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Christ told John to count his worshipers from the nations, and he appointed two witnesses to prophesy to the nations for a limited time. When they finished witnessing, the beast from the underworld killed them, causing the nations to enjoy temporary victory. God resurrected his witnesses, took them to heaven, and punished the nations. Survivors feared and acknowledged God as awesome.
Revelation 11:1-14
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 42 months.
3 I will appoint my two ◄witnesses/men who will tell others about me►. They will proclaim what I reveal to them for 1,260 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 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 cause all kinds of plagues to occur. 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 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 these individuals 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 caused plagues to occur which tormented the rebellious people on the earth.
11 But after three and a half days, God will cause those two witnesses to breathe again and live. They will stand up, and those who see them will be terrified.
12 The two witnesses will hear a loud voice which came from heaven saying to them: “Come up here!” Then they will go up to heaven in a cloud. Their enemies will see them as they ascend.
13 At that same time there will be a terrible earthquake, which will cause a tenth of the buildings in [MTY] the city will collapse, and 7,000 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.
When the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, voices from heaven declared that the Lord God and his Messiah now govern everyone, and the elders declared that the time had come for God’s final judgment. With the heavenly sanctuary open, lightning flashed, thunder reverberated, the earth shook, and large hail fell.
Revelation 11:15-19
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. Angels in heaven shouted loudly, “Our Lord God and the Messiah whom he has appointed can now govern everyone in [MTY] the world, and they will continue to rule people forever!”
16 The 24 elders who sit on their thrones in God’s presence ◄prostrated themselves/bowed down low► and worshipped him.
17 They said:
Lord God, you are the Almighty One!
You are the one who exists now!
You are the one who has always existed!
We thank you that you have defeated by your power everyone who has rebelled against you,
and you now rule over everyone in the world.
18 The unbelieving people of [MTY] the nations were raging at you.
As a result you have become very angry with them.
You have decided that this is the appropriate time for you to judge all the dead people.
You have also decided that it is the time for you to reward all your servants,
both the prophets and the rest of your people who reverence you [MTY],
whether they were considered socially significant/important or socially insignificant/unimportant.
It is time for you to reward all of them!
You have also decided it is the time for you to destroy the people who are destroying others on the earth.
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 commandments. Lightning was flashing, it was thundering and rumbling, the earth shook, and large hailstones fell from the sky.