt because its people are very evil, like the people who lived in Sodom and Egypt. 9 Individuals of many people- groups, tribes, language groups [MTY], and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days. But they will not allow anyone to bury their bodies. 10 When the rebellious people who live on the earth see that the witnesses are dead, they will rejoice and celebrate. They will send gifts to each other, because these two prophets had sent plagues which tormented the rebellious people on the earth. 11 But after three and a half days, God will cause them to breathe again and live. They will stand up, and the people who see them will be terrified. 12 The two witnesses will hear a loud voice from heaven saying to them: “Come up here!” Then they will go up into heaven in a cloud. Their enemies will see them as they ascend. 13 At that same time there will be a great earthquake, as a result of which a tenth of the buildings in [MTY] the city will collapse, and seven thousand people will die. The rest of the people will be afraid and acknowledge that the God who rules in heaven is awesome.

14 That will be the second terrible event. Be aware that the third tragic event will happen soon.

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. Voices in heaven shouted loudly, “Our Lord God and the Messiah whom he has appointed can now govern all the people in [MTY] the world, and they will continue to rule those people forever!” 16 The twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones in God's presence ◄prostrated themselves/bowed down low► and worshipped him. 17 They said:

19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened {was open} and I saw in the temple the sacred box/chest that contains God's covenant. Lightning was flashing, it was thundering and rumbling, the earth shook, and large hail fell from the sky.