The Two Witnesses
1I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”11:4 See Zech. 4:3,11,14. 5If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. 9For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
11But after the three and a half days the breath11:11 Or Spirit (see Ezek. 37:5,14) of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
13At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet
15The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
16And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17saying:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
18The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
19Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
ሁለቱ ምስክሮች
1ከዚያም ሸንበቆ የመሰለ መለኪያ በትር ተሰጠኝ፤ እንዲህም ተባልሁ፤ “ሄደህ የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስና መሠዊያውን ለካ፤ በዚያም የሚያመልኩትን ቍጠር። 2የውጭውን አደባባይ ግን ተወው አትለካው፣ ለአሕዛብ የተሰጠ ነውና። እነርሱ የተቀደሰችውን ከተማ አርባ ሁለት ወር ይረግጧታል። 3ለሁለቱ ምስክሮቼ ኀይል እሰጣቸዋለሁ፤ እነርሱም ማቅ ለብሰው አንድ ሺሕ ሁለት መቶ ስድሳ ቀን ትንቢት ይናገራሉ።” 4እነዚህም በምድር ጌታ ፊት የሚቆሙት ሁለቱ የወይራ ዛፎችና ሁለቱ መቅረዞች ናቸው። 5ማንም እነርሱን ሊጐዳ ቢፈልግ፣ እሳት ከአፋቸው ወጥቶ ጠላቶቻቸውን ያጠፋል፤ ሊጐዳቸው የሚፈልግ ሁሉ መሞት ያለበት በዚህ ዐይነት ነው። 6እነዚህ ሰዎች ትንቢት በሚናገሩባቸው ወራት ዝናብ እንዳይዘንብ ሰማይን ለመዝጋት ሥልጣን አላቸው፤ ደግሞም ውሆችን ወደ ደም ለመለወጥ በሚፈልጉበት ጊዜ ሁሉ ምድርን በማንኛውም መቅሠፍት ለመምታት ሥልጣን አላቸው።
7ምስክርነታቸውን ከጨረሱ በኋላ ከጥልቁ የሚወጣው አውሬ ይዋጋቸዋል፤ ድል ይነሣቸዋል፤ ይገድላቸዋልም። 8ሬሳቸውም በታላቂቱ ከተማ አደባባይ ይጣላል፤ ይህች ከተማ ሰዶምና ግብፅ እየተባለች በምሳሌ የምትጠራውና የእነርሱም ጌታ የተሰቀለባት ናት። 9ከወገን፣ ከነገድ፣ ከቋንቋና ከሕዝብ የመጡ ሰዎች ሬሳቸውን ሦስት ቀን ተኩል ይመለከታሉ፤ ሬሳቸውም እንዳይቀበር ይከለክላሉ። 10እነዚህ ሁለት ነቢያት የምድር ነዋሪዎችን ያሠቃዩ ስለ ነበር፣ በምድር የሚኖሩ ሰዎች በእነርሱ ላይ በደረሰው ደስ ይላቸዋል፤ እርስ በርሳቸውም ስጦታ ይለዋወጣሉ።
11ከሦስቱ ቀን ተኩል በኋላ ግን፣ የሕይወት እስትንፋስ ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ መጥቶ ገባባቸው፤ እነርሱም ተነሥተው በእግሮቻቸው ቆሙ፤ ይመለከቷቸውም በነበሩት ላይ ታላቅ ድንጋጤ ወረደባቸው። 12ከዚያም፣ “ወደዚህ ውጡ” የሚላቸውን ታላቅ ድምፅ ከሰማይ ሰሙ፤ ጠላቶቻቸው እየተመለከቷቸው በደመና ወደ ሰማይ ወጡ።
13በዚያም ሰዓት ታላቅ የምድር መናወጥ ሆነ፤ የከተማዪቱም አንድ ዐሥረኛ ወደመ፤ በነውጡም ሰባት ሺሕ ሰዎች ሞቱ፤ የተረፉትንም ፍርሀት ያዛቸው፤ ለሰማይም አምላክ ክብር ሰጡ።
14ሁለተኛው ወዮ ዐልፏል፤ እነሆ፤ ሦስተኛው ወዮ ቶሎ ይመጣል።
ሰባተኛው መለከት
15ሰባተኛውም መልአክ መለከቱን ነፋ፤ በሰማይም እንዲህ የሚሉ ታላላቅ ድምፆች ተሰሙ፤
“የዓለም መንግሥት፣
የጌታችንና የእርሱ ክርስቶስ መንግሥት ሆነች፤
እርሱም ከዘላለም እስከ ዘላለም ይነግሣል።”
16በእግዚአብሔር ፊት በዙፋኖቻቸው ላይ የተቀመጡት ሃያ አራቱ ሽማግሌዎችም በግንባራቸው ተደፍተው ለእግዚአብሔር ሰገዱ፤ 17እንዲህም አሉ፤
“ያለህና የነበርህ፣
ሁሉን ቻይ፣
ጌታ እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ እናመሰግንሃለን፤
ምክንያቱም አንተ ታላቁን ኀይልህን ይዘህ ነግሠሃል።
18አሕዛብ ተቈጥተው ነበር፤
የአንተም ቍጣ መጣች፤
በሙታን ላይ የምትፈርድበት፣
ለአገልጋዮችህ ለነቢያት፣
ለቅዱሳንና ስምህን ለሚፈሩት፣
ለታናናሾችና ለታላላቆች ዋጋቸውን የምትሰጥበት፣
ምድርንም ያጠፏትን የምታጠፋበት ዘመን መጣ።”
19ከዚያም በሰማይ ያለው የእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ ተከፈተ፤ በመቅደሱም ውስጥ የኪዳኑ ታቦት ታየ፤ መብረቅ፣ ድምፅ፣ ነጐድጓድ፣ የምድር መናወጥና ታላቅም በረዶ ሆነ።
