1 And after these things I saw four angels standing at the earth's four corners, gripping the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the land or on the sea or on any tree.
2 And I saw another angel going up from where the sun rises, holding the seal of the living God; and he shouted in a great voice to the four angels who had been granted to harm the earth and the sea,
3 saying, "Do no damage to the earth, nor to the sea, nor to the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."
4 And I heard how many were sealed: a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:
5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed; from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand sealed; from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand sealed;
6 from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand sealed; from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand sealed; from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand sealed;
7 from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand sealed; from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand sealed; from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand sealed;
8 from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand sealed; from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand sealed; from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand sealed.
9 After this I looked, and there was a vast crowd that nobody could count, out of every nation and of tribes and peoples and languages, standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 crying out with a great voice and saying, "Salvation be to our God, the One seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11 And all the angels stood in a circle around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell face down in front of the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, "Amen! The blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
13 And one of the elders spoke up and said to me, "These who are wearing the white robes—who are they, and where have they come from?"
14 And I answered him, "My lord, you are the one who knows." And he told me, "These are the people who are coming out of the great tribulation; they washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb's blood.
15 For this reason they are in front of God's throne, and they render him service day and night in his temple; and the One sitting on the throne will pitch his tent over them.
16 Never again will they be hungry, never again thirsty; the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat,
17 because the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and guide them to living springs of waters; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."