The Angels with the Last Plagues

¹Then I saw in the sky another mysterious sight, great and amazing. There were seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last ones, because they are the final expression of God's anger.

²Then I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. I also saw those who had won the victory over the beast and its image and over the one whose name is represented by a number. They were standing by the sea of glass, holding harps that God had given them

³and singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Lord God Almighty, how great and wonderful are your deeds! King of the nations, how right and true are your ways!

⁴Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord? Who will refuse to declare your greatness? You alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because your just actions are seen by all.”

⁵After this I saw the temple in heaven open, with the Sacred Tent in it.

⁶The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, dressed in clean shining linen and with gold bands tied around their chests.

⁷Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls full of the anger of God, who lives forever and ever.

⁸The temple was filled with smoke from the glory and power of God, and no one could go into the temple until the seven plagues brought by the seven angels had come to an end.

The Bowls of God's Anger

¹Then I heard a loud voice speaking from the temple to the seven angels: “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God's anger on the earth!”

²The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth. Terrible and painful sores appeared on those who had the mark of the beast and on those who had worshiped its image.

³Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea. The water became like the blood of a dead person, and every living creature in the sea died.

⁴Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into blood.

⁵I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “The judgments you have made are just, O Holy One, you who are and who were!

⁶They poured out the blood of God's people and of the prophets, and so you have given them blood to drink. They are getting what they deserve!”

⁷Then I heard a voice from the altar saying, “Lord God Almighty! True and just indeed are your judgments!”

⁸Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to burn people with its fiery heat.

⁹They were burned by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God, who has authority over these plagues. But they would not turn from their sins and praise his greatness.

¹⁰Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. Darkness fell over the beast's kingdom, and people bit their tongues because of their pain,

¹¹and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not turn from their evil ways.

¹²Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates River. The river dried up, to provide a way for the kings who come from the east.

¹³Then I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs. They were coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the mouth of the beast, and the mouth of the false prophet.

¹⁴They are the spirits of demons that perform miracles. These three spirits go out to all the kings of the world, to bring them together for the battle on the great Day of Almighty God.

¹⁵“Listen! I am coming like a thief! Happy is he who stays awake and guards his clothes, so that he will not walk around naked and be ashamed in public!”

¹⁶Then the spirits brought the kings together in the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

¹⁷Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl in the air. A loud voice came from the throne in the temple, saying, “It is done!”

¹⁸There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, and a terrible earthquake. There has never been such an earthquake since the creation of human beings; this was the worst earthquake of all!

¹⁹The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of all countries were destroyed. God remembered great Babylon and made her drink the wine from his cup—the wine of his furious anger.

²⁰All the islands disappeared, all the mountains vanished.

²¹Huge hailstones, each weighing as much as a hundred pounds, fell from the sky on people, who cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because it was such a terrible plague.

The Famous Prostitute

¹Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came to me and said, “Come, and I will show you how the famous prostitute is to be punished, that great city that is built near many rivers.

²The kings of the earth practiced sexual immorality with her, and the people of the world became drunk from drinking the wine of her immorality.”

³The Spirit took control of me, and the angel carried me to a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a red beast that had names insulting to God written all over it; the beast had seven heads and ten horns.

⁴The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and covered with gold ornaments, precious stones, and pearls. In her hand she held a gold cup full of obscene and filthy things, the result of her immorality.

⁵On her forehead was written a name that has a secret meaning: “Great Babylon, the mother of all prostitutes and perverts in the world.”

⁶And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's people and the blood of those who were killed because they had been loyal to Jesus. When I saw her, I was completely amazed.

⁷“Why are you amazed?” the angel asked me. “I will tell you the secret meaning of the woman and of the beast that carries her, the beast with seven heads and ten horns.

⁸That beast was once alive, but lives no longer; it is about to come up from the abyss and will go off to be destroyed. The people living on earth whose names have not been written before the creation of the world in the book of the living, will all be amazed as they look at the beast. It was once alive; now it no longer lives, but it will reappear.

