1 After 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. 2 I saw another angel ascend from the east. He was carrying God's seal. With this seal God, who is all powerful, marks his own people to protect them. He 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 3  to 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.” 4  Then 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 one hundred and forty-four thousand. They were from all the tribes of Israel. They symbolized the complete number of people whom God would protect. 5  The angels marked twelve thousand people from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad, 6 twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh, 7 twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar, 8 twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, and twelve thousand from the tribe of Benjamin.

9 After 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 with their hands in order to celebrate. 10 They 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!” 11 All 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. 12 They 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 able to do all things forever! ◄It is so!/Amen!►”

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These people who are wearing white robes, do you know who they are, and where they come from?” 14 I 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. 15 Because 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]. 16  As 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. 17 This 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].”