⁹“This calls for wisdom and understanding. The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings:

¹⁰five of them have fallen, one still rules, and the other one has not yet come; when he comes, he must rule only a little while.

¹¹And the beast that was once alive, but lives no longer, is itself an eighth king who is one of the seven and is going off to be destroyed.

¹²“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet begun to rule, but who will be given authority to rule as kings for one hour with the beast.

¹³These ten all have the same purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

¹⁴They will fight against the Lamb; but the Lamb, together with his called, chosen, and faithful followers, will defeat them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings.”

¹⁵The angel also said to me, “The waters you saw, on which the prostitute sits, are nations, peoples, races, and languages.

¹⁶The ten horns you saw and the beast will hate the prostitute; they will take away everything she has and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and destroy her with fire.

¹⁷For God has placed in their hearts the will to carry out his purpose by acting together and giving to the beast their power to rule until God's words come true.

¹⁸“The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

¹Every high priest is chosen from his fellow-men and appointed to serve God on their behalf, to offer sacrifices and offerings for sins.

²Since he himself is weak in many ways, he is able to be gentle with those who are ignorant and make mistakes.

³And because he is himself weak, he must offer sacrifices not only for the sins of the people but also for his own sins.

⁴No one chooses for himself the honor of being a high priest. It is only by God's call that a man is made a high priest—just as Aaron was.

⁵In the same way, Christ did not take upon himself the honor of being a high priest. Instead, God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.”

⁶He also said in another place, “You will be a priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.”

⁷In his life on earth Jesus made his prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, who could save him from death. Because he was humble and devoted, God heard him.

⁸But even though he was God's Son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient.

⁹When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him,

¹⁰and God declared him to be high priest, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

Warning against Abandoning the Faith

¹¹There is much we have to say about this matter, but it is hard to explain to you, because you are so slow to understand.

¹²There has been enough time for you to be teachers—yet you still need someone to teach you the first lessons of God's message. Instead of eating solid food, you still have to drink milk.

¹³Anyone who has to drink milk is still a child, without any experience in the matter of right and wrong.

¹⁴Solid food, on the other hand, is for adults, who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil.

¹Let us go forward, then, to mature teaching and leave behind us the first lessons of the Christian message. We should not lay again the foundation of turning away from useless works and believing in God;

²of the teaching about baptisms and the laying on of hands; of the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgment.

³Let us go forward! And this is what we will do, if God allows.

⁴For how can those who abandon their faith be brought back to repent again? They were once in God's light; they tasted heaven's gift and received their share of the Holy Spirit;

⁵they knew from experience that God's word is good, and they had felt the powers of the coming age.

⁶And then they abandoned their faith! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame.

⁷God blesses the soil which drinks in the rain that often falls on it and which grows plants that are useful to those for whom it is cultivated.

⁸But if it grows thorns and weeds, it is worth nothing; it is in danger of being cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire.

⁹But even if we speak like this, dear friends, we feel sure about you. We know that you have the better blessings that belong to your salvation.

¹⁰God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians.

¹¹Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true.

¹²We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient, and so receive what God has promised.

God's Sure Promise

¹³When God made his promise to Abraham, he made a vow to do what he had promised. Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow.

¹⁴He said, “I promise you that I will bless you and give you many descendants.”

¹⁵Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised.

¹⁶When we make a vow, we use the name of someone greater than ourselves, and the vow settles all arguments.

¹⁷To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise.

¹⁸There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us.

¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary.

²⁰On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us and has become a high priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

The Priest Melchizedek

¹This Melchizedek was king of Salem and a priest of the Most High God. As Abraham was coming back from the battle in which he defeated the four kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him,

²and Abraham gave him one tenth of all he had taken. (The first meaning of Melchizedek's name is “King of Righteousness”; and because he was king of Salem, his name also means “King of Peace.”)

³There is no record of Melchizedek's father or mother or of any of his ancestors; no record of his birth or of his death. He is like the Son of God; he remains a priest forever.

⁴You see, then, how great he was. Abraham, our famous ancestor, gave him one tenth of all he got in the battle.

⁵And those descendants of Levi who are priests are commanded by the Law to collect one tenth from the people of Israel, that is, from their own people, even though they are also descendants of Abraham.

⁶Melchizedek was not descended from Levi, but he collected one tenth from Abraham and blessed him, the man who received God's promises.

⁷There is no doubt that the one who blesses is greater than the one who is blessed.

⁸In the case of the priests the tenth is collected by men who die; but as for Melchizedek the tenth was collected by one who lives, as the scripture says.

⁹And, so to speak, when Abraham paid the tenth, Levi (whose descendants collect the tenth) also paid it.

¹⁰For Levi had not yet been born, but was, so to speak, in the body of his ancestor Abraham when Melchizedek met him.

¹¹It was on the basis of the levitical priesthood that the Law was given to the people of Israel. Now, if the work of the levitical priests had been perfect, there would have been no need for a different kind of priest to appear, one who is in the priestly order of Melchizedek, not of Aaron.

¹²For when the priesthood is changed, there also has to be a change in the law.

¹³And our Lord, of whom these things are said, belonged to a different tribe, and no member of his tribe ever served as a priest.

¹⁴It is well known that he was born a member of the tribe of Judah; and Moses did not mention this tribe when he spoke of priests.

Another Priest, like Melchizedek

¹⁵The matter becomes even plainer; a different priest has appeared, who is like Melchizedek.

¹⁶He was made a priest, not by human rules and regulations, but through the power of a life which has no end.

¹⁷For the scripture says, “You will be a priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸The old rule, then, is set aside, because it was weak and useless.

¹⁹For the Law of Moses could not make anything perfect. And now a better hope has been provided through which we come near to God.

²⁰In addition, there is also God's vow. There was no such vow when the others were made priests.

²¹But Jesus became a priest by means of a vow when God said to him, “The Lord has made a solemn promise and will not take it back: ‘You will be a priest forever.’”

²²This difference, then, also makes Jesus the guarantee of a better covenant.

²³There is another difference: there were many of those other priests, because they died and could not continue their work.

²⁴But Jesus lives on forever, and his work as priest does not pass on to someone else.

²⁵And so he is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through him, because he lives forever to plead with God for them.

²⁶Jesus, then, is the High Priest that meets our needs. He is holy; he has no fault or sin in him; he has been set apart from sinners and raised above the heavens.

²⁷He is not like other high priests; he does not need to offer sacrifices every day for his own sins first and then for the sins of the people. He offered one sacrifice, once and for all, when he offered himself.

²⁸The Law of Moses appoints men who are imperfect to be high priests; but God's promise made with the vow, which came later than the Law, appoints the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Jesus Our High Priest

¹The whole point of what we are saying is that we have such a High Priest, who sits at the right of the throne of the Divine Majesty in heaven.

²He serves as high priest in the Most Holy Place, that is, in the real tent which was put up by the Lord, not by human hands.

³Every high priest is appointed to present offerings and animal sacrifices to God, and so our High Priest must also have something to offer.

⁴If he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer the gifts required by the Jewish Law.

⁵The work they do as priests is really only a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. It is the same as it was with Moses. When he was about to build the Sacred Tent, God told him, “Be sure to make everything according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.”

⁶But now, Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to theirs, just as the covenant which he arranged between God and his people is a better one, because it is based on promises of better things.

⁷If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, there would have been no need for a second one.

⁸But God finds fault with his people when he says, “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.

⁹It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They were not faithful to the covenant I made with them, and so I paid no attention to them.

¹⁰Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

¹¹None of them will have to teach their friends or tell their neighbors, ‘Know the Lord.’ For they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.

¹²I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs.”

¹³By speaking of a new covenant, God has made the first one old; and anything that becomes old and worn out will soon disappear.

²³Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens.

²⁴She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants.

²⁵She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future.